Ashkelon and Egged

What I wouldn't give for a capful of cherry flavored Nyquil right about now. I am finished up the third day of an absolutely miserable cold and, aside from my nose being all chapped (Pidgeon over Shabbos declared that I looked like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer) and I'm dry as a bone, I haven't slept well at all! I hate breathing through my mouth and so, for the past two nights, I kept dozing off only to wake up because I felt like I was suffocating.  

I had planned on cooking for Shabbos Thursday afternoon but, while we were picking up some baby scissors and other toiletries at Mozezim in Talpiot, my mother-in-law called and invited us to Ashkelon for Shabbos. I jumped at the invitation and, Friday afternoon after a short morning interview for work, we were on the road.

I love going to Ashkelon in the fall/winter. It's just beautiful to be on the beach with the balmy weather and the low-humidity. The summer is just too hot to for us in Ashkelon and, while I enjoy the pool, it's much more pleasant for me to be there when it's cooler. Unfortunately, I was pretty miserable with my cold, so I couldn't really take advantage of the scenery. Had I been feeling better, I would have gone with Pidgeon for a nice, long walk on the boardwalk. I was surprised to see some people actually taking a dip in the Ocean over Shabbos, but with the sun out the weather was really nice and warm. 

Since I was feeling so gross, Pidgeon hurried us up after Shabbos so we could hit the road back to Jerusalem early. While we were near Shaar Hagay, there was an accident with two buses and the police blocked one of the three lanes. We were already in the left lane, and Pidgeon was courteous to let cars in the right lane merge into ours so that traffic could flow nicely.

Suddenly, Egged bus #417 decided to speed up and merge into our lane. Pidgeon put on the brakes to let the huge bus go through but the driver wasn't paying attention to his spacing and all of a sudden we hear this huge CRUNCH and the car starts to rock. The freaking BUS hit us! Pidgeon sat on the horn but the bus just kept going and when we drove up to the driver's side window, the driver just put the pedal to the metal and kept going. He didn't even pull over to assess the damage! 

Well, I always carry a pad and pen in my purse so I wrote down the time, bus number, license plate number and we called Egged. The woman told us what numbers to call to report damages and I was just seething.

People, this was my side of the car. This was right outside of my door. This stupid driver was in such a rush to go from Ramat Beit Shemesh to Jerusalem? Seriously, what was the big emergency that he should be so reckless with his driving? Pidgeon was furious and it wasn't until we got home that we could assess the damage. The entire paint on the right side of car, right above the tires, is scatched and almost gone. There is even green paint from the Egged bus now on our car - so calling all CSI's to come by and scrape off proof of the accident.

We are now dealing with our insurance agency and on Wednesday, Pidgeon has to take the car into the garage to see how much damage we have on the car. I am not paying one red cent. And, what's worse, is that I want the driver of bus #417 to be reprimanded and to take responsibility for what he did to our car!

I guess I should look on the bright side. B"H, neither one of us was hurt. But still, how many times do I need to write on this blog how reckless drivers in this country are? And people wonder why I haven't jumped behind the wheel of our car. It's not because I doubt my driving abilities, it's because I don't have faith in anyone elses in this Country.

We could avoid so many accidents and deaths if Israelis would just be more careful with their driving.

Come on people, so many other factors against our survival exists. Why should we do this to ourselves? 

Be careful on the roads everyone!

Layla Tov from Baka!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 1 year wedding anniversary to me! Happy 1 year wedding anniversary to Pidgeon! Happy 1 year wedding anniversary to us! 

Wow - I can't believe its actually been an entire year.  There has been some really good stuff, some bad stuff and just life in between. 

The Good

We had a fantastic honeymoon in the Dead Sea

We got pregnant (yea!!!)

We both finished school

We both passed all our school exams

We're still madly in love with each other (which is very nice)

We've grown together as a couple, which is even nicer

We've both been through medical crisis and realized that we can count on the other person to be there for us

We went to the States for Pesach and had an awesome time, despite the morning sickness

We're still each others best friend

I'm so thankful to G-d that we found each other, and I hope that we're still at the point where we don't take each other for granted yet (hopefully, that day will never come)

For once in my life, I am dreaming of a family, and it's wonderful to be able to dream a dream that P"G can come true

The Bad

We both put on some serious post-wedding weight, although now I just call my weight gain baby weight. We need New Year's resolutions to lose weight STAT!

I don't feel any closer to Pidgeon's family, in fact, I feel as awkward as ever

Life in Between

We went to London together, which was one of the best trips I've ever taken in my life! I miss my Starbucks here in Israel.

I still get that awed feeling when I light candles on Friday night and Pidgeon comes home from shul, sings, makes Kiddush and we have Shabbos dinner. When I was single, and during the depressed single years, I used to fantasize about that moment and what it could be like. And, having it come to fruition for me is truly amazing. It's like when you want something so bad and you dream about it and then it happens, it takes a while for you to actually realize it's real. I still get that feeling, even when it's just the two of us and I come to the Shabbos table in my scrubs. It's pretty incredible.

So, let the celebrations continue!

We had a lovely Shabbos in Ashkelon and then, on Sunday, we drove to Cinema City in Herzliya. We made it there in time for the 2:45 p.m. showing of The Dark Knight which was extremely dark and disturbing. I, of course, compare each and every new Batman movie to the original Michael Keaton version and it was basically no comparison this time. They were so vastly different. It wasn't exactly a pick me up kind of flick, but it was very entertaining nevertheless. We were starving by intermission, but we had some heavy duty dinner plans, so we both sucked it up and chewed some gum to keep our appetites for dinner.

And, it was a very good thing we did, because we ended up at the Herzliya Marina at the kosher Papagayo's. For people unfamiliar with the Papagayo concept, it's basically an all you can eat set menu. For 145 shekel a plate, we went with the meat menu. We tried to be strategic though, about the eating, since you don't want to fill up on crap before all the good stuff comes out. But, we were starving, so we had to start with something. We passed on the bread, but we both got fruit smoothies for drinks. That, in hindsight, was a bad idea since it was just air and fruit and water and it was a waste of stomach space. We then digged into the salatim which were very good, and a plate of sweet and sour sauces battered chicken wings. I usually am not a wing person, I never was really into wings, but I was hungry so I ate two. And then, the meat came out in the following order:

1 sausage (spicy and delicious)

1 strip of skirt steak (done well and also delicious)

1 chunk of marinated chicken breast

1 chunk of marinated steak fillet

goose hearts (I passed on this one, I'm not a fan of organ meat)

1 grilled and battered chicken drumstick

chicken livers (I passed on this too)

lamb kabob (I took a bite and passed it over to Pidgeon. It was too rare for me)

Sliced steak entrecote WELL done (which was actually for once, too well done for me. Tasted a bit like shoe leather)

At this point, Pidgeon and I were BURSTING with all the food and we contemplated turning the green sign to red (which signals to the wait staff that you are done and that they shouldn't bring you any more food) but I insisted we continue. I mean, for 145 shekel a plate, I wanted to make sure I got all the food I was paying for. Not the smartest thing I've ever done, but, I'm a New York Jew and I wanted to get my money's worth. So, we asked the waiter what was left to come. He said there was Asado on and off the bone and that we must at least try one. He was also very surprised that we made it this far, but there was no way I was passing up on that Asado. So, they brought the Asado without the bone to the table and carved us pieces right then and there. I got the smallest piece I could get, as did Pidgeon, and then we just caved and turned the green to red.

Now, I was really not feeling so great at this moment. I've been on all protein diets before, but never consumed this much meat (only) in such a short period of time. Even the 5 potatoes they brought us with the salatim went untouched practically, because we were holding out for the beef. So, I told Pidgeon I wasn't feeling so great, and I headed towards the ladies room where I prayed to the porcelin god. 

What a waste of 145 shekels! Pidgeon felt bad that I got sick so quickly and, instead of walking around by the water and through the marina mall, we just packed it in and headed home. It was a good idea because by the time we got home, I was just wiped. I managed to unpack our stuff though, before crashing pretty quickly. 

The worst part was that my parents paid for our Papagayo dinner and, so when they asked me how it went, I lied and told them how great it was. I mean, it was a wonderful dining experience, I just pigged out and paid the price. That's one secret I think I'm going to keep from them, I know my Father well, and I could do without the pigging out lecture. Next time, I think we're going to just pass on the whole Papagayo experience. I do much better when I can order what I want, and just leave what I can't on my plate and then wrap it up and take it home. That's the problem with Papagayo's - no doggie bags.

Yesterday, we basically spent the day a part. Pidgeon went to the office to continue working on his project, and I stayed home to be the little housewife. I did a huge load of laundry, washed dishes and cleaned up around the house. We stopped by Pidgeon's parents later at night, before dinner, so I could pick up my blood test results. The GREAT news is that my sugar test came back normal! Thank G-d! I was so worried about gestational diabetes, on top of everything else I'm dealing with, that I'm just so thankful it came out ok. The abnormal results were with my blood and Pidgeon's Mom said that it means I'm anemic. I have to call my hematologist to see if the results are because  I'm just iron deficient or if it's the Clexane. But, I'm not worrying. My sugar is good people and that means I can eat CAKE again!

Nice!

So, Pidgeon's Mom asked us what we're doing today to celebrate and we just looked at her blankly. We don't have plans. We have a 5:00 p.m. heart echo test for the baby and, depending on the results, we figured we go from there. Although, we somehow managed to pack our day today with errands. Already this morning, before 9:30 a.m., we had Mei Eden delivering our monthly allotment of water, the cleaner guy came back to refund our money and pick up an outfit they accidentally gave us that wasn't ours (love when that happens) and the cabinet builder here to measure the alarm system in the room so he can build a cabinet that will cover the system (so that, P"G, the baby won't be able to get to all the wiring) along with 2 shelves on top for baby books. We're hoping the price will be decent and he promised we'll get it by the Chagim, which is basically in two months time.  

Our other plans include going to the post office to pick up Pidgeon's anniversary present, heading over to 4UGifts to finish off our registry. We still have almost 2,000 shekel that we need to spend and I'm looking forward to replenishing the dishes we both shattered in the past year. After that, we have a 300 shekel credit for a wedding gift we returned in town that we're going to redeem and maybe, just maybe, we'll go check out some baby furniture stores in Talpiot.

Not exactly a romantic anniversary in bed, but just being together is all I really need today.

Yom Tov from Baka!

Pidgeon and Pigeons in Ashkelon

I love this place! It's 2:30 p.m. on Erev Shabbos and Pidgeon and I are relaxing in the fabulous AC and looking at the glorious beach view. We are here celebrating our 1 year anniversary. And, even though technically it's not until the 19th, we're spending this entire weekend in celebration. Which means that the next 3 days will just speed by, faster than ever! Why does that always happen? When you're happy, life just goes by so fast. But, when you're sad, life just drags on? Curious.

So, yesterday, we woke up at 8:15 to give my dry cleaning to the cleaners. We use the same guys who saved my behind during the great mold debacle of January 2008. They were able to literally clean ever since moldy item in my wardrobe, so I'm now a loyal member of Yaniv's dry cleaning in Meah Shearim. And, since they pick up and drop off for free, it's perfect. After Pidgeon gave them all of my Shabbos maternity clothing to dry clean, we went back to sleep and didn't get out of bed until 11:30! Meanwhile, I had a lot of USA Men's Olympic swimming to catch up on and cooking and packing to do. So, I sat down and wrote my packing list and put up the quinoa. 

By the time we left Jerusalem, at 4:30 p.m., I managed to make the quinoa, pick out CD's and DVD's for the trip, pack myself, help organize Pidgeon who packed himself, and tidied up the apartment. We traveled light for us - which means one overnight bag each, a cooler full of quinoa, fresh cooked corn, roasted broccoli, 2 challot from Pe'er, 2 frozen bottles of Mei Eden water and the meatloaf, a small bag with snacks for the car and my purse. I was impressed with us - since we're not planning on returning until late Sunday night.

We ended up making incredible time, even with hitting the post-Thursday rush hour traffic right outside of the City. Even with a pit stop at Shaar Hagay gas station for some lunch - tuna sandwiches and shoko (for me) and diet ice tea (for Pidgeon) - we still managed to get to Kibbutz Yavneh before 7:00 p.m.! We both were afraid we were going to be really late meeting with Pidgeon's favorite teacher from High School - Avraham Stein - but we were right on time. We chatted with him and his lovely wife for over an hour and then it was back on the road and heading to Ashkelon. We were a little surprised to hit such bad traffic but then we realized it was all cars trying to get into one lane to turn off into Ashdod. Once we were able to bypass that lane, we managed to hit a bit more Ashkelon traffic and then pulled into the car parking garage by 9:00 p.m. We got the keys from my in-laws neighbors and then we were here!

Unfortunately, Pidgeon was starving and like my Cousin Neil tends to do when he's hungry, was having a bit of a hunger attack. So, we quickly dropped our stuff, plugged in our computers to charge, put my shots in the fridge and called the restaurant for directions. Somehow, the restaurant doesn't appear on Pidgeon's GPS, but we managed to "use the force" and made it there with an hour to go before they closed. The food was great! We ordered two skewers of entrecote steak (well done for me, medium rare for Pidgeon) and that came with a million types of salatim, some hummus and french fries. The pitot were also fresh and hot from the over, and absolutely delicious! Pidgeon and I devoured our food - I hadn't realized I too was hungry - and then we decided to order 4 pargiot for Shabbat lunch. The owners were really nice and they also packed us up some extra salatim to go. Satisfied and bloated, we returned home so I could do my shot and we could make the bed. I was so tired though that I started to get a bit cranky with Pidgeon, and being the amazing and patient man that he is, he helped me make the bed and tried his best to get me to sleep STAT. 

We woke to a beautiful, hot, sunny day this morning. Well, I should amend that, I woke to a beautiful, hot, sunny day this morning. I asked Pidgeon to set his alarm for 9:30 and he quickly shut it off and went back to sleep. I logged on and relaxed and let him sleep for 30 more minutes before I started to get ansy. We had a schedule today and I am determined to keep to it! While he slept, I noticed that the windowsill outside of our bedroom is covered in bird poo and the Ashkelon Pigeons have made this their home. At one point, there were 4 lined up and one even pecked at the window! I felt like I was back in Manhattan, with all the pigeons lined up in a row waiting for an unsuspecting resident to scurry beneath before they let their droppings fly and hit their bullseye down below. So, I woke Pidgeon up and told him that the pigeons were here to greet him. He smiled and I managed to get him up and out of bed.

Since we didn't know the address to the main shopping complex, we once again "used the force" and somehow managed to make it to our destination. At that point, I was so hungry, I told Pidgeon I was going to knaw on his fingers if he didn't get some food into me. We parked and jogged to the Aroma and Pidgeon ordered me the Aruchat Boker which comes with 2 scrambled eggs, some chopped salad, 4 olives, 5% feta and cream cheese and 6 slices of whole wheat bread. I also got an ice coffee cause I was in the mood, which Pidgeon had a Chai with 1% milk and an omlete sandwich. It was nice to eat although it was a bit uncomfortable in our booth. The chair was too far back from the table, but the table and chairs were bolted to the floor, so unless I sat at the edge of the booth I was too far away from my plate.

Which brings me to a phenomenon I notice in pregnant women. It's called the eating all over yourself phenomenon. When you see a pregnant lady and she's got a big stain somewhere on her shirt or skirt, chances are she has no idea how that happened nor does she even realize that it's there. I've been finding stains on my stomach hours after they happen, and I'm constantly wondering how the heck it got there. Well, sure enough, about 5 minutes into eating my food I managed to drop a big bite of salad all over myself. And, since the dressing was green, I was now sporting a huge stain right in the middle of my chest.  Pidgeon tried to make me feel like less of a pig by saying that it could be a logo for the Greek Islands - but I wasn't biting. So, with my big stain, we wrapped up at Aroma and went next door to the SuperSol Big to buy our food.

Food in Ashkelon is so much cheaper than in Jerusalem, it's insane. For less than 350 shekel, we managed to buy: a pound of potatoes cooked, a pound of noodles, one large challah, 6 nectarine, 10 small plums, a small pineapple, sorbet, a can of cocktail olives, a can of hearts of palm, a can of baby corn, a bag of lettuce, 5% creamy italian dressing, a box of Telma bran flakes, 1% skim milk, this roasted onion salatim that Pidgeon wanted, 3 bottles of hand soap, silver foil, plastic ziplock baggies, 2 bottles of diet lemonade, 1 bottle of green tea ice tea, 1 big bottle of grape juice, and 1 package of duracell AA batteries. That would have cost us at least 100 shekel more in Jerusalem. I told Pidgeon we should take advantage and do our weekly grocery shopping in Ashkelon, even with the price of gas it would probably be worth it. 

We also bought 3 green shopping bags as we're trying to save the world by cutting down on plastic baggies. With our booty, we made our way back to the car, turned on the GPS and managed to get home in no time at all. Unfortunately, it was too much time for our sorbet, and when we got to the apartment we discovered it had melted and leaked ALL over all the stuff in that green bag. At first, I thought we cracked the dressing bottle, and was relieved to see it was just the sorbet leaking. That's how hot it is here people! I quickly washed everything, including the bag, and Pidgeon put the wet ones out on the balcony to dry so we could use them to pack some stuff up when we leave on Sunday.

Meanwhile, I was so distracted, that as I was unpacking the bags I pulled out this strange package and it took me a minute to realize what it was. It was a Trivial Pursuit mini game gossip edition. I gasped when I saw it and asked Pidgeon if he knew how it got there. He said he had no idea and I though, my g-d, I stole this from the Supermarket and I didn't even realize I had packed it into the bag! My mind started racing, I needed to go back and pay the Supermarket or return it! I've never stolen anything from a Supermarket before and I felt awful.

Suddenly, Pidgeon smiled, and wished me a Happy Aliyah and wedding Anniversary! He put it in the bag AND he bought it for me months ago as a surprise. I was soo shocked and surprised! I had no idea when he even did that, and then everything started clicking into place. He insisted when we got to the car that I go and put on the AC rather than help him load the bags into the trunk. I wasn't happy that he didn't let me help him but I did it because I thought he was really hot, little did I know that he had hidden the game in the trunk and wanted to slip it into one of the bags without me seeing. Plus, when we got to the apartment, he didn't really help me unpack the bags which is very unlike him. I was wondering why he wasn't helping, and only when I found the gift did I realize what went into getting me the whole present and keeping it a surprise! Apparently, Pidgeon bought this game online and shipped it to his brother in London, who brought it with him when he was visiting in July. Pidgeon then hid it in the house - somewhere - and waited until the time was right to give it to me.

Now, we had agreed on no presents this anniversary - but both of us are  big fat liars. Pidgeon's present is on its way and I can't write what I got him here since he sometimes reads my blog and I want it to be a big surprise too. But, boy am I happy that I got him something! Whew.

Well, I'm off to change into my bathing suit and get ready for the pool! I can't wait to take a nice, long swim in the cool waters. 

Shabbat Shalom from Ashkelon!

Drilled, Scraped and Polished

Today, I went to the dental hygienist in Jerusalem. It was my first time in this Country doing anything with my teeth, really, and I was a bit nervous. Since I take the Clexane shots, my body is prone to bleeding and it take a bit longer to clot. So, I was afraid that she was going to take a hacksaw to my gums and leave me all bloody. She didn't disappoint. After calling me in and chatting me up about my family (i.e. my new married into family) she got to work. At some point, I think there were 6 types of tools in my mouth at one time. She was really digging through my gums to get all the crap out. Fortunately, she used this numbing cream so that I wouldn't feel anything. Yeah, right. I still felt it. How can you not, when there's a hook digging down deep into your gums! I kept my eyes closed for most of the procedure and trying to sooth the fetus who was kicking the crap out of me the entire time! I'm thinking "Hot Dog" (more on this later) wasn't pleased with all this pain. And, the most disconcerting part of the whole appointment was when I finally looked at her and I saw bloody streaks on her white face mask. Yeah, that was my blood all over her mask. Gross. I was happy when it was all over, and I guess it was worth it because my teeth look much cleaner. I avoided eating for a few hours though, I was a bit nauseated by the entire experience. 

So, I know that I've been blog neglectful this week, but for good reason. We finally bought a new car! It was a tremendous ordeal, and we went back and forth with a number of dealerships. Since Pidgeon has himself a convertible, which barely fits even me at this point, we decided it was time to trade in and up. So, we visited Toyota, Mazda, Peugot, Chrystler and Chevrolet in and around Jerusalem. With a trade in, we got the best deal from Chevrolet. In fact, after Pidgeon's trade in and my rights as an Olah Chadasha, the car was extremely affordable. But, Pidgeon enlisted the help of his Dad, who decided to get us a better price in Rishon LeZiyon, which is a big City about 40 minutes away from Jerusalem. The Chevrolet dealership there managed to knock almost 3,000 more shekel off the price of the car, and it was a deal we couldn't refuse. So, on Thursday, we drove out there expecting to seal the deal. We brought all the information we thought we needed and after waiting for hours which the Rishon LeZiyon dealership argued with the Jerusalem dealership, the deal was done. And then, they told us that I needed a lot of documents I hadn't brought with me. Namely, my passport, American drivers license and Olah booklet. The car couldn't be ordered until all that was in their possession, and since I really didn't want to buy a new car during the 3 weeks, we decided to drive back there on Friday to finish everything.

It actually worked out well for us, as we went to Ashkelon for the weekend. We've been needing a beach weekend for a while, and we both were looking forward to cooling off at the pool in the neighborhood. Plus, we thought a change of scenery would do us good, so we coordinated with Pidgeon's parents and made plans to all go out there for Shabbos. Friday morning came, and we packed quickly and went to get the car checked before the deal could be made. Once the report came back clean, or at least as "clean" as a third hand car can be, we were off to Rishon. The dealership closes on Friday's at 1:00 p.m. and it was getting dangerously close to quitting time. We made it with 15 minutes to spare and the document passing began. But then Chaim, our dealer, told me that he had to take all my originals. I was under the impression that he was just going to make photocopies. Oh no, he was taking my passport, my Olah booklet, both my Israeli and American drivers license and that was enough to send me into a panic. I have NEVER been without my passport in my entire life. It's a Holocaust thing that I don't want to go into now, but after a few minutes to hyperventilating and the dealer promising me that he does this "all the time", I let the documents go. Good thing I'm not the driver in this family, how the heck was I supposed to get around now? The dealer promised me that I could just show a cop my photocopied drivers license and explain I was buying a new car in case I got pulled over. Whatever, I'm just counting down until we get the car, so I can get my documents back.

We got onto the road and headed to Ashkelon and straight to the Marina for some lunch. I needed some comfort food so I went with the fish and chips, excellent choice although the fish wasn't as fresh as I like it. Pidgeon had a pizza and his folks split a salad and eggplant drenched in garlicky techina. We went back to the apartment, unpacked, got into our swimsuits and went to the building next door to invade their pool. It was delicious to take a dip! Unfortunately, we were only there for 30 minutes before the pool closed for Shabbos. Bummer. I was really enjoying the water. Oh well, next time we'll just have to go out earlier so we can spend some more time. The pool in Pidgeon's parents building is almost done, with some water already being added to test the new pool. I'm praying that by the time we go out there in August, everything will be good to go! I'd love to spend some serious time in the pool.

I'm in end of the year countdown and it's really exciting! I can't believe I have 3 weeks left until the end of the program! In terms of work, that means 7 short stories to go! 6 of those are for my thesis and 1 is for my Assimilation in American Literature course. I already handed in my paper for my Holocaust Literature class at our last meeting last Tuesday. It felt great to get that off my plate. And, I continue to pray that I passed my philosophy exam so I can dump all my study materials and just move on. I will be pretty devastated if I failed the course. That would suck.

Pidgeon's brother and nephew are coming on Tuesday night for a few days and I can't wait! He's bringing me some American hot dogs that I've been craving! We've nicknamed the fetus "Hot Dog" because that's ALL I want to eat. I've explained this in an earlier post, but unfortunately my cravings haven't changed at all. I'm still all about tearing into flesh. Speaking of which, I think I'm going to defrost some chicken legs now. Hopefully, that will satisfy the teeny, tiny beast within. 

Happy Sunday from Baka!