Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, we are all very relieved that things have quietened down over in Israel. It was very surreal to be observing it all from afar. We are aware that the ceasefire is a controversial choice, but at this point we are just pleased that our friends and family, especially those in the south, can have some well-earned respite.

Meanwhile things here have been plodding on quietly. This Thursday was Thanksgiving, and luckily Tzofia had learned all about it and was able to fill us in on all the salient points. She explained about the Pilgrims arriving on the Mayflower from England and how the "Nadive Americans" helped them. (When she learns new words here - like "native" - she learns them with an American accent and we all find it rather amusing. Though when she sang adon olam today with an American accent, we found it less amusing.)

We didn't go in for the whole turkey thing (sorry, Americans), but we did get up bright and early on Thursday morning and headed to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan. The kids didn't know what to expect, having only ever experienced the Ra'anana Purim and Yom Ha'atzmaut parades. I think they were half expecting to hear an announcer introducing "rrrrrosh ha'ir, Nahuuuuuuum Chofriiiiiiiii" over the loudspeaker. They certainly weren't prepared for the humungous balloons and the real-life celebrities (not that I'm saying that Nahuuuuuuum Chofriiiii isn't a celebrity....). It was quite an experience and it wasn't freezing cold so we had a good time and proudly added it to our list of quintessentially American things to do.

We then wandered around Manhattan and popped into the enormous Toysrus store in Times Square. We didn't buy anything (aren't we clever?) but the kids got to meet a Lego hulk, so it certainly wasn't a wasted trip:

Yesterday was Black Friday, which is a huge day for sales across America. We were warned by friends here that we should avoid all malls and highways because people go slightly bonkers on Black Friday. Given how much I hate shopping at the best of times, they didn't have to tell me twice and we happily barricaded ourselves in our house all day. I did pop out to the supermarket for a few essentials (no need for highways, thankfully) and was pleased to find it deserted. You see, the locals had bought out the entire shop for Thanksgiving and weren't planning on cooking again for another year, so it was nice and empty (apart from all the Jews of course, who had to cook for Shabbat. I felt bad for them - it was like a self-imposed 2-day yomtov. Poor things....)

Tomorrow we are making a birthday party for Maya. The most exciting part of it is that we are going to Costco tomorrow morning to buy a birthday cake!!! (I have never bought a birthday cake before - I always make it myself and decorate it with sweets in a pathetically amateur fashion - certainly not the kind that people like to brag about on Facebook.) I was told by various American friends that not only are all Costco cakes kosher but they taste really good too. So, as part of our American adventure I agreed to forego the honour of lovingly baking and decorating the cake myself and go the Costco route. I will have to find another way to demonstrate my motherly devotion. Perhaps I will knit her a scarf...

That's all there is to report from here, other than to say that it is now ridiculously cold here, and people are still telling us to wait until the real winter starts. I have a feeling I'll be ordering all our food from Amazon between December and February and homeschooling the children. Well, maybe not.

Worried From Afar

As you can imagine, we are feeling very far away from home right now. It feels very odd not to be experiencing the craziness that so many of our friends and family are going through in Israel. In fact, anything I write here is going to sound frivolous and mundane (even more so than usual), so I will simply say that we are all thinking of everyone there and praying that everyone stays safe.

More Weather

Hi everyone,

We've had a good week over here, and have been really appreciating the abundant electricity in our home. We have enjoyed the light, heat, internet, food storage and device-charging ability. I have been a little less excited about my restored laundry and cooking responsibilities, and, frankly, could have done without those for a few more days. 

The kids went back to school on Monday and managed a FULL week of classes. The school was even kind enough not to give them election day off, as had originally been planned. Election day was fairly exciting here. We followed the inane, incessant speculation on TV for some of the evening, fell asleep on the couch for a couple of hours and then woke up and heard the actual results. A pretty efficient way of doing things if you ask me. The kids all voted in the school mock election - Romney won a landslide victory, no surprises there. And Tzofi exercised her democratic right to vote for her favourite snack. Cookies won by the way, but it was a close race. 

On Sunday, we went to Riverside Park in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, so that Maya could take her new birthday scooter for a test drive. It was great to be out of the house after a pretty intense week, and we had a good time strolling around the park and the nearby streets. We stopped off at a little cafe for a hot chocolate and made our way back to the car to find that we DIDN'T have a parking ticket. So that was a successful outing right there.

Wednesday was the highlight of our US trip so far - it snowed!!! By the end of the day there was a decent 6 inches or so, which was extremely thrilling for our Israeli kids who had never seen proper snow before. Below is a picture of a very happy Maya and Tzofia with Snowman No. 1 which they built as soon as they came home from school. And yes, that is a sugar snap pea for a mouth. 

A slightly lower point of our trip so far was yesterday afternoon, when I experienced my worst ever haircut. I had sought recommendations for a hairdresser who comes to the house and had been inundated with suggestions. So I randomly picked one and showed her 3 photos that we cleverly took after my last haircut 3 days before we left Israel, with just this scenario in mind. However,this woman clearly decided that I needed a new look, and that smooth lines and straight edges were overrated. She happily hacked away at my head until I resembled a crazed maniac. I seriously believe that Eitan could have done a better job. Of course, this is where covering your hair for religious purposes really comes into its own. But while I don't have to suffer the public humiliation of walking around with a ridiculous hairdo, I won't say I haven't noticed my own family members sniggering in the corner when they think I'm not looking. And no, I'm not going to post a photo. 

That's all I have to report for now. Do comment or email and fill us in on your news. Have a great week!

Post-Sandy Post

Hi everyone,
I'm pleased to report that we are all alive and well here in Teaneck, though this week did not pass without some excitement.

The storm was due to hit New Jersey by about 6pm on Monday evening, so on Sunday they cancelled school for Monday and Tuesday. Monday (Maya's birthday) was spent hanging around the house waiting for a hurricane. In fact, Eitan was getting quite impatient and could be heard periodically whining "Where's the stoooooooooooooooorm?" But luckily, things went according to schedule and at precisely 6pm the lights went out, and our power was gone. Thankfully we had a bunch of torches (flashlights) ready for the occasion and everyone found it quite exciting to walk around the house in the dark. For the first half an hour. Then it got a bit annoying. But we figured we could manage with this inconvenience for a couple of days. And it was quite cosy sitting around in candlelight playing wholesome family games and eating junk food. (Because what's a blackout without junk food?)

Monday night we brought all the kids' mattresses into our room and had a big family sleepover. Luckily the storm itself wasn't too scary for us and no trees fell through our windows. The storm was over by the end of Tuesday, but we still had no power and neither did the school, so school was cancelled for Wednesday too. The kids were devastated.

Avrom was also home all this time, but don't worry, he wasn't going to let a silly little hurricane interfere with his work. As part of his pre-storm preparations, in addition to buying the crucial batteries and chocolate eclairs, he had bought a special car adapter with plug sockets, so we could charge the laptops, phones and other devices in the car. So Avrom spent much of the week sitting in the car working, whilst I hung out with the kids in the house and tried to figure out what to make for dinner. We have a gas stove, so we could do some cooking, but the options were fairly limited, partly because we didn't have a working fridge or freezer. I can see that for a creative cook this would have been a fun challenge. Unfortunately I'm not a creative cook so it was just an annoying challenge.

People in Teaneck started getting power back on Thursday, but we did not seem to be one of the chosen few, and neither did the school, unfortunately. By Thursday it started to get pretty cold and Shabbat was looming. The prospect of Shabbat in the cold and dark was surprisingly unappealing, but, in the absence of any other options, I started thinking about shopping and how to make it not completely dire. I spent an hour wandering around the supermarket on Friday morning trying to figure out what we could eat other than tuna sandwiches. When you can't have hot food because you can't heat it up, and you can't have cold food because you have no fridge, what are you supposed to eat? That's right - tuna sandwiches.

Thankfully, the gods looked favourably upon us (or a friend here made some calls) and at midday on Friday I had two phone calls from people with electricity inviting us to stay for Shabbat here in Teaneck. These were not people we know well so it was really kind of them to have us. We stayed at one of them and went to the other for lunch. Shabbat was lovely and we felt very thankful to our hosts.

After Shabbat, I checked my emails and saw that the school had finally got power. Yay!!! Avrom drove home to see if we had power (we didn't) and then went out in search of petrol (gas), which is being rationed because of the crazy gas crisis. Only cars with an odd license plate number could receive gas today (I kid you not). He then came to pick us up from our hosts and  we went about our now familiar routine of lighting candles and throwing a log on the fire for some good old-fashioned heat and light. Then, without any warning, all the lights suddenly went on! It really was the most exciting thing we've experienced in a very long time. The kids were so happy and relieved, and Tzofi was heard squealing: "Yay! Internet!"

So now we are sitting in a bright, warm home and trying to figure out where to go with the kids tomorrow. The 5-day blackout was not high on our list of "fun American experiences" but it's certainly not something we'll forget in a hurry - tho we'd quite like to. Of course the week did have one positive aspect to it: No laundry! Woohoo!

We are now looking forward to a boring week with lots of school and electricity. Oh, and elections.

Have a great week!