Sushi Food Baby

I woke up this morning and I still have the sushi induced food baby from yesterday's amazing but overindulgent lunch at Sushi Bar Rechavia. We absolutely love that restaurant, we can't get enough of it, and since I ate 1/2 an egg and 1/2 a pepper for breakfast and lunch, I was starving when Pidgeon picked me up at the Tachanah after class. We decided to treat ourselves since I learned I'm getting some money back from the University, and sushi is our ultimate gift! It was so worth the bloated belly and the swollen soy sauce cheeks. We can't wait until next week when they open up their second location in the old Faza restaurant (Katamon). I bet it will be difficult to get a table there too, but man it's sure going to be worth the wait! 

Yesterday at school was comical. I should start with Monday night, when I woke up every 2 hours to make sure I didn't miss my alarm. I have 3 classes left in this semester and I absolutely cannot miss anyone of them! Unfortunately, we're learning Walt Whitman in class and I am not a fan of his. I thought Songs of Myself was pretentious, although I enjoyed Crossing Brooklyn Ferry. Next week is Benjamin Franklin and I'm sure that's going to be exciting reading. Well, as I've written before, I'm still trying to get my Philosophy final from last year scheduled. It's a complete nightmare.

Another friend of mine is in the same boat and we managed to track down Professor Harvey who told us he would be happy to give us the test next week. He said he would bring in the exam on March 25th and so we thought we were good to go. Wrong. We have to deal with the Mador Bechinot office, which is the department that schedules exams. When they looked into my details on the computer, it showed that I only have permission to take the exam at the end of the year with this year's students. The problem is because of the SECOND strike, that exam won't be until after July 31st and we're planning on being out of the Country in August. So, once again, I have a situation that needs to be handled. 

Well, after Pidgeon called around to many offices, I was sent once again to Luna in the Toar Sheni office in the Tower. She is not a pleasant woman to say the least, and in Hebrew she explained that just because we worked out a test date with our Professor, doesn't mean they have to give us a special test. Now, both my friend and I will be out of the Country this summer, so we have no choice but to schedule the exam now. So, Luna told us that we need to get 1) letter from the Professor stating that he is aware of the situation and would be willing to give us our own exam and 2) letter from the English department attesting to the fact that, with the completion of this final, we have no other tests that need to take place to finish our Masters. Also, that this year is the conclusion of our academic requirements before submitting our thesis.

It doesn't end there folks. Once we have those letters written and signed, then we have to go back to Luna and she will assess the situation and write us another letter. AFTER Luna gives us that letter, then we have to take it to Mador Bechinot to have them schedule the exam. And, apparently, they can do it at their own choosing. 

Oh, and did I mention that I have to pay 120 shekel for the right to take this final at another date? Yeah, the students strike last year and the Professors strike this year, and I have to pay because they put me out. I have half a mind to insist that I not pay for something that was completely out of my control, we'll see just how much fight I have left in me when this is all over and done with.

What annoyed me the most about this process is that, once again, the English Creative Writing program administrators continue to pass the buck. Once we realized that this was getting out of hand - and that our Hebrew just isn't up to par to deal with these departments who insist they do not speak a word of English - we went to find Judy. She is our program's coordinator and, it was our understanding, the go-to person when we truly need help. Last year, she was actually quite helpful with some issues I was dealing with regarding my Teudat Zehut number and name change. We went looking for her in the English department building and literally ran right into her on the steps. She listened to our problem and then told us to talk to the secretaries at the English department office.

WTF?

I was and still am extremely disappointed and angered that she totally blew us off about this issue. When I described what we are going through to my Father last night, he asked where my program's student advocate was? I told him, as far as I could tell, she was out to lunch. At least, that was how she treated us when we spoke to her yesterday.

Way to pass the buck Judy! 

Moving on. 

Well, the back and forth between people and departments left me feeling a bit frustrated and that only go worse when I had to wait 45 minutes for the 400 bus back to Jerusalem! The bus, of course, was packed and I managed to snag a seat in the back and zoned out to my iPod for the entire ride. Pidgeon was waiting for me when I got off the bus and boy was I thrilled to see him! We went out for sushi and the funniest thing happened to me.

I actually got heckled by a Charedi 8 year old boy. I kid you not.

We were walking down towards Azza Street where Sushi Bar Rechavia is located and the traffic was backed up because schools were out and people were starting to head home from their long days. Anyway, I have been wearing a shmata on my head because I'm trying out the whole married women covering their hair Halacha but I also wear pants (two separate Halachot people, two separate Halachot). Anyway, Pidgeon and I were holding hands and walking down the block, when the kid yells out the window to me that I should go home and put on a skirt because I'm a religious married woman who covers her hair and shouldn't be wearing pants!

I got such a great chuckle out of it, we were laughing for a while! I was tempted to yell back that dinosaurs were real but held my tongue. No reason to instigate a Charedi 8 year old. It was the highlight of my day though, the highlight of my day.

We got back to the apartment and the massive amounts of sushi we ate for lunch put me into that food induced stupor where all you want to do is crawl into bed and watch TV. I did manage to do a load of laundry though, which was good since Pidgeon was running out of clean clothing. 

And, as we usually try to do on Tuesday night, thought we'd get an early night's sleep. Were we wrong. I called my sister to check in around 11:30 p.m. and she told me that the kids wanted to do a webcam call with us. Well, I was not going to give that up and THEN she told me that my older sister set up her webcam as well. So, the three parties in Israel, Cleveland and Silver Spring, MD all tried to tripple webcam conference at the same time. But, Skype doesn't let you do a three-way conference webcam call - only a three-way conference call. That was good to know in and of itself, so next time we need to do some sort of "family phone meeting", it will be possible.

Well, we decided to do separate calls with each house and, since Pidgeon and I needed to get to bed sooner rather than later, we go to be first. We called my sister in Cleveland and my brother-in-law had both kids on his lap. We had such fun talking to them! They are B"H absolutely adorable children! After 20 minutes of chatting and catching up, we said our goodbyes and my niece leaned in and tried to hug me through the computer. She hugged the computer screen people - how adorable is that!!!!!! It made my heart melt just a bit inside.

Then, we called my older sister in Silver Spring, and I almost started crying! We haven't seen each other since our Sheva Brachot this August! That's just way too long to go without seeing my sister! My other niece and nephew aren't as excited about seeing us through the computer, although my 7 year old nephew did come to tell us about his soccer game this past Sunday. My sister managed to coax my niece out of her bedroom, but she ran in the background and away from the camera - screamed that she didn't want to talk to us because she was watching TV - and then ran back to her room. We saw her running, and it was adorable, so we didn't feel bad. It was wonderful just being able to talk to my sister though, and to see her while we were talking, that I'm hoping we can do it again either today or on Purim so we can see everyone in costume!

I love modern technology. The webcam just makes me so happy! It makes me feel less lonely, and I miss everyone a little bit less, when we can see them so often online! I can't wait to set up the webcam for my parents next! That would be really, really perfect!

Well, I think I'm going to try to get some writing done this morning while Pidgeon is off at school! 

Yom Tov from Baka!

Shattered Glass

I should be writing a press release for work right now, but I'm too tired from the marathon of Wii bowling that took place in our living room yesterday. I figured I would just update the blog since its been a while. Last week was pretty uneventful. I spent Wednesday baking these beautiful chocolate cakes for Mishloach Manot. I am using the smallest loaf pans I can find and, since we're trying to save on some money, I thought I could eek out 8 loafs per chocolate cake batter. I now have 3 cakes that are too stingy to give to anyone; Pidgeon isn't complaining. He ate an entire tin after they sufficiently cooled down. 

Thursday is a blur of activities which included an early morning eye exam out in Modiin and then afternoon cleaning before we hit the gym. I passed out early Thursday night and we got a welcomed early morning phone call from Pidgeon's brother who is in this week from London. Since we were eating at the shul dinner on Friday night, I had a few quick items to cook for Shabbos lunch. 

Friday night, we joined Pidgeon's family at their shul's dinner in Jerusalem. I am not saying the name of the shul because anyone who is reading this, who was there, will know immediately who I am. We were the youngest table in the place and, while I thought the dinner was very night as a gathering, we did feel a bit out of place. The interesting part of the night was when the waiters were putting out the main meal. The glass plate came with a slab of mystery meat (it was nasty) and a roasted pargit (the chicken thigh off the bone), a spoonful of tzimmis, a spoonful of broccoli and a wedge of potato kugel. My plate was pretty stingy and I was absolutely starving as I always forget to eat on Fridays when I'm cooking. I passed on the gfilta fish first course and they made me up a nice salad plate with no dressing, and I gave Pidgeon all of the noodles from my soup so all I had left was a bit of broth, so you can imagine how unhappy I was with no meat on my plate. Well, after I tasted a bite of the mystery beef, I stopped complaining. Meanwhile, we were on the opposite side of the table from Pidgeon's brother, so we decided to delay digging into our plates of food and went around the table to catch up with him. My sister-in-law was helping my 2 1/2 year old niece with her plate, when suddenly the entire plate just shattered. It literally splintered into a million pieces - all still on the table - and right underneath their hands. My niece started to reach for a piece of food when we grabbed her hands and my sister-in-law jumped out. She started to cry (my sister-in-law, not my niece) and we calmed her down and the waitstaff came and quickly cleaned everything up and gave them a new plate. I thought it was ironic, in a room where the average age was 75, the 2 1/2 year old's plate would burst. B"H, no one was hurt. I ate the icing off of Pidgeon's dessert chocolate cake and we walked home a few hours later. The dinner was nice but exhausting, and I had an early morning wake up call the next day so I was happy to get some much needed sleep.

Shabbos was uneventful. We went to shul so I could hear Zachor, and then we came home, ate lunch and slept the rest of Shabbos away. We had a huge list of Purim errands to run though, so we spent the night at the extremely crowded Malcha Mall. Next time there's a Beitar game though, I'm not going anywhere near that place. The mall was a complete zoo! I am very anti-crowds, so I was not happy to be in such a claustrophobic place. Fortunately, we were able to do our errands quickly. We also decided to go see the 10:00 p.m. showing of The Kite Runner, which wasn't as disturbing as the book. I managed to pick up a short red head wig, thinking I would wear it with my Purim costume, and then vetoing it once I tried it on with the outfit. We also picked up some cute presents for Pesach for the kids, and I still need to get something else for my nephew. I hope we don't forget to bring him back something! 

The movie let out late and the entire mall was closed. We walked practically in the dark towards our car and I was not pleased with the eeriness of it all. I was very happy once we got home. Yesterday, we slept in and then spent the entire day with Pidgeon's 9 year old niece. Since she's also in from London, we wanted to make sure she had a great time, and we designed this whole day in her honor. First, we introduced her to our new Wii ( a great babysitter where the children get exercise, so it's better than TV!) and after a few quick games, we took her to the candy store in Talpiot. We handed her two bags and told her she could fill them up for Mishloach Manot (one for her, and one for her family). Well, now I understand the kid in a candy store saying, as she filled her bag to the brim with goodies! She also wanted an ice cream, so we gave her one, and I wasn't surprised when she complained about a stomach ache a few hours later. After dropping 75 shekel on their Mishloach Manot alone, we stopped into this great cookware store in Talpiot, drove back home, an went out for lunch on Emek. We love Marvad so we went there, and my niece picked at her plate while Pidgeon and I devoured our food. We stopped off to get the new Cinderella 2 DVD, a scoop of parve ice cream, and then came back. At that point, I was ready for a nap but his niece was raring to go. She watched the DVD and then insisted on playing against me Wii bowling. I am aching so much today, it's comical. I finally managed to beg her to watching some TV and stop with the Wii bowling, which she did until her Father came to pick her up. It's exhausting watching a 9 year old all day! I wonder how people do it with no activity planned!

Today, because of the Wii bowling extravaganza, I tried to sleep on. Somehow, Pidgeon's alarms kept ringing at 2 minute intervals - for an entire hour - that I begrudgingly got out of bed. We got dressed and davened and then went to the gym. I'm glad we went as my workout was difficult but much needed. We got back a few minutes ago and, after some brunch and a hot shower, I'm trying desperately to keep my eyes open. I can't believe it's already 3:15 p.m., where has to day gone! Fortunately, tomorrow is school and that means a very early morning wake up call for me. Hopefully, I'll get out of bed in time. There's 4 weeks of classes to go until Pesach and I can't wait!

New York City - here we come!

You Pay Now!

Yesterday was take your husband to school day and so Pidgeon woke up bright and early, got dressed, packing a snack and his sketch pad, and we hit the road. We were really lucky that the traffic towards Bar Ilan from Jerusalem wasn't that bad, and we made it just in time for class! We spent the entire day focused on Emerson's Self-Reliance and the conversation about individualism and conformity was pretty interesting. Class went by pretty fast and Pidgeon really liked the topic. Plus, he got in some solid sketch time, which worked well for both of us.

After class, we went over to Schar Limmud to find out where the check was. To backtrack a bit, I am a Minhal Hastudentim student, which means that they pay for my tuition. Last year, by the time I finished up with Minhal Hastudentim, I was owed the full tuition I paid back since the agency now covered me. As soon as I put in my paperwork, I got a check a couple weeks later. This year, with the strike and everything, I paid the initial bill and then worked everything out with Minhal Hastudentim. I had to show them my transcript but one Professor, who taught two of my classes, hadn't gotten around to giving me a grade until November. Nevertheless, about 6 weeks ago, I went to Schar Limmud with the paperwork and we have been checking the mailbox ever since. 

We waited patiently in line and then went inside to meet with the kindest worker Bar Ilan has on staff. I told him that Pidgeon was my Hebrew and we started out meeting. That's when it got all comical. He told me there was a problem with my paperwork. He said that, Minhal Hastudentim last year covered me 111% out of 200% that they can cover for a second degree. He said that the percentage is determined based on hours on campus. Now, since I am only taking 2 courses this year, I am only up to 89% and Minhal Hastudentim were only covering me for 50% and so I actually owe them more money. I was very confused and first started on the percentage issue. He said that 4% is from the Jewish studies requirement. I told him that I was exempt from the second Jewish studies requirement because of my seminary year 12 years ago. He them said that while I am academically not required to take the second Jewish studies course, I still am financially required to. So I was surprised that they would going to charge me to pay for credits on a course that I was told I didn't have to take. That, to me, seemed really lousy for a University to do. Make me pay for not having taken the course? I might as well take the course then if I have to pay for it. It seemed a bit ridiculous to have me pay for something they told me I didn't have to take. So then the nice man told us we had to go to Talam on campus and ask them if I am financially required to pay for something I was academically not required to do. But, I countered, and said that I am 100% covered by Minhal Hastudentim, so should that we covered by them regardless? He told me that the computer showed that I was only covered 50% but he would double check. He walked back with a big folder with the paperwork and took 5 minutes to find my name. And, voila, there it was in black and white. I was covered by them this year 100%. OK great, we said, when can we expect our check. Well, the nice man met with a few of his superiors in the office and came back all smiles and said that of course he has to pay us our money, etc. I was happy that Pidgeon was there to translate because the whole situation was confusing and really made no sense. He checked his computer, frowned, and then told me that there was another small problem. They hadn't charged me for the Shmirah for the year. Basically, each Bar Ilan student has to pay 240 shekel (add 4 shekel to that for bank processing fees) a year for campus security. So, Pidgeon asked if I paid last year, and the man said that I had. I am more than happy to pay the security fee, especially since I think it's a necessary service, so we asked him what we do next. He printed out a 240 shekel bill, told me that I had to pay it by Friday, and then said that the check would be in the mail around March 20th. Believe me, we will be checking, as we can really use that cash back. Now, I decided not to be a pain about this, but if Minhal Hastudentim are covering me 100% this year, and I'm only in school for 89% of the 100%, what happens to the remaining 11%? I'm sure that's more than 240 shekels, couldn't they have deducted that fee from the money the Minhal Hastudentim were giving them? Again, they are giving the school 100% of the money, even though I'm only using 89% of it. When it comes to security though, I decided to just pay it. But, I think someone in the Bar Ilan administration is pocketing my 11%. I hope they buy themselves something pretty with my money.

Side point, but had we not gone and asked about the money status, we never would have known there was a problem. I hate that they do that, and I honestly believe the University does it on purpose. When it comes to money, they will not run to return a cent even if it's not legally there's. Had I not been hyper-vigilant about this, I never would have know about the problem and we would still be waiting for the check that was supposed to be "in the mail" weeks ago! I lost a lot of respect for the Bar Ilan administration yesterday and didn't ask him why no one bothered to tell me about the issue in the first place because, as I've experience dealing with money issues in Israel before,  I know I wouldn't have gotten a satisfactory answer. 

To celebrate sorting out this issue, we decided to grab some lunch at the Aroma off campus. We sat in the outdoor area and had tuna salads and tuna sandwiches and enjoyed the nice Spring like weather. In a few weeks, it will be just so swealtering that I doubt I'll be able to sit outside like that. I'm not looking forward to the really hot weather, although it will be nice to shlep less stuff during the day. After lunch, we decided not to do our Tel Aviv errands, and came back to Jerusalem.

I was supposed to start my Mishloach Manot baking yesterday but, since I woke up at 6:00 a.m., was too wiped to start. Instead, we spent the rest of the afternoon watching some TV, and then when Pidgeon went for a haircut, I made dinner. We had a really nice, relaxing, dinner and then I decided to try to fix my shaytels before Shabbos. With it being Parshat Zachor this weekend, I have not choice but have to get myself to shul on Shabbos day. I like to have options to wear a wig, in case I don't want to wear a hat, so I needed to make sure they were both in decent condition. It was not easy wielding a hot iron and working on my wigs, but it was worth it and they both look really great. I was pleased that I saved a lot of money! It would have cost me 140 shekel each to have someone in Har Nof wash and blow dry my wigs, this way I was able to do it at home for free!

We went to bed fairly early and I was up at 9:00 to call the Dr. I've been dealing with blood test after blood test for the past few months regarding a potential blood clotting issue. I found Dr. Varon, who is apparently "the best" hematologist in Jerusalem, and have been waiting for my test results so I can follow up with him. The results take a month to get and when we finally picked them up on the 9th, I immediately called to speak with him. He told us to fax over the results and then asked me to call him this morning to discuss. At 9:00 am on the dot, I called him and he basically told me that These results cannot be discussed over the telephone, you must come in and meet with me. Not something I wanted to hear, and so I've basically been in a panic all morning. He told us to call him after 3:00 p.m. so he could let us know if he can squeeze us into his schedule. 

Well, I certainly hope he can see us today because now I'm pretty frantic. What could this mean? 

Anyway, I'm going to go and bake a batch of chocolate cakes for Purim now and hope that will easy the tension a bit.  If not, I'm sure the gym later today will make me feel better. 

Yom Tov from Baka!