Plus One

 A true sabra (native born Israeli), Mindy is a 4 month-old pup from the JSPCA shelter. I adopted her on January 25th. She is half Pinscher and half Terrier, tiny, cuter than anything you've ever seen, and so smart. Named after comedian Mindy Kahling, this Mindy has just as many quirks and thus receives just as many laughs. We've already been through a lot together in just 2 short weeks so I'm sure we'll be best buds for life!

Getting Mindy means a lot for me.

1. I have no family here and she is my first "real" family. Of course I have very amazing, generous, and caring friends who have been nothing less than family to me, but there is something different with Mindy. She is for me and I am for her and we are our own little mishpaha (family).

2. I'm making it here. One of my Aliyah goals was to be able to adopt a puppy by my 1 year Aliyah anniversary. And here I am with Mindy. The same thing happened with my job. I wanted to find a position doing the kind of work I'm doing for an organization like Masa Israel and I'm doing exactly that. Aliyah is hard, but if we persevere it is so worth it.

3. I'm a grown up. As a kid my family had an amazing dog, Max, who sadly passed when I was in high school. I begged my parents for years to get another one and they always said "No more dogs! When you're a grown up you can get your own dog and take care of it." So again, here I am with Mindy. I'm a grown up and I live on my own and I got a dog. Look at me now mom and dad!

So here is to #MindyThePup. May she feel loved always. May she continue to bring happiness to all those who meet her. May we live a long and happy life together. 

Just chillin...

I just finished Face-timing with Erika, my roommate from college. She is pretty literally trapped in her apartment due to the heavy snowstorm that is currently hitting the east coast of the US. (I've heard they're calling it Jonas or something?) It makes me laugh a little because 3 times this winter I've already been warned of the "snowstorm" coming to Jerusalem. In fact, this weekend we were supposed to have one. (Update: Said storm has been postponed until midweek. Hooray!)

This is my 3rd winter here (wow!) and I just have to say: Winter doesn't work here. It doesn't work because it hardly happens and it doesn't work because when it does happen everyone totally loses it.

I live Jerusalem and it is known for being "so cold". I'll admit—Jerusalem is pretty cold—but it is not THAT cold. The minute the temperature drops the heaters go on full blast. I literally am sweating in my office. If they even think it is going to snow they get ready to shut the city down. Day after day I'll wear my most water/weather-proof boots in preparation for something to happen and the day I finally give up and wear converse it will pour rain. Just my luck! The drivers here are already crazy, and rain or any sort of weather here just exacerbates it. When I first moved here I used to get splashed walking on the sidewalk by the cars driving too fast on the street.

Winter here is short and things are just not built for it, literally. Next to no one here has a dryer so you have to find a way to hang your laundry indoors so it doesn't freeze. When I was on Masa my room literally flooded. I woke up to water spitting in my face and 2 inches of water surrounding the front end of my bed.

Although we rarely get snow, we do get these awesome things called dust storms. We get them in the summer and they make it hard to breathe and make the unbearable heat even more unbearable. And we also get them in the winter apparently and they are the worst. Somehow they seem to always coincide with rain and then the dust sticks in the air and to everything else because it is wet! It's really not the ideal sequence of events.

That's not to say everything sucks here in the winter. We do have delicious hot-drinks like Sachlav, dried Sahlab orchid mixed with steamed milk and a mixture of orange blossom water, vanilla, cinnamon and sometimes nuts. There is also choco-ham (hot chocolate) unlike anything in the US. They put real, rich chocolate at the bottom of the cup and fill it with frothy steamed milk. You mix it all up yourself and it is almost like a food, more than a drink. A lot of my most beautiful scarves were purchased in Israel but are rarely worn here, so I guess it is nice to have the opportunity for that.

One way or another I will survive (and so will all the Israelis) and in 3 months we will go back to complaining about the heat. 

#FirstIsraeliBirthday

Many of you have heard (because I was basically shouting it from the rooftops of social media) but some of you haven't: January 7th I officially celebrated my 1 year Aliyah Anniversary. This has been a long anticipated day in my life and so the blog post that was meant to come with it also got a lot of preparation. I have a pile of scribbled on scraps of paper, countless notes on my iphone, quotes from books and movies—but I'm not going to put any of it on here, at least not today. 

I thought about it a lot and I just have too many feelings. Everything I've written is disjointed. I'm happy beyond belief. I'm tired and have frustrations. I see the light of hope for my future here. I cry in the dark because I miss my family. I don't always have a lot in my bank account but I've managed to keep my belly full. I work and work and work and yet I can't seem to work enough. 

My thoughts about Israel are endless. This is not a new story. But what did I want to say about this day? 

I found this quote: "If something burns your soul with purpose and desire, it's your duty to be reduced to ashes by it. Any other form of existence will be yet another dull book in the library of life." –Charles Bukowski

When people ask me "Why did you make Aliyah?" I struggle to answer. The usual things I say feel cheesy (even if they are true). I am always seeking a more authentic way to express myself. 

Well, here it is. Israel brings me so much joy but it also brings hardships and challenges and deep self-questioning to my life. It literally burns my soul with purpose and desire. Once the fire was lit I couldn't put it out—I still can't. And that is why I am here. And that is how I made it to 1 year. And that is how and why I will be here for many, many more.