More Israeli than the Israelis!

Yesterday at the grocery store I think we were more Israeli than the Israelis.  We gave them a taste of their own medicine! (Although they didn't mind as much as we do because it is normal to them.)  Here is the story:

You know the stereotype of penny pinching and watching the price of every item that scans?  Well that was me yesterday.  BUT...it was totally justified and in the end it turned out very well. 

Let's assume you are buying olive oil.  So when you go shopping in the grocery store here items are not always on the shelf where their price sticker is.  The bottles may have been put on the shelf above, below, or to the side depending on where there was space.  Luckily, you can read just enough Hebrew to match the price tag on the shelf to the name on the bottles.  Then you have to check the prices, the price on the shelf is not always the same as the price sticker on the bottle.  To go the extra step, see if all of the bottles have the same price on their stickers.  It could be the front bottle is 35 shekels, but the identical bottle just behind it is only 30 shekels (meanwhile, the price tag on the shelf says 32).  You obviously should take the bottle with the 30 shekel sticker on it.  You're final test is when you get to the checkout line - the price that rings up may  not match any of the three previously mentioned prices.  If it is lower, let it go.  If it is higher, the thing to do is to stop everything, hold up the line and demand the lowest of the four prices.  The people around you will either a.) roll their eyes and look for another line to go to because this will take a few minutes to resolve, b.) ignore you, leave their groceries as a place holder and run back for that carton of ice cream, or on rare occasions c.) get involved in the argument and tell the cashier that you have a right to the lower price.


Also, one last cultural thing before I get to the main part of this story, it is the holiday season here.  The high holidays include the Rosh Hashana (the new year) and Yom Kippur (the day of atonement).  Then right after those, they have Succot and Simhkat Torah. Line this up with Columbus Day and basically the whole month is holidays.  And the grocery stores run crazy specials right before the holidays, especially on wine, apples and honey (like how an American store might run a sale on champagne just before New Years or turkey and stuffing before Thanksgiving).


So...finally, the story.  We go to the grocery store with the intention of buying wine.  The price on the shelf says 3 bottles for 100 shekels.  The price sticker on the bottle says 57 shekels each.  Then I look at the bottle behind it...and it says 4 for 100 shekels.  Fast forward to the check-out line.  The bottles scan at 3 for 100 - but there is a sticker on each of the four bottles that says 4 for 100.  So I pull the chord and stop the line.  The cashier and I are awkwardly trying to explain to each other our points (using the simplest of phrases) when the lady behind me in line jumps in....and argues for me.  (You have to read this with your best Yiddish accent) "Just give it to them. The sticker says 4 for 100, give them 4 for 100."  She keeps going in Hebrew so that the cashier has to call the supervisor.  Once the supervisor comes she and the cashier are speaking and the nice lady smiles at us and then runs off to grab that ice cream that was for sale.  When she comes back they were still debating the price of the wine and the nice lady left for another register and a different woman is in line behind us. 

They always say something right before you pay asking if you want to buy this gum that is on sale or these batteries...something you don't need.  We always say no.  So they ask Paul (in Hebrew) if he'd like to buy the honey that is on sale for 1 shekel a jar. We have 2 full jars in our pantry and we don't go through it that fast.  "Lo, toda."  I kid you not, we were shamed into buying honey.  (Nice lady in English) "Come on! It is one shekel. Just buy the honey." Paul laughs, "we already have two jars at home."  "I'll buy it for you then!  It is only one shekel!"  (1 shekel is about 30 cents.)  Yes....we were shamed into buying a 1 shekel jar of honey.  Wine and honey.  If we'd have gotten the apples too we'd have been completely Jewish.


Meanwhile, the supervisor says something like "come here" (pointing to the main "service" counter) and walks me over (bottle of wine in hand) to the manager.  (Yes, this saga is still going on.  It has been like 5-10 minutes.)  They look at the receipt, back at the bottle, back at the receipt and the conversation all sounds like gibberish to me, I'm catching maybe every 5 words.  Finally, the supervisor goes behind the counter, does some magic on the computer (while other customers now roll their eyes because they have to wait) and eventually hands me the bottle and my receipt. "Shana Tova!!" (Happy New Year) she says and hands me my bottle of wine. 

I know it was a hassle, but I got that 57 shekel bottle of wine for free!  And it was the nicest that anyone has ever been to us in a grocery store here!  In fact, multiple people were nice to us!  I guess my tactic of being rude and stingy is actually the way to win them over.

Home Sweet Home - Part Two

During our first full weekend in the States we headed to New Jersey to see Paul’s family and attend the baptism of our nephew.  Though I missed the Brazilian dinner Paul’s brother and his fiancé made on Friday night, I heard great things about it.  We’ll have to have a cook-off one of these days!  Saturday brought more time with family and more great food.  “Pah, pah, pah, Paul” – It didn’t work.  The baby is still too young to pronounce the letter P, much less say Paul.  Maybe next time.

The reception for the baptism was before nighttime the Mass and once all of the guests were there, Paul’s sister told us she wasn’t 100% sure the Mass was going to be in English! Ha ha.  It was…and it wasn’t.  Half of the songs and half of the readings were in English.  The gospel and homily were done in both English and Spanish.  And the baptism was only in Spanish.  I was translating for Paul’s cousin which is pretty difficult given that I haven’t spoken Spanish in a year.  The church was packed and the mass was…long (3 hours).  After the part and the after-party, we went back to the hotel to hang out with Paul’s siblings.   

As I write about this all now I don’t know how we had the energy to do it all, but when you only have limited time back home with everyone you just subtract and hour of sleep and add a cup of coffee, and somehow it all works out.

Matty's Friend

A few weeks ago I posted about our "pet" praying mantis, Matty.  Well, we've been watching Matty grow and move around more, and yes, (s)he is still here.  Last week Paul commented on how much bigger and greener Matty is now.  Still not that big, but about the size of a grass hopper now.

So this morning I was pretty confused when I went to the plant.  "How thin you look Matt.  And oh so pale again."  Maybe the mantis is sick?  Have I been watering the plant too much? Not enough?  As I bent down to get a closer look something moved on a large leaf about 2 inches away.  It was Matty.  "But...if that is Matty (big and green), who is this little white guy?"

I have no clue where the new guy came from, but I hope Matty doesn't him.  He could not physically eat Matty as he is about 1/3 the size.  He?...she?...it is young.


If you can see the zoomed in view of the top picture, you would see that the new guy is basically transparent.  We can see four little dots in his stomach!  Probably his siblings.

A Delicious Little Corner

Paul flew out early Sunday morning for a conference in the Hague.  And while I was very jealous that he was off to a week in a beautiful country, I didn't sit around the house.  I went with some friends to the northern most tip of Israel to this delicious little corner.  I don't know exactly what the population of the town is (if it is even big enough to be a town), but they are on to something!  They have two wineries (one of which is my new favorite), a gourmet chocolate factory, and a small little restaurant that is raved about.   Oh...and fresh goat cheese made by the winemakers wife.  What a life!

First five wines we tasted at Pelter.

As we left Tel Aviv in the morning we picked out our wineries.  A well informed group we were.  We had recommendations (and driving directions) from friends, the most popular guide book, and the guide to Israeli wines. We had access to everything you could want to know about the wines....driving directions...well that was another story.  I successfully pointed out a shortcut absent from our directions.  But the second time I knew of an alternate route I kept my mouth shut, thinking the directions were a short-cut.  I should have spoken up.  We up the steepest curvy (poorly banked) roads.  I'd have taken a picture, but the military fence alongside the road said no photography.  Note to self - don't go that way ever again.

I'd been to the first winery before after a camping trip.  They weren't so nice to us, but I chalked that up to us making a reservation from the parking lot (they are big on reservations here) and showing up after a night of camping.  The second trip was as...lacking in hospitality and pleasantry.  A quick tour (the only cool part is their cellar) was followed by tasting 3 red wines.  I don't really care for their wine and two of the four wanted to buy whites.  Boo...

Then we headed up, up and up (to the highest elevation in that region) and as north as possible.  Finally, we came to a dead end:  right through a crossing or left to the winery.  Left Please!

Near the border...

The winery - Pelter Winery - could not have been more enjoyable!  First, the wine was delicious!  And instead of the three skimpy tastings at the previous winery, we tasted like 12 wines!  Second - he had fresh goat cheese laid out (which his wife made...they have 10 goats).  Third, it was so laid back.  He was tasting with us and wasn't tapping his foot waiting for us to finish. Fourth - the winemaker himself was hanging out with us!  Fifth, I don't really remember - but we did ask if there was a bed and breakfast in that town also, or at least a good (safe) camping spot.  It is like 30 minutes above the Sea of Galilee, so I think we'll be heading up there in a few weeks for a culinary camping trip! :)

Bags of Pelter Wine in the trunk on the way home.

Where in the world are...jen and paul vaca? (You're supposed to sing that)

I knew when we signed up for the foreign service that we would be doing a lot of traveling, but I didn’t think we’d be doing this much!  Paul especially!  As of two weeks ago, we are counting down our time in Israel by trips and visits.  When I was little and wanted to know when mass would be over, I’d ask my mom how many more songs they were going to sing.  That was a fun way to count, but this even more fun! 

Two weeks ago we unexpectedly made a trip back to the States for Paul’s grandmother’s funeral (she was 104 years old!).  While it is a sad reason for travel, we are always so happy to be back in the U.S. and especially when we get to spend time with family.  (Funny side story:  as soon as we get out of the airport, I sit on a bench next to a stranger who is also waiting for a ride and he is speaking on the phone….in Hebrew.  He lives just 15 miles from us here.)  The trip was so short, but we so enjoyed every minute (and fought the jetlag for every waking moment) that it felt like much longer.   

On the way home we had a lovely 15 hour layover in Amsterdam!  At least it sounded lovely.  We landed at about 6am and after washing up in the airport bathroom, we headed out into the city…which was still asleep.  Luckily we didn’t see anyone we knew there because I’m sure we were a pair of walking zombies.  Three nights before we were flying to the States (and slept about 5 hours each).  The next two nights we were jetlagged, but managed to sleep for about 7 hours out of pure exhaustion.  The third night we were flying back and the poorly timed dinner and early breakfast made for at most 4 hours of sleep. Listen to me, complaining about an international trip and chance to see Amsterdam!  It was lovely.  We went back to the Van Gough Museum, took a nap in the park, had a delicious traditional meal, and walked a few miles around the city.  This has become normal for us.

Now we’re back in Israel.  But not for long.  Paul is heading out to the Hague this weekend (which is a 20 minute metro ride from Amsterdam).  Two weeks after he returns we’ll be heading to Brazil for Greg and Mafe’s wedding, stopping in London for long layers on each leg of the trip!  (I’ve wanted to go here since I was 10 years old!  Time to brush up on that Portuguese.)  A few weeks after that trip we’ll hopefully start our U.S. tour (California and Connecticut…and maybe Ohio and New York?).  If all goes well the first visitors will arrive the day we get back.  Jill and Mitch have tickets! And then hopefully two or three more visitors…then we’ll be packing up our house and we’re done with Israel. 

We heard a joke a while ago that now seems so true: “You know you’re in the Foreign Service when your favorite coffee shop is in the Amsterdam airport.”  (When I read that now I don’t think it will be funny for you.  But it is for us, because it is so true.  We know the departure times and flight plans by heart, and we either know the layover cities or know someone who knows them well, so we become experts at the 8 hour vacation/tour – Newark, Philly, Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt.  Any one of them could be inserted into that joke.  We even know which terminal the flights go into and out of in Newark.  It is really weird.)