Credit Cards

First, I would like to publicly apologize to DADZ for making fun (in a loving way, of course) of him in yesterday's post. True, Dadz is not so technologically-savvy, but neither am I, to tell the truth (Dadz and I are still trying to figure out how light bulbs work) so I really should have more consideration for the poor man. Anyway, it's not like I told the story of how he didn't know how to rewind a movie "without having to watch the whole thing backwards" and because no one was at home to help him he called me in my dorm at Stern. I mean, that would have been REALLY embarrassing! I have also refrained from discussing his unique, one-of-a-kind (thank God for that) style choices. Anyway, I digress. Dadz said he is considering throwing the Gila Rose Suitcase of Goodies overboard. So I am issuing this public apology in the hopes that I will still get my stuff in two weeks.
Digression: For those of you loyal readers, you may be wondering what, indeed Momz and Dadz could possibly be bringing for us. After all, you say, "Didn't Gila spend the ENTIRE month of August shopping for clothes and such, basically signing over her remaining paychecks from SAR to Children's Place and Target?" And the short answer, is "Yes, I did." However, as the famous saying goes in Hebrew, "Tovim Hashnayim min ha'echad." No, wait, wrong saying. Anyway, the bottom line is that somehow, there are still more things I need. Books for Ariella. Sweatpants. Puzzles. I don't even remember what else - we'll find out in 2 weeks!!

So today, I signed up for a credit card by accident. Now, there are a lot of things you can do by accident. Spill a cup of milk. Run a stop sign (yes, that's how I failed my driving test). Make aliyah. However, certain things in life need premeditation. Like, you don't just buy a house by accident. You don't get married by accident. And generally, you don't sign up for credit cards by accident. But this is my story. I was in Shufersal, and the lady checking me out started yammering to me in Hebrew. Usually all they ask is for your Supersol card and if you want to pay "ragil" or "tashlumim." (I still don't really understand the difference but I always say "ragil"). So she starts talking about something, which I gathered was the Supersol credit card. I politely declined. However, she must have reared in the Israeli Lady Pharmacist school of customer service, and she would not take no for an answer. Before I knew it, some other lady had taken my credit card and teudat zehut and I was answering questions and signing things. I kept trying to decline but they wouldn't let me. Finally, when she started asking what day I wanted the deductions taken from my bank account, I said, "I really want to ask my husband." Played the poor dumb wife card and proud of it. She said that I should come back to the customer service desk next week and BE SURE not to FORGET to come back! I said of course and then left with Ariella and our packages before I accidentally bought a house or something.

Ariella and I started our English chug together this week. The famous Morah Rita from SAR gave us lots of good ideas to help Ariella progress, in her English. As part of her lesson, Ariella wrote and illustrated a story. I will relate the story here, followed by a translation:
"The that wet to the sprnct. This gi had tlvtopgrd. HHTHHTHTH."
[The girl that went to the supermarket. No idea what that second sentence is. Hot hot hot hot hot!!! (Because there was a hot towel.)]
She is enjoying the chug very much.

Yesterday, I had a very pleasant experience at the iriyah and the Maccabi building. If I were to write a story about it, it would go like this:
"There was once a girl named Gila. She had to go pay her arnona (property tax bill) at the iriyah, because the bill came late and she was afraid that with the mail system in Israel, the check would arrive sometime in July. So she went to the iriyah. She waited a total of five minutes. A nice lady took her check and then showed Gila how next time, she could pay over the phone, with a credit card. (How awesome is that, by the way?) Then, Gila went to the Maccabi building to find out how to get flu vaccines for her children, and to get an internet code which would allow her to use the Maccabi website. Everyone was nice and helpful and Gila went home happy." See, boring story, right? But as we have discovered, boring story for you = success for me!

Yesterday our HOT (HAWT in Hebrew) wasn't working. HOT is the company with whom we have telephone and internet. So I was not a happy camper. After being on hold with HOT for half an hour, someone finally got on the phone and confirmed that, indeed, our phone and internet were not working. Nothing like some good, old-fashioned, validation! Apparently there was a problem in the area, and they said it would be fixed all by itself, which, miraculously, it was. The end.

Tomorrow Ariella is Ima Shel Shabbat, and there has not been seen happiness like this in all the days of the world. We bought cookies at Supersol today and she cannot wait to go be Ima tomorrow. She is going to wear her white shirt, because the Ima Shel Shabbat should be pretty. After that, we are headed to Hoshaya for Shabbat. This is another northern community. We are checking it out but also using it as an excuse to stay with our friends, Eli and Sharon (pronounced Shuh-RONE) Sariel. They are Israelis who were in Riverdale for two years. Sharon and I worked together at SAR, and they returned to Israel last summer. We are looking forward to another exciting Shabbat experience.