(The pics above are just a small drop of the many I have. As soon as I can figure out how to post an album and also some video, I will do it. The pics (I believe should be self-explanatory). Once we are set up I will send more pics of the inside of what is shaping up to be a beautiful home BH!
It was 3:30am and all was peaceful in the Shandalov home in Maale Adumim on Motzae'i Shabbat. The cool summer breeze wafted through the windows and all were sleeping soundly. Suddenly, a shout was heard throughout the the house: THERE'S A CAT IN THE HOUSE! Now, if we OWNED a cat, that would not be cause for alarm. but, we do not (and never will) own a cat. Not only that, that meant that some STRAY cat carrying who-knows-what kind of diseases was running through our house. I jumped out of bed only to find the poor little animal running scared through the house. I chased him/her/it downstairs where it got cornered in the Security room. Andy opened the window and it jumped out. Truth is that (due to it being the middle of the night) I was more afraid than the cat, but I was not about to let the cat know that. I had to show him/her/it who was boss. How did he get in? I think that we had left open the door on our mirpesset in our bedroom a little bit and it was able to sneak on in. Won't be making THAT mistake again!
On Sunday (remember, it is a regular workday here), Andy and I went to Zvia to meet with the new Olot Chadashot who will be going to this school and to get a briefing about the upcoming year. This is a semi-private school...full tuition: (apprx) $2500 per year before any kind of scholarhsips etc. That is for High School...for the entire school YEAR...and that is not a typo! Yes, $2500 per year and that includes lunch every single day. (Does it sound like I am making more of a pitch for Aliya maybe!?!)
After spending the day in Jerusalem for a couple of meetings and going out with my in-laws in the evening, it was back home to get a few things done. I left Andy and the girls in J'lem and headed back earlier than they did. As I approached the house, I got the sinking feeling...Hmmmm...I am locked out as THEY had taken keys and I had not! So, all good plans got sidetracked and I just went to the Bet Kenesset and learned for a while awaiting their return with the precious keys!
It is now Monday morning and lots to do. Time to get to work!
You know you've been here a long time when someone tells you the tuition for a high school is $2,500 and you feel like you have to explain such an expensive cost. Zvia is an amazing school that gives the girls so much...so they need more support and resources and...wait, no...you aren't complaining that it is so expensive - you are marveling at how amazingly cheap it is compared to American Jewish day schools.
ReplyDeleteIt's been so long...I've since forgotten - thanks for reminding me and putting it back in perspective. When we first came to Maale Adumim about 8 years ago (after living someone else in Israel the previous 8 years, I was astounded at the way my daughter was simply surrounded within minutes of her arrival at the school (and that only for an interview).
She had been against moving here, feeling that she had finally, finally completed her adjustment from America to Israel and made friends, and here we were wrenching her away from her friends. Within minutes of meeting the girls here, she couldn't wait to complete the move.
Most of those girls are married now, several of them mothers already. My oldest son, who was 6 when we moved here...is now a soldier. My second son is going into the army in March...my third (and first sabra) was bar mitzvahed this year.
I welcome you to Israel and to our amazing neighborhood and as soon as I finish unpacking my own boxes, I hope to welcome you and your family to our home. I have one secret to tell you, that you may find hard to believe. As my 16th aliyah anniversary approaches (in just a few weeks)...I can tell you that I have never lost the same wonder I read below the surface of each of your posts.
May you never lose the wonder, the simple gratitude of looking out the window and realizing that God has given you the most amazing of all blessings - He's brought you home.
P
If you hadn't chased out the cat, you could have gotten back in through the mirpesset. You know, of course, that all the cats in Israel are Gilguls, and you probably chased out your own great grandfather, and being locked out of the house is clearly a metaphysical balancing of the scales. You'll know better next time.
ReplyDelete1. Dear P:
ReplyDeleteYour comments truly touched me deeply and I thank you SO much! I pray I never lose this wonder and amazing feeling either!
2. Barzilai: Next time I will invite my great-grandfather's gilgul in to make kiddush in the Old World European style!!!! Thanks much and shavua tov...hope all is well with you :)
ZMS