November 11, 2003

Alison on Aliyah:  Ignorance is bliss?

            So yesterday was my one-month anniversary – I can barely believe that I’ve already been in Israel for over four weeks.  In an odd, cosmic commemoration of the date, I somehow succeeded in receiving my teudat zehut (identity card) yesterday, even though the strike is still in full force.  Even though I certainly have a long way to go in all other aspects, on paper, I am now officially an Israeli citizen.

            I know that everyone is wondering when the excitement will wear off, when the honeymoon will be over.. I have to admit, I’ve caught myself wondering that as well.  But to be honest, I am still so happy to be here, and so genuinely committed to my goals and plans here.  It is such a relief, after all the uncertainty, to feel so utterly content with my decision to make aliyah.  I can honestly say that I have never made a decision in my life that has felt so right.

            Of course, there are the little annoyances and difficulties here, and I have certainly passed through the phase in which I found them charming and endearing.  The strike of all government offices, customs, and ports – even the airport for four hours last week! – is making it close to impossible to complete the mounds of paperwork involved in my aliyah.  I am finding it difficult to furnish an apartment without a car, and every little journey to the market leaves me feeling like a pack-mule on my return trip.  I found my first cockroach in my apartment two weeks ago, which everyone assured me would not be my last.  I absolutely hate having to get up every morning 45 minutes earlier than I need to in order to turn on the hot water boiler (the solar powered heater doesn’t work much in the winter).  I have found that every shopkeeper over the age of 40, regardless of his level of physical attractiveness or personal hygiene, clearly feels an irresistible urge to pinch my cheeks and remark about my “youthful beauty.”  And every dog in the country, it seems, wants nothing more from my dog than to hump her until the sun goes down!  We’re adjusting.

            I’ve also found that everyone I meet seems to have at least one helpful piece of advice.  As I walked out of my apartment last week, I encountered a woman who immediately pulled me aside, gestured to two men up the alley, and furtively informed me that they were involved in a drug deal and that it was “very dangerous.”  Yes, apparently I have two drug dealers on my street, and this woman felt it necessary to tell me all about them.  Another of my neighbors told me the same thing weeks ago and assured me it is no problem at all and “just one of those things.”  Five minutes after extricating myself from the “helpful” woman, I encountered a man who smiled at my dog and then proceeded to tell me that “those Orthodox Jews” frequently scatter rat poison pills all over the dog park in order to “kill all the animals.”  Of course, he knew a guy who knew a guy who knew someone whose dog was killed this way.  Other people have thoughts about what cable service I should get.. which Hebrew classes to attend.. oh, I have to sign up with this cell phone company and not that one..

            I find myself wondering if ignorance really is bliss.  Many of these seemingly useful bits of information are not, to be honest, things I really want to know.  I would have been perfectly happy not knowing that, of all the streets in my neighborhood, my particular alley is drug-infested.  And I certainly would have been happier at the dog park if I did not have to worry that everything my dog picks up might kill her instantly.  Sometimes I wish everyone wasn’t so helpful!  But most of the time I have an overwhelming sense of empowerment, with all the advantages and disadvantages that accompany it.  Everyone told me that it would be easier to just go to an absorption center, where I wouldn’t have to think about things like utilities and laundry and phone bills.. but I am so glad that I went against the grain.  Every little task I accomplish feels huge, and satisfying:  securing a phone line, getting my cable hooked up, starting my classes, buying a lamp.  Every obstacle that I overcome, every hurdle I jump, just makes me feel more proud of myself, more independent, and more successful at the little challenge that has become my aliyah.  Ignorance be damned, I am an empowered olah!