Well, the time has come (in fact, some- including Yaakov, Rebecca and my sister S, might say it is long overdue), for me to start writing here. Because the truth is, as wife of the wonderful man who created this blog, who has shared this dream of aliyah, and has come with him here to the Holy Land I too, have alot to say! But I don’t want to get in over my head…so i’m just going to start by writing about something that happened yesterday. I was in the kitchen with our little guy, and as I reached out to close the fridge door, all 15 eggs which were nestled in their little egg-hole compartments on said door, came crashing- and splattering onto the tile floor. (Yes, they sell eggs by “the 15″, they may also sell them by the dozen, but that magic number 12, while significant in Judaism, is not so significant here when it comes to buying eggs…)
Anyway, I have to say that I kept my cool, and simply stepped over the gooey puddle to move MB out of the way and set him up to play elsewhere so I could clean things up. I collected what I could doing the hand- inside- plastic- bag-technique. And then I wipped out …the squeegee/”sponja”… This is what living in Israel is all about. If I stop for a moment and imagine a dozen plus three eggs splattered on our (forever grimy) kitchen floor in Boston, augh…I would probably be on the floor with a gross towel and soap trying to remove the gunk, or mopping up the goopy mess into a bucket- squeeze, sponge, repeat….essentially just smearing the mess all over the place….
But no, not here, not now! I just poured some water on the floor along with some of the pink perfumed floor cleaner stuff and “squeegeed” the whole puddle over to the hole in the floor of our washroom. Sweet deal. All cleaned up in a manner of minutes. It just makes so much sense. Are there people out there who have no idea what the squeegee/sponja thing looks like or what I’m talking about? I can eloborate (or Yaakov can find a picture to post!)
And as a final note, to ensure the liquid mess didn’t linger around (I imagine raw eggs do not smell very good after a short while) I took our hand-held shower head (I know those of you who are avid readers of this blog already know quite a bit about our shower situation…Baruch Hashem it is much improved) and brought it over to the hole in the floor and sprayed away any evidence of the mishap. Israeli style clean up- it’s good stuff.
February 9th, 2006 at 19:47
Sister S., pressured for a response, says if you would have sponja’d your floor before the eggs broke, you could have made a mighty big omelet….
February 10th, 2006 at 6:31
Don’t know if you’ve seen…..
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/special_packages/olympics/13824349.htm
February 10th, 2006 at 15:04
I try not to read about myself in the newspaper. Wish me luck…
February 11th, 2006 at 16:05
I’m looking forward to the floors in Israel……..I hate the grout between our tile, our white tile that shows EVERRYTHING! ugh. I hope you didn’t spray hot water down the drain with those eggs……..you may have some scrambled pipes! ugh.
February 12th, 2006 at 10:21
I think if we want jews from the states to make aliya its really spinning your wheels ro invite them to israel for a tour. That just increases their love for our land but not aliya. Living in an american jewish ghetto must be made to be seen as just that. they need to live outside our small jewish world. Maybe a month in france or columbia or spain or alberquerque or upstate new york, to work there and then they will see anti semitism. After a few months , back in ny or La,theyd know that they really live in a goyisha world ,in an american jewish ghetto inside a nonjew antijew world. Theyd consider aliya that very day. Get the jew above the world to look down and see that he she really does live in a ghetto be it ny new jersey, La. Only then does israel become a part not just of the heart or checkbook but the brain. New york jews going to israel to talk about aliya? Not a smart way to get aliya. New york jews going to england or italy or madison wisconsin would work wonderfully. Jews move to israel cause they see a NEED not just a love. My pal mike spent med school in montana and saw antisemetism there in bar talk, jokes, innuendo. After he made a b line for aliya. He saw that his big house in Westchester was really a ghetto house in a jewish neighborhood. He saw that the REAL USA was antisemetic and ill-informed. Forget a birthright tour to eretz. or ulpan alef one summer while at yale. Try a summer in kansas or denmark outside the jewish world and aliya will go up like a jewish penis on the sabbath ..with the kids out of the house.
February 12th, 2006 at 22:06
You are so right about cleaning in Israel, Adina. The extent to which cleaning floors in Israel just seems to “make sense” parallels how so many other things make sense there… davening, barchot, seasons of holidays, spirituality, raising children, etc. Just LIFE IN GENERAL. Thanks for reminding me about this in such a humorous and honest way!
February 13th, 2006 at 18:50
I agree, it’s much easier – but does no one see the irony in regularly cleaning the floors with an excess of water…in a desert region?
February 13th, 2006 at 22:58
In many cases, the drainage pipe on the porch deposits the water right into the garden. Either this is really good (you get more than one use out of the water) or really bad (if your floor was very dirty, than this might not be the best idea).
Anyway, the overall amount of water that people use to clean their floors is not so much. Just a few cups worth.
February 14th, 2006 at 9:03
Sister S- I appreciate your, uh, unsusal and creative insight! I could have fed a whole family (of 8 kids or more) with that omelet…
EmahS-The floors do seem to clean easier here, especially with the newer tiles (they seem smoother- which is also more slippery for a babies trying to learn how to crawl)
Rebecca-thanks for reminding ME about the way things make sense here. Sometimes it’s confusing. On one hand, we celebrated Tu B’Shvat here like never before, and felt the positive energy all throughout Israel. On the other hand, with the recent events in Amona, which has injured the bodies and the spirits of so many….some things seem to make no sense at all. “Ayn lanu al mi lhishaen elah al Avinu Shebashamayim”- We have no one to rely on except for Hashem….
Shanna-alot of people- and i try to do this also, don’t use “fresh” sink water to clean the floors, but will use other water left over in a pot, or that may otherwise be thrown away. And as Yaakov said, it’s also often channeled to a place where the water will be used…Nonetheless, I hear what you’re saying! This has struck me as weird as well….
May 14th, 2006 at 0:06
Huh?
Sorry, I’m not quite getting it. Do you have a drain in your kitchen floor? I thought the drain would only be in the bathroom floor. Obviously, I haven’t been to Israel yet, but as I’m considering aliyah, I’m just trying to understand the house setup you’re describing. Someone please explain! Also, are there any good books about American families making aliyah? I haven’t found any on amazon.
May 14th, 2006 at 14:47
There is a drain in the bathroom, and also one on themirpesset (porch). So in a three bedroom apartment, you are never too far away from one of them.
I haven’t seen so many books about Americans making aliyah. The best stuff is on the web – blogs, informational sites (like NBN), mailing lists, and more blogs.