people who need people

Our friend Rachel and her brother Ben have created a really cool app called sleeQo. One of these days, Rachel will post how to pronounce that. We've been having fun with it on Facebook, when it occurred to me, I should try it out where it's actually intended to be used - on the blog! I made it applicable to our blog by using the "5 Things New Olim Should Know" meme (which, thanks to Rachel, I just learned is pronounced "meem." I've been totally uncool by calling it a "meemee" all these years).

Try it out! I'm resisting the temptation to go fill them all in right now. The way things are going lately, I'm going to need "filler"!

5 Things New Olim Should Know

Rules: Post 5 things that a new immigrant to Israel needs to know. No politics!

1. You pay for everything at the post office. Health care, driver's license, bills, you name it.
2. Whatever time your appointment is, expect it to start half an hour later. But you're still expected to be on time.
3. Kosher food is everywhere!
4. No matter how hot you think it is, it will get hotter.
5. You will never find more people willing to help you do whatever you need to do. Most will offer, but don't be afraid to ask. The answer will always be either "yes" or "I can't, but I know someone who can"

Nobody tagged Click here to fill in this meme

Dig, people, dig!

One of the amazingly cool things about living in Israel is construction. Yes, construction. Or rather, they byproducts of construction. When someone tears down the house right next door to you to build a new one in, say, Vancouver, and you spend day after day listening to the aural equivalent of a landslide and feeling your own house vibrate as if you were in the middle of one, the only thing they're likely to dig up is - well, nothing. Chances are this is the 4th or 5th house built on this location, and if there were anything to find, it's long gone by now. And it's more likely there wasn't anything to find in the first place.

In Israel, when construction starts on apartment buildings, it's almost always on land that hasn't been touched. At least, not touched for hundreds of years. And many times, in the course of construction, they find something. And that something is protected by the government, and must be reported and explored.

Which means, if you live in a construction zone, you can wind up with an archeological dig right across the street. Cool! Wonder if they'll take volunteers?

View from our balcony