(This was such a productive day!!) I woke up really early to meet Yael to walk to the shul for the bris of Myles and Rocky Brody's baby. We got a little lost but still made it in time :). Tova Rhein (from Lindenbaum) was also there because Rocky is a former student and staff member so it was nice to see her again as well. The bris was pretty standard as far as those go, and there was a nice breakfast afterward. I sat with Yael and her sister and brother-in-law which was nice. I had seen them a few weeks ago because they were visiting Houston with their baby who is ADORABLE! Super fortunately for me, Ahron, her brother-in-law worked in the building next door to the Nefesh B Nefesh office which is exactly where I needed to be next. It was the day of Teudat Zehut (Identity Card) pick up!! I got there almost 45 minutes early but I didn't have to take the buses which would have taken me well over an hour through morning rush hour. The actual picking up my Teudat Zehut was kind of anti-climactic. I was the first one on line and I got my card along with my temporary travel documents. I realized about 3 seconds after I got it that I had given them the wrong address and that I had no idea what my real address was. Fortunately it's not something that is so crucial or anything! I'll get it changed eventually...but considering I'm still not 100% sure what the address is there's no point waiting around the interior ministry yet. They probably aren't open anyway because of all of the general labor strikes that have been going on lately. Not that I was aware of them personally, but I was warned. The nice thing about going back to the NBN office was getting to see some of my friends from the flight. It was really fun to see everyone a week later...we still couldn't believe that we'd actually just made aliyah. I also signed up for the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel which is supposed to be helpful. It was pay for 1 year get the next free so I figured why not. From the NBN office I went with my friend Rachel to the cellcom store to help her buy a phone. It was such an amazing experience. Rachel's Hebrew is good for most things but the woman we were dealing with didn't really know English and Rachel's vocab didn't really cover cell phone issues yet so I acted as interpreter! It was so exciting and made me feel really triumphant!! Granted it helped that I had been in the same store the week before with David to help me translate so I already had some of the lingo down but still it boosted my confidence.
On the way back to Ariel's house I decided to stop in at the bank to see if I could open an account now that I had my Teudat Zehut. Banks in Israel have strange hours with very long lunch breaks that break up their days. Somehow I was able to slip in just before they closed the doors for lunch so the lady was willing to see me. She was super busy and hadn't eaten yet (it was around 1:30 pm) so she opened my account at lightning speed. I was in and out of her cubicle in under 20 minutes including taking time to call the owner of a wallet, ID card, and Immigrant booklet that was left at her desk!!! It was another triumphant experience for me. I was able to get all set up for a bank account in record time and while doing everything in Hebrew. I'm pretty sure that I didn't screw up completely...she said that they open these new immigrant accounts all the time...sooo yea.
Then it was back to Ariel's to hang out with her before she had to leave to go back to the army. After she left I ate and then put together part of the hospitality baskets for her brother's bar mitzvah. I put dried fruit and nuts and stuff into little baggies and then tied them with ribbon. It took me just over an hour and wasn't really a big deal but I could tell that it was a huge help to her mom and it was an opportunity to finally do something to pay them back for their hospitality!!
Later that day I went to meet Aunt Marilyn and Noa for dinner. We ate at the restaurant in the Chan Theater because we were going to go watch a show that Marilyn's best friend Saralyn was in. Dinner was yummy!! The performance was also good. It was various monologues and dialogues, but the best part was that it was all in Hebrew and I was able to follow pretty much the entire time. It was a very good Hebrew day for me.
We got home and about 10 minutes later I left with Lia and one of her friends to go to Nataf, another town about 10 minutes away. It is really pretty out there. I sat with Lia and her friends and listened to all of their stories about their respective trips to Sinai. They were all going in to the army at the end of the week so they had taken pre-army trips. I came to the Metzger’s to spend time with Lia before her enlistment. On the way home Lia let me drive since my license is valid here with my immigrant’s visa. It was really exciting. I love driving:)
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