Shop 'Til We Drop!!!

So it's been a few days since I have had time to post. We've been super busy and also have had several computer issues. I don't think those issues have completely resolved themselves, but it seems to be working at the moment. We seem to keep losing our internet connection even though it says we are connected. It has been driving Phil absolutely crazy. Computers....can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

So we have spent much of the past few days shopping and walking around and discovering our new neighborhood. We have a large mall nearby where we were able to find many of the things we needed. Plus some delectable sweets that weren't on our list but hey, we are here to experience a new culture right? We also went to an arts and crafts market and picked up a few handmade items to make the apartment look nice. We purchased a nice art print and a decorative glass hand painted plate. Our big shopping trip, however, was a trip up to IKEA which is about 20-30 min away. Phil actually got the car out and back in our teeny tiny spot with no problems! We spent 6 hours, yes, six whole hours in IKEA. It is absolutely HUGE! I think the website said it was 250,000 sq feet and the largest store in the Middle East. They even have a cafeteria. Which at first we sort of laughed at, until we were three hours into shopping and had only seen half the store! Then we were quite grateful to grab some food and drinks and refuel. Needless to say we spent quite a bit of money there and now have a few more decorative items as well as some much needed items....like a new office chair. The lovely landlady left us a chair with only one arm. Oy Gevalt! We love her a little more every day. After our marathon shopping trip I slept for 12 hours that night, and to be perfectly honest, I really felt like I wanted to sleep even longer. Think I'll just blame the jet lag.

Other things we have discovered nearby are several good cafes within a few minutes walk. A movie theater that is seriously, almost right outside our door, and we heard that they show American movies in English with Hebrew subtitles. A pet store for Pumpkin's new expensive food (no wonder there are so many stray animals here...no one can afford to feed them!) is just a few blocks away. The Kabbalah Center is just across the street from us and is quite the happening place on Friday night which is the beggining of Shabbat. My hope is that Madonna will show up someday and I can say that I saw Madonna outside my apartment in Tel Aviv. Wishful thinking I am sure. And last night we recently discovered a hippie organic grocery store only 3-4 minutes away! And they carry my hippie green cleaning products among other fabulous products. Woo-hoo!

So today we went to another larger grocery store a little bit outside of Tel Aviv to see if the prices are significantly lower than in the city. Turns out they are not that much cheaper, even compared to the organic store, so we will not have to drive to get groceries very often. That is very good news for me because I am terrified of driving here! Plus I love the convenience of just being able to take a quick walk to get what I need. I can go to the organic store for most everything plus there is a bakery nearby and the daily market for fresh fuits, vegetables and meat is only about a 10 minute walk away.

Overall shopping has not been too difficult. Many brands have the important information written in English. Also there are many American brands available that we are already familiar with, although you will pay a slightly higher price for them. The hardest part is converting the weights and measures and the currency to figure out how much you are actually paying. Phil's math skills are awesome. He's a human calculator. Me on the other hand. Not so great. Once Phil starts back to work it may take me all day to do the shopping! So if you are concerned about how I am going to spend my time that's it--shopping and blogging.

Other than that we were able to find some time to meet up with Phil's Uncle who was in town. He is leading a tour of Israel for his congregation (he's a rabbi) and happened to be in Tel Aviv for a couple of nights. Thanks for buying us dinner, Efraim! But mostly we have been doing a lot of cleaning to get this place liveable. I lied before. It is really dirty. It's the kind of dirt you don't see until you start cleaning. Then you see how dirty it really is. But I think we've got the kitchen in working order so tomorrow night I am going to cook our first meal in our apartment. Although it will be a very simple meal since all my lovely fancy kitchen utensils are in a crate somewhere and hopefully either on a train or a boat headed this way.

Thanks everyone for reading! I love the comments! They are great encouragement. If I get real ambitious I will try to comment back on your comments. But don't hold your breath.....it takes me long enough just to write my posts!
Here are a few random pictures for you to enjoy!

This is me kissing my beloved Corolla goodbye. I'll miss you!

At the Tampa airport. That's Pumpkin on the far right!

Phil and Pumpkin settling in.

Me blogging. These are the "before" pictures of the apartment. Hope we'll eventually have nicer pics of the apartment to show off!

Dizengoff Square, just 1 minute from our apartment.