First Impressions

We picked up a couple of standard stamps at the maqoleth (here called something I don't remember) to mail letters to the kids. On getting home, however, we saw to our surprise that the pictures were of two men kissing, a shirtless woman making out with a translucent balloon, and an old man beholding a picture of Jesus. Considering that the kids were recently banned from using Skype on the basis that it's "forbidden by every rabbi in the world" (we got a letter from a semi-famous hareidi rabbi saying that it's completely permitted, to no effect), I can't imagine these would go over well.

We live in an apartment connected (as in with hallways) to the "Olders' Home," and yesterday received a visit from their elderly people ambassador, who invited us to come every Tuesday and Thursday for "A French game called 'balls.'" Considering what happened with the stamps, I was more than a little suspicious of what he had in mind, but it turns out it's just pétanque. Pétanque is well-known to us because of its freakish prominence in our pre-Jerusalem place of residence, Netanya.

Everything is very clean, so clean that I saw a woman walk in central downtown yesterday with only very minimally dirty bare feet. No one seems to be drunk at noon fighting. The fruit is not rotting in the supermarket, but seems made almost of shiny plastic. I have literally not heard a single car horn honk. I have not yet been called retarded, in fact, I get the impression that such a word would be met with kindly disapproval.

I miss home.

מזוזה פסולה

We forgot our mezuzoth in the disorganisation of getting here, so now I'm writing them, the only problem being not enough materials to write on or with. Consequently I'm having to cut up bits of gewil that were clearly not intended for text of this size. Here's one that failed due to a missing letter (some letters which look mashed-up or weirdly-shaped here are actually fine if you see them closer, as smudges blend in to the hide colour... this was not the cleanest piece of gewil in the world).



So that's a few hours of my life wasted. At least a couple of days ago I did manage to finish one that works, although I started with what turned out to be completely the wrong size of writing and everything seems so bubbly: