Income!

I must start out this entry with some very exciting news. We are very happy to report that Elie got a job and will be starting B"H this Sunday, Nov. 2! He will be working as an Account Manager at Ruder Finn Israel which is a PR company. He will be working with non-profit clients (right up his alley) as their PR "guy". When we came for our trip in June, Ruder Finn was one of the places that Elie interviewed at but they obviously couldn't offer him anything because we weren't moving until September. And it's very true what they say about the time "after the chagim" being the time to find a job because Elie went for another interview this past Sunday and got the job! The office is located in the Har Hotzvim neighborhood of Yerushalayim in the beautiful Beck Science Center. Stay tuned for more details......

In other news, the weather has turned a lot cooler and along with the drop in temperature is a lot of rain. I know that rain is a blessing in Israel, and part of me is very thankful for that, but the part of me that has to walk Tani to gan in the morning - bumping the stroller down 36 steps and then the 2 1/2 blocks to the gan in rain with just a hooded sweatshirt - is not as thankful. Luckily, I managed to take Tani when it wasn't raining as hard so neither of us got all that wet. I don't know if I will be so lucky in the near future.

Elie's new job also means that, starting Monday, I will be attending Ulpan alone. I know other people in the class but it's been nice being in "school" with Elie for the first time. Speaking of Ulpan and Elie, here's a glimpse of what our time has been like together:

Today we were reading an ad (in hebrew, of course) for a lost dog. While this may seem odd, the point of the exercise was to learn words that we may see in everyday newspapers. After reading through the ad, the teacher had us write our own "lost" ads. For example, mine was about a lost cellphone, someone else's was about lost keys, etc. As we were doing the exercise, the teacher quietly walks around to each student to read what they have done so far and help them with any words or grammar issues they may have. When she got to Elie, he said he didn't want to read his to her yet, so she skipped him and went on to me. I thought it was slightly odd but, then again, that's Elie. When it was Elie's turn to read his aloud to the class, I have to admit that I was curious as to what he had written. He began with "Avda Ishti" - "Lost Wife". All I could think was, well now this is going to be interesting....nothing surprises me anymore. He went on to say (in hebrew, of course) that he lost his wife outside of the Ulpan building and he really wants her returned to him so that he has someone to make him dinner. Additionally, he offered 2,000 NIS as a reward.
I'll let you all ponder that one for a while.

Before I go, I'd like to give a shout-out to my sister, Gila, who is having a very tough first week of Choref Z'man. Hang in there, Gils. And keep calling me to vent - I'm here for ya! Also, FYI, your trials and tribulations make for excellent blog fodder....