After spending a wonderful Shabbat with our friends in Modi’in, we drove to the local shopping center and bought a few provisions, before heading North to our new rental home, in the Golan. While shopping, we stopped in an appliance store and looked at the refrigerators, assuming that we would need one right away for our new home.
Appliances:
In the large cities, the stores have a wonderful selection of refrigerators, and the most reliable ones are made by the Japanese companies, Samsung, LG, Sanyo, etc. A large Samsung refrigerator, in brushed steel finish, was about $1300 USD. It was bigger than our GE refrigerator in the states and it had an ice cube maker. After reading many suggestions about bringing appliances, if you don’t want to bother with trying to find 220v stuff in the USA, I’d suggest that you shop in Israel for items like this, the prices aren’t that much different. And buying the appliance here insures you have a valid warranty with repair options. Note that the ovens, and washer and dryers seem to be the noteable exceptions here. They are NOT the same size as comparable USA style items. They are smaller and less efficient.
We continued onto the new “toll road” Hwy. 6 in Israel that runs from the hi-tech park of Haifa in the North down to the Beer-sheva area in the South. This road is very modern and the usual speeds approach 80 mph in the fast lane, so be prepared for an autobahn style experience, where there are huge commerical trucks traveling at 50mph in the slow lane and impatient car drivers traveling 30 mph faster in the left lane(s). It is by far the quickest route to the North. We have taken the coastal routes, and they are much slower due to signals and a high volume of traffic. Highway 6 is interesting for new citizens to drive, because it passes through the main Israeli Arab areas of the country. We realized how large the Arab population is in Israel, and how modern their cities and infrastructure are in those areas. Of course we realized that the biased media always portrays the Arabs as downtrodden and economically disadvantaged here. Not so, my fellow T.V. generation Americans. Contrary to what “they” tell you, the majority of the Arab population’s living conditions rival the Jewish cities. Enough said.
After getting off the toll road, getting to the Golan requires carefully negotiating several different two lane mountain style roads. There is not one straight path to the Golan. We have explored many different routes, so there are choices, but they all involve twisty roads. A word of caution. The center dividing line seems to be only a suggestion in the Golan. Cars and especially large trucks, tend to stray over the center divider, so DO NOT hug the center of the road. I have come to learn to drive as close to the right shoulder as practicable. There are not too many bicyclists or pedestrians on the roads in the North, so it has not been a problem for me to do so. And it has saved me from many potential “close calls” with meandering opposing vehicles.
Katzrin delight:
We stopped in Katzrin, which is the site of the Regional Council’s offices (read: county seat for us Americans). There is a wonderful Schwarma/Schnitzel restaurant here, near the Golan museum and Bank Leumi. Just look for the IDF soldiers congregating outside, and you’ll have the right establishment. Even the U.N. soldiers drive for miles to eat at this place, it is that good! We picked up two “foot-long” sandwiches and headed for Moshav En Zivan, where our first home in Israel, awaited us. On the way, our landlord phoned us and he said he was awaiting our arrival. I should say that our landlord befriended us on our pilot trip to Israel. Divine providence put us in touch with this kind man of Irish decent, who also happened to be one of the most politically connected men in the Golan. He is also a fellow, “Jew by choice” which immediately endeared him to us. Over the 2 years of preparation to move to Israel, this wonderful man has made it a point to help us and ensure our successful transition.
We arrived at our newly constructed home, with its new wood patios and windows, to find our landlord putting the finishing touches on our fully stocked kitchen, with refrigerator, stove, tea kettle, toaster and oven! The local “Welcome Wagon” had baked us brownies, cakes, bread, and pitas! There were plates of fresh local fruits and vegetables! Even a couple bottles of wine! We were absolutely overwhelmed with the graciousness of our new neighbors and friends! We could not believe our eyes. Our landlord had purchased completely outfitted the house so that we lacked nothing. We had a bed, comforter, linens, a new looking leather couch, table, chairs, and even a side tables for the bedroom.
I cannot express how grateful we were to see this outpouring of care and concern for our well fare. It made the huge uncertainty of this move, so much easier on us. Talk about the epitome of brotherly love for fellow Jews and making “outsiders” feel welcomed. This was a magnificent display. But, I can honestly say, that so far, in our experiences here in Israel, people have gone out of their way to be kind and helpful, once they realized we were Olim!
In the ensuing days, our neighbors came with more provisions and helped us navigate the healthcare and DMV bureaucracies. They also sat and visited with us, in English, so that we would feel at home!
The Golan experience:
Our financial situation is different from many Olim, in that we are older and do not have to worry about commuting to work each day. But, if you can afford it or have agricultural experience, I’d suggest taking a look at the Golan as a place to settle here in Israel. We left Modi’in when it was in the high 90’s on Monday. We arrived in the Golan, En Zivan, and the temp was in the low 80’s. EVERY afternoon here, a southerly wind blows, that cools the area off rapidly. This natural air conditioning allows residents to just open their windows and cool the house, no need for A/C, although our house has two of them. At night, this breeze keeps up and it is down right cold! We were pleasantly surprised to be using blankets and quilts at night, while enjoying shorts and sandals weather during the day! Our second day here, real weather blew in and in the evening low clouds passed along the Golan making everything wet with foggy conditions, Baruch H’’!
That’s the good news. Now for the hairy news. Our second night here, the wind was blowing, and I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, as my wife and I talked in bed. The lights were off, so I thought a leaf was blowing past the sliding glass bedroom door. BUT when the “leaf” changed direction, I realized it was a critter, AND it was on the wrong side of the glass door, inside with us! I got up and discovered “it” was the BIGGEST tarantula spider I had ever seen! (I was fascinated with these spiders as a child, so I’ve seen many in the wild and in zoo displays). It was light colored and had a huge abdomen and thorax. My wife was even less amused than I was. I gingerly opened the screen door, and awaited our hairy house guest’s departure. It crawled outside, into the foggy abyss. My wife promptly got up and began to stuff magazine pages crumpled into all the unplugged wiring holes in our newly constructed home.
Later the next day, we saw a tortoise in the roadway, and I got out and moved him so that he didn’t get squished by the next car. We’ve seen foxes, cattle, and have heard jackels howling at night, so you will have to live with the critters if you choose to make the Golan your home.
I do not have internet yet, so I am writing this blog entry on a word document and will post it once “Bezeq” the national phone company, completes our WiFi set up in a few days.
We will start Ulpan next week, the government’s Hebrew training courses. More on that, later. Shalom.
