No Credit? No Problem!

We attempted to buy Jen a new pair of shoes earlier this week and both of our credit cards were declined. After we arrived, often one card would occasionally be declined because foreign activity raises red flags by the computer and we would simply have to call the company to confirm that we indeed were the ones using the card and the hold would be cleared. It was very unusual for both cards not to work.

So, after paying in cash, we went home and I called the credit card companies who told me that they had to turn off the cards due to potential security compromise of our credit card numbers. This is inconvenient but it's especially inconvenient and annoying for it to happen to both our cards on the same day. They promised they'd send new cards "overnight" but that means "over-a-week" here. What it ultimately means, though, is that we can not order a new Blockbuster rental package...

Not Too Much New

Not much new to report. Day-to-day I'm spending 4.5 hours trying to understand what my Ulpan teacher is talking about in Hebrew and the rest of the day I spend doing my homework, studying flashcards, or trying to learn to conjugate verbs. It's a barrel of laughs, I tell you! On Sunday, I have my first ever Hebrew test to determine if I'm able to continue in the same class or not. My teacher has faith in my abilities but I'm not so sure. I think I might be moving into a slightly lower level class soon but that is A-OK with me!

Jen's starting a less intensive Hebrew Ulpan next week - it's only twice a week in the evening. In our "off" time, we've become addicted to watching "24" on DVD and we just finished the second season.

But, it is Friday now and thus somewhat more relaxed than the rest of the week, especially since Jen and I have invitations to dinner tonight as well as lunch tomorrow so our only Shabbat preparation was buying challah (bread) and grape juice to bring to both events.

On Thursdays we try to visit someplace new in the city and so yesterday we went to the Bloomfield Science Museum. It was awful. Don't go unless you're an eight year old who loves science or his/her parent. There were very few interesting displays but one in particular that I enjoyed was a large electromagnetic field; it included the warning to keep credit cards away from it but I didn't read the warning until after I turned it on. Fortunately, my credit card worked at the grocery store a little while later.

There is serious construction going on in the building - an apartment three floors below us is being entirely renovated and this involves a lot of very loud work. Since the walls are concrete and stone, renovations require jack hammering, sledge hammering, and sawing through stone. It is incredibly loud. I've had to leave the apartment to study my Hebrew elsewhere this past week due to the noise. Now, there's a giant hole in the wall of the apartment under renovation, it looks like they're making a new door.

Don't miss our friend Anna's fascinating post (with a bunch of photos) about apartment life in Israel!

Shabbat Shalom!

Cold

It's been quite cold as of late and since buildings have no insulation, life indoors is mostly miserable. I was told at one time that even people from Scandinavia say that a winter in Israel is the worst winter they've experienced.

I decided to ask one of my fellow students, a former army officer from Sweden, what he thought about the cold in Israel compared to Sweden. He said that it's much worst here because in Sweden, home, work, and school are always heated to 20 degrees (C) but here in Israel, without insulation, it's maddening. In Israel, the lack of insulation and building with stone keeps places cool during the summers but it makes for not-so-fun winters.