It's Raining, Hallelujah!

As you can probably tell from the post title, today it's raining!  This is great because when it rains it means that I don't have to go to work.  Today it was especially helpful because we were given a whole lot of homework yesterday, and on Tuesday we have evening class so it would all be due tonight as opposed to being given a whole day to work on it.  Also it's fun because I love lightning and thunderstorms, and we had a skookum storm last night.

I wasn't able to post on Shabbat (Saturday), because the wireless internet here is less than optimal.  But this Sunday I was able to go to the bank and pick up my new credit card and finally get a real phone plan in Israel.  Unlimited everything including international calling (not everywhere in the world, but landlines in 39 countries and mobiles in the US and Canada, which is more than I need).  I was also able to use my new card to get registered with Clalit Platinum, which is the extended health coverage here.  The basic covers most things, but I felt that getting that bit of extra coverage was important just in case.

The most frustrating thing to happen to me so far in Israel has involved my credit card.  When I first got here and signed up at the bank (Leumi), I applied for a credit card which they told me they would send me in a week.  I knew that I needed this credit card to get a phone plan and to pay for health care premiums.  After a week and a half went by I called the bank and they told me it was at the branch waiting for me, and all I had to do was go and pick it up.  Okay, that wasn't so bad, a slight miscommunication but no big deal.  I go in, pick up my card, get my code, everything is okay (for me anyways, the guys who went in with me had some other troubles because their code wasn't there and they would have to come back in another week).  I figure that now I can get my phone plan and everything.  I was wrong.

See, it turns out that the card I was issued is known as a Visa Electron, which means it functions very similarly to a debit card.  In other words, I can't pay bills or set up reoccurring payments with it.  (Those two sentences took me about an hour on the phone to figure out.  The language barrier is difficult at times).  Once I did figure this out I was able to go back into Nesher (where my branch is) and order a new card, which took another week to arrive.  It showed up on Sunday, and luckily my boss is nice and let me leave early to go and pick it up.  From there I went into the mall and signed up for a phone plan.

A word of advice if anyone reading this is ever going to make Aliyah.  When you apply for a credit card make SURE that the bank knows you want one that is not direct, and is not electronic.  Otherwise it's closer to useless than it is to useful.

In other news, I received my Tsav Rishon (First Orders) and am going into Haifa for my interview with the army on Thursday (what with the rain and being allowed to leave work early on Sunday, this means that I'll have worked for around 3 hours this week).  I don't know how this is going to go.  I'm almost certain that my Crohn's will knock my fitness score way down, but hopefully I'll be able to volunteer in a non-combat role.

Last off, I'm sorry there are no pictures in this entry, I know sometimes many words without a break can be scary, but I didn't feel it prudent to post pictures of my credit cards on the web.

I hope you all have a good week!

Shaun

Technical Difficulties

Sorry everyone.  I've had some techinical issues with the internet, but that should all be sorted out presently.  I'll try to have a new post up in the next few days.

Hello Everyone!

Hey Everyone! (Or no one, as the case may be)

     I’m starting a blog to attempt to document my time in Israel since making Aliyah in late December. I started the Aliyah process back in July, and it wasn’t too arduous but overall it wasn’t that interesting so I won’t take any further time to recap it other than to say it happened without any great difficulties. Since coming to Israel I have been living on Kibbutz Yagur, about a 20 minutes bus ride from Haifa.

Yagur from the Hiking Trail

.    
     I work at the Horsha (Wedding Garden).

When I work there it doesn't look like that.  That's during a wedding.

 
     Three days a week I'm there doing landscaping (i.e. raking leaves and cutting branches), and the other three days I'm in class. (In Israel it’s a six day work week with a short Friday). I’m in kita bet, which is the second level of three offered at the kibbutz.

      My average day is as follows:
 7am – Wake up, get dressed, etc.
 8am – Start either class or work. Either way this always involves strong coffee.
 ~9:15 – Go to Breakfast for between half an hour and an hour, and then go back to work/class
 1pm – Go to lunch. If it’s a work day I’m now off for the day. Otherwise I’m back to class at 1:45 until 3. 

     After that the day is basically my own until Dinner at 7 (which is free and kept warm leftovers from lunch). So far I’ve spent that time studying my lessons, wrestling with various bureaucracies (fun at any time, but even more so when only 1 in 3 people you connect with speak any English at all), or just hanging out with the other ulpanists.

      After dinner it’s more of the same. If it’s Thursday or Friday I might go to the pub on the kibbutz.

Yea, it's actually a bomb shelter

     It’s a relaxed pub, with prices the same as if I were to buy directly from the kolbol (the store on the kibbutz). The hardest thing to get used to is how much smoking there always is. People haven’t smoked in restaurants in Canada since I was very young.

     That’s basically how things are going with me currently. I’m going to try to update this blog about once a week (give or take), and we’ll see how that goes. Blogs usually aren’t all that interactive, and this will be no exception, but if you want to know more details about anything or if you feel I’m leaving something out let me know and maybe I’ll post about that.

 Cheers!

 Shaun