I have been in Jerusalem for almost a week now and still have no cooking fuel in the apartment. It seems to me that the previous tenants might have told me that the fuel was totally out or that the landlord may have checked before my moving in. I would have been more than happy to pay for it to be here when I arrived but...no.
My old Sherith Israel friend, David Bernstein, came over yesterday and he was a life saver. He was tall enough to change all of the light bulbs that were not working in the apartment (something else I think could have been handled before my arrival!) so that my dark, depressing home suddenly turned bright. He also spent tons of time on the phone with the gas company and the internet/cable people. Everything was set to be turned on and/or delivered today.
This morning David came back and took me to a large supermarket in Talpiyot, more like our supermarkets at home. I was able to buy some staples like toilet paper and paper towels as well as the correct kind of yogurt and cottage cheese. I even got a package of filet of sole so that I could enjoy some delicious fish for dinner tonight.
After the market, David took me to Ace Hardware where I was able to purchase a stepladder to change my own light bulbs and a standing fan. It's not that it is too hot right now - it's just humid and the fan makes a big difference.
The cable guy came as scheduled and it took no time for the internet and my television to be set up. How different to Skype when not using someone else's slow connection from down the street! There are also lots of tv channels and many American tv shows with Hebrew subtitles. I will consider watching television - both Israeli and American - a way for me to improve my Hebrew!
By 5:15 the gas people still had not shown up so my idea of fish for dinner is out the window. David is going to call them for me tomorrow to see why they didn't come. I have a couple of HUC meetings tomorrow afternoon and will probably go out to dinner but I am hoping to have the fuel by the time I get home. Thank goodness Joni taught Joel how to make a pretty good scrambled egg in the microwave and he taught me! It's egg for dinner tonight. It may not be much but it's better than my usual Special K and peanut butter on bread.
After a week, I am beginning to feel at home in my neighborhood. I am able to wave to the felafel guy across the street and the people at the coffee shop on the corner already know my order (iced coffee, milk, no sugar, no cinnamon). While it doesn't feel natural to be living here yet, it is certainly getting better and I am anxiously anticipating starting classes on Sunday.
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