Solid Gold Dancing in the Holy Land: February 2007

domesticity - my new favourite word February 17, 2007 |

A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. The most significant event was that I finally moved into my apartment last weekend. Once again, I need to re-iterate that here in Israel, things work a little differently to the rest of the world (well, the parts I know anyway).

The previous tenant, Charlie (yes, I know, NOT a very Israeli-sounding name!) had not managed to find a new apartment by the time I moved in. He ended up storing most of his things in the apartment (which was fine by me given I have like... nothing at the moment!) He was also kind enough to leave me his TV - complete with cable connection - and his washing machine while he was still hunting for a new place. All in all, it was a beautifully symbiotic relationship. Charlie didn't need to stress out about finding a place to store all his stuff and I got to use a whole bunch of things I didn't have.

Alas, all good things come to an end and this weekend Charlie is moving into his new apartment. However, it is not all bad. As sheer good timing would have it, in the last week, I managed to purchase a good quality second-hand washing machine and dryer and get the internet connected at home. Cable TV will come later - when my TV arrives! Try explaining to the cable company that I have a TV, but it's on a ship coming from Australia. I am usually met with a confused grunt-like "uh?"

Anyway, with internet, I am connected to the world, and I can watch the news, even movies online, so really, I am not exactly suffering. Plus, I really should use this "TV-less" period to finish reading the four books I started.

I spent most of last weekend cleaning the apartment. The bathroom, kitchen, lounge room, floors - everything was pretty filthy. By Saturday night I was absolutely wiped out, but filled with joyous self-satisfaction for a job well done. The kitchen cupboards had food in them. I was finally able to unwrap all the kitchenware I had bought from Ikea a few weeks earlier and put everything away. I looked at my new sofa and thought to myself, "I hope to hell you are comfortable, because I am screwed for the next month or two if you aren't." (Luckily for me, New Sofa passed the test with flying colours - but ask me again in a few weeks ok?)

I did manage some time-out though last weekend when I went to the Old City for Shabbat dinner with a friend. Sometimes I feel like I am walking around a film set when I am in the Old City, especially on Shabbat. It's utterly surreal, but very beautiful at the same time. It's times like this when I feel like I have to pinch myself - do I really live in Jerusalem?

The other big thing that has happened in the last week is that I am now the proud owner of a little seven month old cat whom I have called "Syd" in honour of her mother's (that's me, not her actual mother!) Australian roots. If I get a second cat, I promise to call her "Melba" so as to even the score a little.

I got Syd from an American guy who adored her, but just wasn't home very often and felt really guilty about leaving her alone for long periods. So, SGD comes to the rescue. I rang first to make a time to go and visit her, you know - to see if we 'clicked'. My friend Becky said, "oh you know that if you go see her, you will definitely end up taking her!" Ummm. You were right Becky.

I brought her home on Thursday night and after an initial half an hour or cowering under the sofa, she poked her head out and started to explore. By night's end, Syd had cased the joint thoroughly, worked out where her litter box was, had consumed a tasty meal of kitty crunchies and warm milk (yes, I am a total sucker) and finished the night off by stretching out on the sofa for a good night's sleep.

Folks - meet Syd.

Today I achieved something I am particularly proud of; I built an Ikea bookcase ALL BY MYSELF! It's been sitting in a flat packed cardboard box for some time now, and for a number of reasons:

It conveniently blocked the sunlight from streaming through the window in the morning
I haven't got my books yet, so I don't really need it
Building Ikea furniture fills me with dread and fear

Truth be told, the main reason for it staying in its box until now is because of Reason #3. However, I woke up this morning and thought to myself; hang on SGD. You can do this! You don't need a man to build a piece of furniture for you! Girl Power yeah!

My spatial skills were severely tested today, but at the end of it all, it was worth it and here are the results! Ta da!

My dozen or so books look a little pitiful and lonely I know, but eventually it will be overflowing given I have several hundred books coming. Speaking of things coming, I received an email from the shipping company in Sydney to tell me that my container is finally leaving Aussie shores this week! I am so excited! In another four to six weeks, my stuff should arrive. Honestly, I fantasize about sleeping in my own bed again!

Ok, time to stick the kettle on again for a cuppa. I have a CD tower from Ikea that needs building and I think I will give it a go while I still have the will and motivation!

Pass the panadol please, my brain hurts February 04, 2007 |

What started as a love affair with my new Samsonite suitcase, purchased just before I left Australia, has now moved to an emotion far beyond hate. If I have to wake up and look at that damn thing for very much longer, I think I will go insane.

I have been living out of it since the middle of November last year, which is getting on for three months now. Now I know what I have said before about how I am the eternal wandering Jew, the intrepid traveller with a permanent case of wanderlust... yada yada yada...

Ok, I admit it. Enough! I have had enough!!!

The end is in sight ladies and gentlemen, it truly is. I finally get to move into my apartment this weekend. Hallelujah! I don't care that the contents of my apartment will consist of a sofa, a heater, an oven, a table and chairs, a fridge (the last two items come with the apartment) and ME.

Samson the Suitcase will be banished to the highest cupboard I can find (and reach - after all, I am only 5'3"). I will place all my clothes in the wardrobe, hanging each and every item with tender loving care. I will neatly arrange all my shoes in rows, for easy access and I will have a drawer EACH for all my underwear, socks and other little itty bitty items that are too small for their own hanger.

Yes, I am fully aware of the fact that I am beginning to sound like a raving lunatic, but that's what happens when you live out of a bloody suitcase for an extended period of time.

I have come to realise that despite my passion for travel and adventure, deep down I am a classic old-fashioned, nester. My mother has always told me how I never cease to amaze her everytime I move into a new apartment. I might only have moved in 48 hours previously, but when she comes over to visit for the first time she tells me that it looks like I have lived there for years.

"It already looks so homely, so haymishe, so YOU!" she squeals with Jewish motherly delight. "I don't know how you do it darling. You just have the knack."

I lost track long ago of the number of apartments and houses I have lived in over the years. My mother gave up writing my details down in her address book in pen, as she was forever crossing old addresses and phone numbers and writing in new ones. These days, she updates strictly in pencil only. Thank heavens for email is all I can say! How ironic that the most stable contact information I have is a web-based email address, the entire contents of which sit somewhere in cyberspace.

So, please G-d, this time next week, I will be able to report that I am living in Chez SGD, fixed abode for at least the next 12 months...

In other breaking news, well, I survived my first week at work!

Like any new job, there is always a ton of information to take in, absorb and somehow retain. There are new people to remember, new and strange systems to figure out and somehow in all this, you try to hold on to the essence that is you, while at the same time trying to fit in with everyone else.

Although my job is essentially in English, there is still a reasonable amount of Hebrew to deal with. Whether it is ordering my lunch online (a very nifty little system indeed!), or reading an email, or just navigating my way through the internal staff phone list - it all adds up. I know that ultimately, this is only a GOOD thing. My Hebrew must improve and using it everyday at work is definitely one of the best ways to do it. However, right at the beginning, when everything is strange, bewildering and sometimes downright overwhelming, the added problem of "what the hell does this say???" all contributes to a very sore brain at the end of the day.

I know it's just a matter of time, and one of the great things about keeping a blog is that I will be able to read this in a few month's time and see just how far I have come.

Still, for the moment, I fantasize about coming home at the end of a long day at work, and curling up in MY bed, watching MY television, or reading one of MY books, while sipping a cup of freshly brewed tea in one of MY mugs. Ahhhhh.... what a joyous day it will be when I am once again surrounded by cardboard boxes. Only this time, I will be unpacking them.

Now - that's my idea of heaven.