Day One...

Today was our first real day in Beer Sheva.

Yesterday, we threw the kids in the car and drove from Alon Shvut to Beer Sheva so that we could await the arrival of our new refrigerator. Very exciting. We spent the day in our empty (but air conditioned!) apartment. We borrowed a sleeping bag from our neighbor and Avital took a great nap on the floor, thanks to Israeli trisim! In the evening, we headed over to an old family friend's house to borrow mattresses, towels, sheets, and pillows. Debbie (Bubby Bev's husband's sister) also gave the girls gifts of paints, bubbles, balls, and chocolate! Andy made a number of trips back and forth to the apartment while we made and ate pita pizzas with Debbie. We also got to meet her friend Belinda who was "bought" as a baby by her Jewish Cuban parents from a Native American tribe and raised her whole life in Beer Sheva. Everyone has a story here.

This morning, Andy woke up at seven with a mission to buy our new (used) car. He spent every minute from 8 am to 2 pm with the seller, taking the car to the mechanic, transferring the title, getting insurance, etc, etc. But, we now own our first car in Israel. A 2005 Renault Grand Scenic. Mazel Tov.

In the meantime, I was alone for the first time in Beer Sheva with Maya and Avital. And, we actually had to leave our apartment because cleaners were coming to clean and exterminate the apartment for five hours. Where does one go with two small children in 102 weather? The mall, of course.

Our apartment is a 5-minute drive from the Beer Sheva mall called Kanyon HaNegev. Still, I used our GPS (our first and most essential purchase!) to get there. First, we went to the food court for lunch. The options include (as in all Israeli food courts) Sbarro's, Chinese food (that you can get in a baguette), four different shwarma places, and a Burger Ranch. Maya decided that we had been eating too much pizza (EVERYDAY) so she chose Burger Ranch which she has already come to know and love. As we sat in the food court eating fast-food kids meals, I thought how ironic it was that we had come to Israel so that we could do something so "American" (something that we could never actually do in America)

We killed about three hours in the mall. As I told Andy, "if you leave me alone with them, I am going to end up spending alot of money." We went to the toy store where Maya got a new "Rinat" CD and Avital got a new baby doll. The cashier called the girls "nesichot" - princesses. We then went to a kids shoe store since Maya has been complaining about how dirty and ripped here sandals have gotten since being here and playing so rough! Again, the saleswomen were taken by how cute the girls were and seemed to give them special attention (their English makes them a novelty here). Maya settled on a pair of 75 shekel sandals and Avital got nothing since all she wanted were sparkly shabbos shoes and I refused!

We returned to the apartment when the cleaners were done. The reason we initially got the cleaners was because the handyman had made such a mess that we needed cleaners. Then, when the cleaners left, we realized that they had broken the trisim and that we would need a handyman! Very aggravating! Andy explained to Maya that sometimes people in Israel don't finish their work like they should. Maya responded "like the Jews in Israel didn't like to work so hard." Yup, those same Jews, Maya.

Our evening proved to be surprisingly fun and interesting. At 6 pm, it was finally bearable outside. We walked over to the large playground across from our apartment building. The park is literally empty anytime before 6 pm because it is impossible to be there because of the heat. But, at this hour, kids were starting to come out. Within a few minutes, a little girl exactly Maya's age asked me if she could play with Maya. I told her yes but that she didn't really know any Hebrew and that she spoke English. The girl (whose name strangely enough was Stephanie!) preceded to tell me all of her English words - nose, mouth, and star. But, she was determined to play with Maya. She said she would just play with her and not talk to her! She even tried to talk very slowly and use various forms of sign language. They managed and I was relieved.

We then walked over to the strip of stores across from our building that includes pizza and ice cream, a stir-fry place, a grocery, two makolets, a craft store (yay!), and a bakery (dangerous). We sat down outside for our nightly pizza. As we ate, a policeman wearing tzitit and a large velvet kipah passed by and exclaimed "Imma - a Jewish policeman!" In the airport, she also saw a family of Chassidic Jews and shouted "look, Jews!" I'm not exactly sure what she think WE are...

At dinner, Maya handed me her apple juice and said in an Israeli accent "liftoach!" I was so excited. I asked her how she knew that word and she told me that she learned it from watching Rinat. Later, I explained to her that the motorcycles were for delivering pizza or doing "mishloach" in Hebrew and she responded "like Mishloach Manot!" Leat, leat, slowly, slowly.

As we were eating, we saw something that - as Andy said - we wouldn't see in San Francisco. A Hachnasat Sefer Torah - a celebration for a new Torah. Suddenly, police were blocking traffic for a little parade of an eclectic group of people walking and dancing with a chupah (made of, as Maya observed a large Challah cover) and a Sephardic-style Sefer Torah. The parade was led by a van decorated in tacky neon lights with a DJ blasting chasidic "rock" music. Ridiculous, hilarious, sweet, and holy.

Enough for one day. Layla Tov.