Almost a Year

In another few weeks we reach our first aliyahversary.  For those of you out there thinking of aliyah, I can now tell you that after the first year you...um...uh....what was the question?

We have a lovely apartment, new friends, work, a car, and of course two of our children living nearby.  We still can't believe we are here.

I mean that in the butterflies and violin music way.

I also mean that in the oh my goodness what have we done way.

We are definitely still in shock. 

Things we never thought we'd be doing at this point in our lives:

• Secretarial work (me)
• Working at home and doing everything together. every. single. day
• Sweeping my house every day like the Israeli version of Cinderella
• Checking the bank account every day to make sure we have enough money
• Turning the heat and a/c off to save money
• Getting rid of cable!  To save money!  Horrors!
• Spending 1/2 hour before a doctor visit to make sure I have the vocabulary right
• Listening to little children and wishing I could speak as well as they do
• Going to the Post Office to pick up any piece of mail over 6 inches in size
• Avoiding buying anything in the supermarket that requires that I speak to someone behind the counter
• Not being able to express myself how and when I want to, in any situation, when Hebrew is required

But then there are other things that we never imagined we'd be able to do:

• See the walls of the Old City every few weeks
• See five of my grandkids whenever I want to
• See two of my kids whenever I want to
• See a huge mix of Jews that are completely and utterly different from anything I've ever known
• See archaeological sites pop up on roadsides where construction crews have found remnants of ancient Jewish buildings
• Experience an entire country getting into Jewish holidays a month beforehand
• Look out every day onto the Judean hills and views of the towns outside Jerusalem
• Hold a conversation in Hebrew - a short, simple one, but still

So all in all we feel very fortunate to be home, and b"H things have gone very well. We would not want to be anywhere else, when all is said and done, and while we miss our friends and family, we do not miss living outside of Israel. 

This is where we want to be.  Nothing has ever felt so right. 

OK, gotta go sweep.