First Steps

Did I mention I signed the lease for my new apartment?

It seems like the last two months have been busy with the self imposed apartment hunting, and as glad I am to be moving next week, I realised that really am going to miss the neighbourhood that I am leaving. Baka has been my home since my second week in Israel. Five months at Ulpan Etzion were followed by a move round the corner in a shopping cart. Eighteen months later, I have accumulated much more, received a lift, and got hold of furniture. It's going to take more than a shopping cart to carry out this move.

While I do have many good friends in the area I am moving to, and numerous on the same street, I am going to miss the Derech Bet Lechem crowd that I have discovered over the last four or five weeks. At least my new place is just a half hour walk away. By this time next week I will imagine I will have boxes scattered all over the place and be cursing the decision to move.

Aliya is all about stages. The first year is said to be the worst, although that wasn't the case for me. In one respect my move will mark the beginning of a new chapter and as my second anniversary in Israel fast approaches, trying something new seems appropriate.

This week I accomplished a few other things for the first time. I now carry an international MasterCard, that can be used both in Israel and abroad. For those of you reading this from other countries, this will not sounds like much of a feat, but banking here is not like the Western world, thus my MasterCard is noteworthy.

In four days, nine hours and ten minutes, the Goralah HaGadolah will be drawn, and after hearing the חמישים מילליום הלוואי עלי jingle during every commercial break on TV and radio, I caved and purchased a lottery ticket. I approached the orange lottery selling booth in the middle of the street, and instantly felt like an oleh. Playing the lottery is not difficult, but when you have never done it before, you have to find out how. It transpires that it is just like the National Lottery in the UK, same coloured tickets and all, but the interaction was one of a kind.

My third first of the week actually happened before the other two. A friend of mine held a viewing for his Hitnatkut movie. Since the Disengagement of 2005, not much has been said or done to bring it to my attention, but this piece was great. If I get round it it, I will post my feelings of the political sham we are witnessing and describe my dislike of Olmert and the danger he poses to Israel, but for now, let me just say the documentary I watched was an excellent piece of Media.

Another week is coming to a close, Thursday night is party night, Shabbat is for the recovery, and next week I really need to start packing.

Shame about the Landlord

Moving house is meant to be stressful, it's supposed to be a big deal but in the past I have always been lucky. I moved into my current place after friends had an opening, signed a lease six months later, and my landlady and I get on amazingly. I send her money, she fixes things ... walla.

Now I have a moving story.

After seeing five or six apartments on Tuesday, we found the place we liked. Not only did we like the place, but it was ideal. It met all our needs and had more space than we knew what to do with. The location was ideal, right in the heart of Katamon (Palmach) yet set away from the street in a secluded garden. There were two lounge areas, a kitchen, three bathrooms, kitchenette and massive bedrooms. The garden was equally as large, and the neighbouring building was unoccupied so there could be no noise issues.

We negotiated the price and managed to get $200/month off the asking price, and made our deposit and signed an agreement stating the apartment was ours. I went to work on cloud nine. My minds eye had decorated, arranged, invited, partied, and was already living in the new apartment. We gave little thought to the fact the landlord was a little odd, and used words like vibe, karma, jingle and zone way too often.

At 4pm, Mr Landlord "gave me a jingle" on my cell phone and told me the deal couldn't go through. He wasn't giving me any straight answers and started referring outstanding debts, lawsuits, problems with the Vaad Bayit (maintenance officers for the building) and other loose, meaningless statements.

Angry that this deal wasn't going through, I met Mr Landlord to try and get to the bottom of this and make our agreement stand, or at least get the deposit back.

To cut a long story short, Arnona hadn't been paid for three years, water bills for a year, he was being sued, and to top it all off, it wasn't his property to rent out. Mr Landlord was a tenant himself, and wanted to quick cash. IT WASN'T HIS HOUSE! Don't worry, it gets better.

He spent some of our deposit.

By now I have run out of words. I'm dealing with a guy that doesn't have a grasp on logic. His lack of understanding made it acceptable to spend our money, and then return some of it to us when he realised his scam would come back and bite him on the arse later on. The fake landlord guy is eager to return home, someone is coming round to buy his guitars from him, so I figured this worked to my advantage. I was happy to come with, and when the sale went through, I would take some of the guitar money to make up for the money he had stolen. More excuses and white lies... I go back to his house anyway.

Having taking his TZ number, Date of Birth, Bank Details, Friends phone numbers, and another document in which he promised to pay, I wasn't sure what else I could do, so I went to chill at a friends apartment.

A few hours pass and I meet with the friends I am looking to rent with and explain what went down over the last few hours. Fuming, we drive to Mr Landlords house at around midnight and wake him from his slumber to request the stolen money. Half an hour of discussion pass, and he offers collateral. He wants to pay, but can't, so he asks us to walk to the other end of the garden, he unlocks the door and puts his massage table outside, and once we hear the gate close, we can come back up the garden and take it.

There was no violence, no force, and no unnecessary hard feeling. Mr Landlord agreed that this was the right path to take, and last night he called to arrange a meeting to exchange cash for table.

In all honesty, the guy screwed us over, but something deep down made him call it off rather than seeing through his plan. We could have lost up to $8000 to this guy had the deal gone through, but something, somewhere, made him see this was a bad plan. Don't get me wrong, I do not like this man and never want to see him again, but I must give credit where credit is due and be grateful that he called off the deal.

Some people are shocked that something like this would happen in Israel. Other don't (want to) believe that this guy is an American. Personally, I don't think an Israeli would try a scam like this.

Anyway, it is back to the drawing board as far as apartment hunting goes. At least we came out of it with a story to share and a lesson to learn. Shabbat Shalom.

Five Year Plan

Not only is it the start of a new year for all, but this week brings my own year to another beginning. As sun set on Jerusalem last night and everyone entered their sukkot, my Hebrew Birthday started, and as of Wednesday I will be a year older in the diaspora world too. The New Year and Birthday combo provide an excellent opportunity for a fresh start and new direction, and I am planning to do just that and write myself a new five year plan.

First of all, I will not be going to university this year, instead I intend to sit the psychometri and get into a course I really want to study rather than the options the Hebrew U presented me with. All being well, I know exactly which university and degree I have my eye on, and I even have some back up plans too. I plan to register for a psychometri course and take the test at the first opportunity.

Secondly, I am moving. The time has come for fresh walls and a new living scenario. For now I have ruled out Tel Aviv and wish to relocate within Jeruslaem. Katamon is a large factor in my desire to move. I spend a lot of time walking to and from the neighbourhood, many of my friends live there, and I want to be closer. If you know me well, the chances are you'll have heard another of the big factors behind me wanting to move.

The coming year will give me the chance to work, study and save some cash to aid me through school the year after. All being well, I hope to visit the US this year, and somewhere down the line a visit to the Queen's England might be on the cards. There have been talks of going to Italy and or Amsterdam with friends, but I doubt I will be able to afford four international trips in one year. One thing at a time.

One other change is on the cards. The blog.

For a while I have contemplated an end to my blogging. For now it will be a slowdown. The initial aliya-wow stage had plenty for me to write about, for that reason I want to keep my archives online for anyone seeking aliya information. I know for some this is like a group email delivered to your inbox so I will update every month or so. For more regular contact I guess we'll just have to email or speak to each other!

Technically I am still an Oleh Chadash, but the chadash is wearing off and it is time to change gear. I have found direction and I feel confident that the powers that be will give me the green light. The new year is upon us and I am ready to make it the best year yet.