I have been getting into a pretty consistent routine now that I have a new place to live. I wake up every morning to this:
I leave for ulpan around 730, and my mornings are then consumed by Hebrew immersion. From 1245, when class ends, until 2, I transport myself to my babysitting job (either by foot or by bus) and eat lunch (either with a friend, on the bus, at a park, or in a cafe). Then I babysit from about 2-6 for a 7-month-old. Her mother teaches piano in the house, so we usually take a walk in the neighborhood for an hour or two. I also get to practice my Hebrew between lessons, which is a huge help too. While I still hang out with a lot of Americans and other English-speakers from ulpan, I have really been trying to speak Hebrew here and there--I have a lot more to learn before grad school. Evenings are typically spent with friends. Activities range from dinner parties to movie nights to cooking adventures to nights out in the city. I make it to bed every night (or at least I try to) by midnight, and the cycle continues. Weekends are relaxing, as always. Two weekends ago, I had a bunch of friends over for Shabbat dinner. I made a delicious soup that lasted the rest of the week, chicken, salad, and rice. A friend from ulpan stayed over and we just relaxed and read the day away. This past weekend, I went to Hebrew University and stayed with friends. We had a big dinner Friday night, and after eating way too much, I passed out. I slept from 8:15pm-9am. It was great. I spent the rest of the day in jammies just hanging out and eating.
Some highlights of the week--deviations from the routine:
I was walking to the bus stop and saw mine pulling up. I started to run to try and catch it, but I was too late. Another bus was pulling up too. He asked me where I needed to go, and I responded. His bus was not the right one for me, and we both knew that. It was so Israeli when the driver told me (in Hebrew) to hurry hurry so we could catch the other bus at the next stop. I got on; he didn't even ask for a ticket. He proceeded to speed up and pull in behind my bus at the next stop. I was able to switch over without a problem, all thanks to my spunky driver.
I took a day off of ulpan last week to run some errands. My errands included changing my address on my ID card and at the bank, buying a cell phone, and getting my Arnona tax discount. I can say that at least most of my errands were successful. The one that wasn't really wasn't, though. I had the biggest problems getting my tax discount. The whole situation was so Israeli. The first time I went to the municipality, I was told i needed to be living in my apartment for at least 6 months in order for the tax bill to be switched to my name and for me to receive my discount. Of course my lease was only for five months, which just didn't cut it. Luckily, my landlord was willing to work with me. We wrote up a second lease and an external agreement and I went back to the municipality. This time, I was told that the name on the lease (my landlord's) differed from the name on the tax bill. I assumed that this was fine because the landlord and the owner of the apartment have an agreement; I assumed it wouldn't be hard to get a copy of their agreement. Little did I know that this would be a huge problem. It turns out that the owner of the apartment (the gentleman who now resides in Florida) is not the same person as the name on the tax bill. The name on the tax bill is that of a women who passed away. Apparently when she passed away and her son sold the apartment, the tax bill never got changed. When I asked for a notarized letter from the owner in Florida explaining this situation, I was told that there isn't significant proof for him to change the name in the bill to his, so there definitely wouldn't be significant proof for me to add my name to the bill. What a balagan ("craziness").
I have a couple other stories too. Lots of craziness everywhere. Say "hi" on skype or send me an e-mail, and I'll fill you in.
No comments:
Post a Comment