Israel Update #4: We Have An Apartment!

We have an apartment now, yay! I would post pictures, but it's mostly empty still and dirty. It will be a couple of weeks before the pics.

We went to Ikea with friends on Thursday and realized how amazing that place is, especially in a country where there are no huge superstores like target or walmart. But seriously. Going to Ikea is an event. They have some of the most genius items. They even have a cafeteria...

The past couple of days we have been trying to "nest." By that, I mean scrub everything in our apartment with bleach. None of the apartments we have been in or looked at were carpeted. Everything is stone and tile. And our place is very nice, but it was dirty! It took me two and a half hours just to scrub the grime off of the kitchen cabinets and that was only the top ones, and we have a tiny kitchen. It also took me half a day to bleach and scrub the bathroom. So right now the kitchen and bathroom feel like home, and the rest of my place is dirty and I'm scared to touch it . Haha.

Okay, here's one photo of the kitchen. 

Also, we signed on our apartment right at the beginning of Pesach (Passover) which is a week-long holiday and many of the stores are either closed all week or open until 2 or 3pm. Luckily we were off at 1, so it was a sort of mad dash to the stores to get cleaning supplies and food. 

We must have walked for hours around the area comparing prices at various stores. Like I said, there are no superstores, so you have lots of little shops with very specific (or seemingly random) items. In one store you find about 2 of the seven things you need and then you move on. Dustin kept saying, "I have to just deal with the fact that I can't live like an American here. You can't just go to one store, get everything you need, shove it all in your car, and go home." It's one thing at a time here. Even if we had a car, parking would be quite tricky, and we'd still have to walk twice as much.

When we finally moved in at the end of the week (Thursday), it was right before the end of the holiday, in which everything is closed for two days instead of one, so we have been just scrubbing away. Luckily by then we had all the food and all the cleaning supplies we needed. 

You should have seen us with three massive rolling suitcases, two rolling carry-ons, a trash bag of home goods, and two backpacks trying to roll into the train when we move out of the Gepperts'. A little family kept bumping me and pushing me because the dad was chasing his little girl who was weaving in between my luggage. It was aggravating (the train was empty and she thought our luggage was fun...). And then on our way out, two older men trying to get on just blocked Dustin and his heavy bags, expecting him to move over, when there was quite a bit of space just to their left! Dustin had to move with his giant load in order to get out before the doors closed. So rude! By then, with all the shoving and bumping and the fact that I was hangry, I was ready to scream. Then, right before we got to our neighborhood, some items fell out of my bag right in the middle of the street. A guy ran up and helped me before any cars came. That improved my mood. 

Thursday night was interesting. We live across the street from a synagogue: when we look out from our balcony, the synagogue is to our left across the alley. We went to bed around 11pm and were abruptly awaken at 12:30am. It sounded like a bunch of happy drunken men loudly singing bar choruses, mostly because of the round-style songs they sung and the fact that half of them were off-key. The sound was quite joyous, but at midnight when you're trying to sleep... Luckily we didn't have to get up early and luckily it was just a holiday celebration. We are about to become very aware of Jewish holiday celebrations...

Last night, we walked around town to see what was open and discovered two more restaurants! An Indian restaurant and a cafe were open. Now we know where to go for Friday date night (everything is closed on Friday nights. Thursday nights are the party nights here, like our Friday nights).

I somewhat skipped the Passover celebration that I enjoyed with friends here. A woman named Hilda led ours and it was so meaningful. The entire set-up of the Passover meal is utterly symbolic of Yeshua, it's uncanny. At least that's all I could see in it. It was beautiful. 

So, that's the story so far. I hope you all are doing well, and I'll keep you updated! We definitely miss our friends and family back home.