Although I regular sent email updates when traveling the past few years, this is my first official blog post (thanks Sharon for setting me up to be a guest blogger!). It’s kind of hard to know where to begin to summarize the first month of aliyah when ever day is so eventful and crazy (or as Abba and I decided, a live unscripted endless version of Seinfeld). As Lisi put it so well, you just can’t make up stories this good. Since so many people have been asking about my experiences and I have a little time before I start classes on Sunday, I will do my best to sum up some of the highlights (I’ll break it down by episodes/weeks). I am beginning to think my calling here is to start a reality TV show about olim (new immigrants). I suppose it’s good to have back up options in case the clinical psychology thing doesn’t work out (please consult me before releasing my “script” to any producers).
WEEK 1:
What better place to begin than with some classic Israeli bureaucracy (in other words, the story of my life here). I moved here with the intention of studying clinical psychology and not Israeli bureaucracy, but little did I know that I would have the opportunity to conduct one large psychological case study on how the government functions (potential master’s thesis topic?!). Here are a few of my favorite highlights from week 1 (feel free to skip over the government offices if they bring up too many traumatic memories for you):
“Greetings”/Misrad Haklitah at the Airport: When Nefesh b’nefesh (NBN) went over the procedure of what to do once I landed they told me I would be greeted and taken to misrad haklita at the airport. After hearing Sharon’s traumatic story about being putting in a detention room for over an hour upon arriving (see her post for more details), I was very skeptical about this alleged “greeting.” When I asked NBN if I could have a contact number or information about what to do if the representative didn’t show up (and explained what happened to Sharon), he proudly told me: “We have a 90% success rate.” Really?!! And you are proud of that? It doesn’t take master’s level statistics to conclude that their success rate isn’t that high considering I was also not greeted at the airport. My new amazing roommate, Abigail, made up for the lack of greeting at the airport with a much nicer welcoming: a “bruchim ha’baim” (welcome) sign on our door and a honey cake with a note waiting for my dad and me 
Luckily, I had NBN send me directions of what to do “just in case” I wasn’t greeted and had a picture with a big circle around the phone I had to find right before passport control to call Misrad Haklita. If you want a fun scavenger hunt next time you are Ben Gurion airport, I recommend trying to find it (I can send you the “map” to help you find the prize). I was warned ahead of time that they wouldn’t be able to help me because I was a “special case” (a term I’ve learned to embrace in every government office here). I just savored the sweetness of not having to deal with Israeli bureaucracy that day and walked through the Israeli “line” as the newest Israeli citizen.
Scheduling my Misrad Hapnim (Ministry of the Interior) Appointment: I feel like the past month this office has become my new home away from home. NBN usually helps new immigrants get a teudat zehut (ID card) and teudat olah (immigrant certificate) at the airport, but because I was on an A1 temporary resident visa last year and already had a teudat zehut, they weren’t able to help me. In the past 3 years I have been on a tourist, student, work, and temporary resident visa so by the time I arrived on an aliyah visa (or as Noah put it: hitting a grand slam), I consider myself an expert on acquiring visas and dealing with government institutions. I have been contacted by many Americans inquiring about all different types of visas and seem to become famous as the “go to girl” on these matters (another potential job if the other 2 plans fall through). Knowing that misrad hapnim would probably tell me to come back in a month “achrei hachagim” (after the holidays), I begged the Jewish agency/NBN to set up my first meeting at Misrad Hapnim so that I could start the long process of endless paperwork. I made aliyah on Monday, Sept. 26 (best day ever!) and requested to have the meeting on Tuesday since the offices would be closed on Wed. (erev Rosh Hashanah), Thurs & Friday (Rosh Hashanah) and Sat. (Shabbat). Of course it would be too easy to automatically be put into “the system” when entering the country and I was told I had to be in the country for 48 hours before I could meet them. My appointment was scheduled for the following Monday. As annoying as it was that I had to wait an entire week to even begin the process, it was nice that I had no choice but to relax and enjoy the New Year with my family and my first week as an Israeli
Signing up for a Cell Plan: Only Israel can make the mundane task of signing up for a cell plan an adventure. I was lucky to have Sharon (with her excellent cell plan) by my side to help me with bargaining. We quickly became friends with Dvir at Orange as he began to explain the various special options available to me as an Olah Chadasha and student. I finally got with the times and now have a smartphone (a galaxy instead of an iphone because of a stupid rule that I need an Israeli credit card and an American Visa or Israeli debit card were not sufficient–I just don’t understand how they even come up with these random, ridiculous rules, but you just can’t argue with “company policy”). After a little shopping around to other cell plans, Abba and I decided to return to Orange to sign up. When we returned the power was out (of course only in the Orange store and no other place on Ben Yehuda Street) and that we needed to come back. Dvir warned us earlier that day that this package would only be good until the end of the year (as in Sunday it would be gone) and it was already Tuesday. The following day, Wed., was our last chance to get the package before the store closed for the holiday and it would be gone (of course he can only guarantee it would not be there after tomorrow and couldn’t guarantee anything about what would be available instead). He worked at the mall on Wed. so we loyally followed Dvir to Malcha Mall to ensure that I would get the package he promised (since one thing I learned fast in this country is that there is no consistency and the key is to try and work with the same person until the mission is complete). After signing my life away at Orange, I officially had my new Israeli number along with many other goodies to help make our apartment more homey (Thanks Abs!).
Family & Friends:
As frustrating as Israeli bureaucracy can be and the daily hassles that make life more annoying (or interesting/comical depending on how you look at it) than in the states, my family and friends here make it all worthwhile. I miss my family and friends in the states a lot, but I am so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends here. They make me feel at home, supported, loved and reaffirm that this is where I am meant to be. I have friends who make special “back to school” packages (thanks Sharon!) and help me apply to school (thanks Michal and Dahlia!), cousins who help me with Hebrew (Thanks Tsvika!), friends to go on fun tiyulim all over the country, and people who go out of there way to invite me for Shabbat. I am proud that I am helping to build a Jewish state and part of the big family of Am Yisrael here. People are so excited when I tell them I made aliyah (and I’ll admit, the olah chadasha discounts are very nice! I’m wondering how long the “chadasha” (new) will last!).
I am also really grateful that my family in the states are so supportive of my decision. When I decided to accept Hebrew U’s offer and make aliyah, Abba said: “Great! Now we have an excuse to visit Israel more.” He truly meant it and suggested coming on my aliyah flight with me to help me settle in and celebrate the chagim together. We spent a wonderful Rosh Hashanah at our cousin’s moshav. We ate delicious food, enjoyed the company of family, had fun with the horses, peacocks and other animals, and relaxed (which we definitely needed before the crazy weeks that followed!). When I am here I feel Savta and Sabba’s presence a lot and know they are so proud of me that I’m following my dream. At the end of my first week as an Israeli, I felt such joy, gratitude, and excitement that I took the biggest risk of my life so far and decided to follow my heart and come home.
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