Coping with the transitional aspects of aliyah

amother

Mon, May 12 2014, 7:11 am

Does anyone have any advice based on your experience on coping with the transitional period after arriving in Israel but before you found your first real home?

We are living in a very small place with very little storage space and almost no room to cook real meals. This is only temporary until we find the city we want to live in, but temporary means several months.

I don't want to give details but if you had any coping "tricks," please let me know. Especially where food shopping and preparation are concerned. Thank you!

vicki

Mon, May 12 2014, 8:58 am

In the weeks following my aliya but before my lift arrived I had no oven or washing machine and only a mini-fridge. No beds or other furniture.
I told myself - No guilt about going out for pizza, falafel whatever.
Someone lent me a sandwich maker.
We took some blow up mattresses on the plane with us.
Some friends let me use their washer/dryer and refused payment.
It was stressful but we look back on that time with fondness.
Hatzlacha!

ETA someone also lent us a hotplate (not sure if that's what it actually was) strong enough to boil water. We ate lots of pasta.

Marion

Mon, May 12 2014, 2:14 pm

Can you at least tell us where you are? Maybe someone here could help you out (a place to cook?).

Liba

Mon, May 12 2014, 2:19 pm

You need friends and family to lean on. Maybe some of us could be that for you?

Sanguine

Mon, May 12 2014, 2:46 pm

You just came now? Do you have kids? Why did you choose the city that you're in now?

What does this mean?

Quote:

transitional period after arriving in Israel but before you found your first real home?

And this?

Quote:

This is only temporary until we find the city we want to live in, but temporary means several months.

You got off the plane and went to the nearest city?

Did you send a lift? Or are you buying things here?
What's this?

Quote:

very little storage space

Do you have boxes that you can't open?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm trying to understand your plan? Do you know people in the community you're in? Why did you choose to go there?

Enough annoying questions. Vicki had some useful suggestions. You can even buy a sandwich maker (they're cheap). How large is your family? How about buying a small microwave? Do you need real food or is sandwiches enough? This temporary living is usually weeks, not months. That's why I'm not sure what your plan was when you came.

Good-luck - It will all work out Very Happy

LisaS

Mon, May 12 2014, 3:13 pm

Our neighbors lent us toys, friends lent us an electric burner, we ate a lot of fresh pita with salad and fruit. We had two bathrooms and used one as storage space so everyone shared one bathroom.

Would you like to come to us for Shabbat? Please PM me.

amother

Mon, May 12 2014, 3:16 pm

I didn't find the questions annoying at all and your responses were very encouraging to me.

Our plan was to come to a small well-located apartment and travel around for awhile searching for the "right" place for us. It's just us right now, w/o kids, so we can do that. We do have a lift coming but will have to store most of the stuff until we move to our more permanent home.

I think the sandwich maker is a nice idea and will look into that. I do have a hotplate and crockpot for Shabbos so it's more the weekdays. I also have a microwave here so that helps.

I'm sorry I didn't answer everything, but I appreciate all of your support. We do have family here but it has been ages since they were olim and I don't want to call them with requests everyday. When we first got here we did call them everyday with questions about hechsherim, etc. They are all wonderful but I can't have them shopping and cooking for me. Once in awhile we can go for a visit but not all the time.

Thank you everyone!

amother

Mon, May 12 2014, 3:38 pm

LisaS wrote:

That is so very nice of you. We really cannot come for Shabbos for a few reasons. One is that we have been looking at different cities and by the time Shabbos comes, we need some quiet time. Also, since we have many relatives here and hey have been inviting us, when we do start going for Shabbos, we will take each one up on their invitations and it will take awhile.

I really appreciate your invitation (for moral support) and I feel grateful.

We are not lonely because we know people. My issue is more of dealing with the changes in food from what we are used to (more my husband because he has serious dietary concerns) and the lack of space so we are always in each other's way and stuff like that.

Here's an example: Let's take salad. Before coming here we used to have salad for dinner a few times a week. Salad with tuna in it or salad with an egg or something like that which my DH found very satisfying with little or no carbs. Here, I am familiar with one type of lettuce I can buy, the Romaine we used to buy only at Pesach time which needs to be washed. I am not used to washing lettuce in soapy water and then draining it. It is a messy job requiring more space than I have, something to drain the wet lettuce leaves in, it hurts my back and so forth. So I do it once a week and we can have it for one whole meal plus two side salads which includes one Shabbos salad. So while I used to serve salad as a meal two or three times during the week, now I am serving it once during the week. That leaves me trying to figure out what else to make. Of course we sometimes have chummus with bread/pita (YUM) but I feel I am giving my husband way too much carbs by having things with bread all the time, even if it is whole wheat.

Another example is that I used to bake my own challos, Shabbos morning treats and really healthy non-fat muffins for my everyday breakfast. Now I am buying challos (even the whole wheat ones, while delicious, are not completely whole wheat ,so that is not good for my husband) and I have not been able to find whole grain cereal comparable to what he ate in the states. If I buy baked goods, they are generally from white flour and more fattening and way more expensive.

I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining because I don't mean to complain. I'm just trying to explain that it's hard for me to adjust with the food because of my husband's special needs...it's going to take time for me to learn what I need to know about the food here and that's what I meant by "transitional" period.

Sanguine

Mon, May 12 2014, 3:50 pm

Buy a salad spinner for your lettuce. I just bought one at Osher Ad (I think it was less than 15 shekel). I saw it and bought it though I had no idea why I bought it. I brought it home and was sure my daughters would laugh at me. They surprised me by being excited about it. "Just what they wanted" (How come they never mentioned it?)

grace413

Mon, May 12 2014, 3:58 pm

Is there a health food store near you? You would be able to find 100% whole wheat challah/bread and whole grain cereal there.

Are you buying regular Romaine or the GushKatif type packaged lettuce which is easier to clean. Also think of cucumbers and tomatoes and red/green peppers as bases for salad. Bonus: they are cheaper and tastier here than in the States.

Sanguine

Mon, May 12 2014, 4:39 pm

My Neighbor has a bakery. Mostly whole wheat and organic (he even grinds the wheat himself). Very tasty and very healthy. He delivers on Fridays to a lot of cities (Ranana, Beit shemesh, Modiin, Yerushalayim, Efrat - I'm not sure of the list). His prices are a little higher than the bakery but you'll get your real whole wheat.

Call and speak to him - his name is Les. Speaks South African (they think it's English but it sounds different to me Very Happy

)

here's the site http://saidels.com/ . You can tell him you got the number from his neighbor Michal if you want. (Don't call on a Friday - it's nuts there then)

November

Mon, May 12 2014, 7:17 pm

There will be a time when you've got all of this down pat, and will even be giving us tips! It's temporary so do your best and rely on neighbors, new friends, old friends, etc. Figure out the real priorities and then head in that direction. G-d Willing, you'll soon look at it as a challenge that you and your husband overcame together. B'hatzlacha and yasher koach!

Iymnok

Tue, May 13 2014, 4:47 am

You don't need lettuce for a salad. Cut The other veggies, add dressing- delicious and filling.

Can you get a small toaster oven? Then you could make ww muffins

Have you looked up crockpot meals?

Liba

Tue, May 13 2014, 5:37 am

Why not make life easier and ask and figure out which bagged pre-cut easy to serve lettuce you can use? It seems that would make a huge difference in your life, it exists mehadrin and it isn't that much more expensive. Even if what you find is iceburg and not romaine, it is still fewer carbs than pita and chummus.