Three Stories Up

I'm not sure we are doing this all in the correct order -- we applied for CY, signed a lease for an apartment, got accepted to CY, and booked a flight. We were sweatin' bullets those few days between signing a lease and getting accepted! Now you understand why we were checking our email every 15 minutes for that acceptance letter!

We signed the lease so early because we think we found a fantastic place to stay. I have been watching the available housing listings from Flathunting.com daily for the past month. It's interesting, there are many furnished apartments available for daily or weekly rates and then others that are available for very particular dates that range around one to two months, and then others that are rentable for ten to twelve months or even longer.

The apartments are advertised a bit differently than in the U.S. First of all, the rent is not the only cost. Apparently in Israel, there is an added tax on apartments/condos called an Arnona (municipal tax) which I've seen range from an extra $50 to $300. So you have to be careful! It's easy to forget that extra cost. Also, one has to think about whether there is a proper balcony for a sukkah, which might cost you extra. Some apartments come with a kosher kitchen; others do not. Some, though, offer a kosher set of dishes upon request. If not on a low level floor, you should also think about elevators. Many high-rise buildings have shomer elevators that automatically stop on every floor during Shabbat so that you don't have to push any buttons.

The apartment we found is very close to CY, with only about a 10 minute walk (we won't have a car there). It's on the top floor of the building, which happens to be the third floor, and has no elevator. Which means grocery shopping is going to happen frequently and Matt is going to have to cut down on his soda intake unless he wants to shlepp them all upstairs himself!

Our apartment comes fully furnished and has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The second bedroom has a desk (yay!) and a futon. :) The couch also is has a pull-out sleeper. The apartment has a balcony and a washer (but not a dryer) and was very reasonably priced for the area. Plus, I already really like the owner of the place who will be in her second year of grad school in the U.S. (which is why she is renting out her apartment).

We've signed our lease for July 15 through June 15, but there's still a possibility that the apartment will be available sometime between July 1 and 15; we're still waiting to hear.

So....we are very excited!