It's Been Too Long, I Know....

I know it's been a while since I posted but it takes a lot of patience to sit down and write a blog and we are not all as well-spoken as my sister, Gila (check out aliyahbyaccident.blogspot.com).

Anyway, the main reason why I haven't written in a while is because I just got back from the US this past Friday, and what a trip it was. It started out a little bumpy (literally and figuratively) because I was slightly sick the morning I left. I think I can safely say now that it was just nerves, it's very weird to leave your family for 9 days and a lot harder than I had anticipated, but the plane ride there was less than fun. Thank G-d the seat next to me was free and I had bought some food at the airport before I left so that I could completely avoid eating plane food. I did such a good job that, towards the end of the flight when they were handing out the "breakfast", a stewardess actually said to me - "Honey, you have to eat, you're gonna get sick". Little did she know, just the smell of that "omelet" almost sent me over the edge. Thankfully, my mom had decided to come and meet me at Newark (I was supposed to take a train from Newark to Baltimore) just in case I was so sick that we would have to rent a car rather than take the train home. (Side note: my mother actually told me that she was pretty sure I was going to come out of the baggage claim on a stretcher. She's kind of a worrier, and that's a total understatement). So my mom and I took the train to Baltimore together - it was delayed and the 2 hour ride turned into a 3 hour ride - but by 10 p.m. we were finally at Momz and Dadz house eating deli sandwiches...mmm.....

The first leg of my time in Baltimore can basically be summed up in one sentence - Target, Towson Mall, Target, lunch with Dadz, Target, Owings Mills Mall, Target, Toys 'R Us, Target, visiting Bubby/Aunt Devorah/Friends, Target, Shabbos. The trip got slightly more exciting once Shabbos started (however, Target was AWESOME). I went to Michelle Schuster's Shabbos Kallah (the reason why I went to the US in the first place) and to the wedding on Sunday. The wedding was amazing and I got to see so many friends that I hadn't seen in a really long time. It was great to be there for Michelle. On Monday, we hosted the first sheva brachos for the happy couple and, if I may say so myself, we did a darn good job. It was at my parents' house and it was really beautiful.

On Tuesday, I headed off with my HUGE suitcases filled with stuff from TARGET, to NY to spend a day and a half with my friends Sari and Noam Wittlin. I stayed at their apartment in Washington Heights (a place that used to be mine and Tani's second home) and got to see some great friends (thanks for the Cinnabon, Gidz). On Wednesday, Sari and I did something that we have actually never done together before - shopping in the city! It was so great to spend time with her seeing as we used to see each other about 4-5 times a week and nearly every shabbos. It was also great to see how big their daughter has gotten. However, I must admit, it did make me miss Tani A LOT.

I got back to Israel safely, thank G-d, on Friday morning and was greeted at the airport by my sister-in-law and....ELIE AND TANI (who was sleeping). The look on his face when he finally woke up to see Ima in the car was priceless and I was very happy to be home.
All-in-all, the trip was really great but it was SO HARD to be away from Elie and Tani. Another huge thanks to Sara and my in-laws for all the babysitting, feeding, carpooling, etc. And the HUGEST thanks goes to Elie who was so great and never once made me feel guilty for going away (although I know he will probably milk this in the future and I totally allow it - I know I would).

So now that I am back, all those things that have been slightly pushed off because of the "The Trip" are now back on. Believe it or not, it is time to start signing up Tani for gan NEXT YEAR. That's right, in January/February one must sign their child up for September gan. Seeing as Netanel is still young, he will still be in a private gan next year so the signing-up process can be nerve-wracking seeing as each gan only has about 10-15 spots and there are definitely some gans that are better than others. I have been doing A LOT of asking around and we are going on Friday to visit the gan that I'm pretty sure we will put Tani in. I actually called the ganenet last night - let me clarify - she only speaks hebrew! I have to admit that I was really nervous about calling her, I even tried to play out the conversation in my head several times before I dialed. I was able to get out my spiel relatively easily but then the ganenet said - "V'hu b'misgeret achshav?" I had to think quickly so I hoped and prayed that "misgeret" was some kind of reference to the program/gan that he is currently attending. I was......CORRECT! After I told her that "Hu b'gan Chaviva" she replied "Ahhh. Ok". Phew, dodged a bullet there. I asked my ulpan teacher today and she explained that the word "misgeret" literally means "framework" and can be used in many capacities. The translation here is used to mean program/gan/schooling/etc. I guess ulpan is kinda paying off.

Speaking of ulpan, we are beginning to prepare for our TESTS. That's right - one oral and one written. And boy am I studying hard. Ok, that's not true, I'm not studying at all except for actually attending ulpan most days of the week (c'mon, a girl needs a break). Basically, the oral part is having a conversation with one of the ulpan teachers (not our own - darn it!) and that takes place sometime at the end of January - we have yet to receive an exact date. The written test will take place the last week of February. We have been preparing with old tests that our teacher hands out. The test basically has 2 parts - one part is paragraphs that you have to read and then answer questions to. This is, for me, the easy part because you can answer the questions straight from the text. Additionally, while the paragraphs start off easy and get harder, I can figure out the concepts of the harder ones without knowing every single word and can therefore answer the questions. The second part of the test is dikduk (grammar) - yuck!!! I have always hated dikduk and, while ulpan is definitely helping me improve in that area, I still find that I just don't have the head for it. I'll keep you posted as the test gets closer.

For those of you who are wondering what it feels like to live in country at war, I'm honestly not sure how I feel. We are checking the news very often to find out the latest updates but our day-to-day lives are going on as normal. Tani goes to gan every day, I go to ulpan, Elie goes to work. I do food shopping, errands, etc. just like I always do. It is really nice to see the posts on the e-mail lists every day about this person collecting food to send to soldiers and that person collecting clothes, money, etc. We are all just hoping and praying for a swift resolution.