More Angels

I really do need to say that I feel like Max and I have been extraordinarily blessed the past few months - especially as it pertains to our Israel plans. What a lot o' bit of tenacity and a lot o' bit of prayin' won't do, right?

We had a little bit of a crisis (well, what we thought was a crisis) with our Visa. We had to wait until our loan was approved to send in our Visa application (with our passports) and that didn't happen 'till very recently. Once we got our loan confirmation we put together our packet and overnighted our visa request...the day before the day before the 4th. We thought that would be fine and that they would get the package on the 3rd. But they were closed.

I should also tell you that we had been trying to get a hold of a human at the Israeli Consulate for 2 days straight with no luck. I finally got through to someone in a different department and basically said "I'm desperate, can you give me the direct number to the Visa department?" Which they did. I immediately pumped fist in the air and said to Max "I fought the law and I won!"

So after sending our Visa's overnight we found out that it wasn't delivered because the office was closed and that we, as the senders, could not request a second delivery. We had to wait for the consulate to request the package be sent...which is hard to do when you can't get a hold of them! We were panicking, not knowing how long it would take for them to process and return the Visas and our days are growing shorter.

We tried everything we knew with the mail carrying persons and finally I called (a little emotional I'll admit) and explained the situation to the nice woman from the federal office that delivers mail that I won't mention in case they have a blog crawler. The woman already asked if I was "authorized" and could request a resend (which I don't think I was) and when I finished my sob story she said

"Look, if you tell me that you are an authorized sender then I can request a second attempt" In the most professional way. "So, are you authorized to request a resend?"

I said to myself "Self, I am the sender of this package and I authorize it to be delivered a second time" ...so I said yes.

With visions of federal agents swarming my front door I feverishly checked the online confirmation code and YES it was delivered that very day!!

ALSO because we were so persistent/annoying the woman at the Israeli Consulate office called us back and we have become the best of friends over the past few days. We actually have her on speed dial and when we call her she recognizes our number and in a heavy Israeli accent says "Hello Mrs. Stoneman what can I do for you?" before I've even identified myself.

So, things are good. People are good. Our consulate angel processed our passports the day she received the letter and they should be back to us any day.

Best News Ever!

Today it was confirmed that we have student housing at Hebrew University! We received this glib email, and our expectations were so low that we are totally pumped.

"It is a two bedroom air-conditioned apartment with a small living room and kitchen and private bath"

In other related news, Max got approve for his loan (well one of them). We're going to live. It's a good day.

4 Cavities...and 3 of Them Were Mine

Max and I got our mouths assaulted yesterday and enjoyed the filling of 4 cavities between us. To be fair, the process was almost entirely painless and while we had cleared a good 4 hours from our schedules in case things went south, it only took an hour and a half to fill all 4 of them, and we went one after another.

It feels good to be without those holes in my teeth anymore.

So our teeth are all clear for take off. We just need to get on the same page as the housing lady in Jerusalem...arg.

Tech Czar Brooke

I have officially appointed myself Tech Czar of our wee family. What that means, among other things, is that I have to figure out how to

1) Communicate with our family and friends while abroad (thank you gchat video)

2) Figure out how we are going to see the final season of Lost and The Office when their respective networks do not offer international viewing privileges via their websites!!!

3) Lots of other things...

Number 2 is really giving me heartburn right now. At one point one of the nerdy blogs I read said that Hulu was thinking of providing their material overseas, but that they BLOCKED it at the last minute. ARG. There is something called a Elgato Eye TV that I guess can help us see American Television shows...but I haven't quite figured it out. I'll learn more and report.

Any thoughts?

(I know, isn't it awesome that with all of the things to think about when moving out of the country for two years viewing American TV is high on my list.)

Austrian Air is Fabulous

We bought our plane tickets!   We fly out of SLC on August 2, at 8:30 in the morning, arrive in JFK airport later that day only to be whisked away to Vienna on Austrian Air. Can I just tell you that Austrian Air is adorable? I don't know what else to call it.  We flew Austrian Air for one leg of our trip last summer, and when you get on the plane, first of all, all of the flight attendants have SERIOUS red suits straight from Austin Powers.  The seats (at least the plane we flew on) were green and there were little colored square velcro-on head resty things.  They came in yellow, blue, and red.  It was like a festive Alpsian doll house.  Adorable! 

From Vienna we fly to Tel Aviv and should arrive at about 3:00 PM the afternoon of August 3.

If  you don't know this, I have a crush on Rick Steves.  You know, aging PBS star and travel guide extraordinaire?  Anyway, one of the  best pieces of advice I got from him (it's like I know him or something) was to set your watch to the ultimate destination as soon as you get on the plane and then sleep/eat accordingly, even if its weird at first.  This worked like a champ on the way to Egypt and I can honestly say that I didn't have any jet lag. 

This is crazy.     

Um

My lack of posts should give you an idea of how much I've done to get ready for Jerusalem....

Well, to be fair, I have thought about it a lot and I have become very emotionally ready....just not ready in a real-life-moving-across-the-world-and-selling-all-my-earthly-belongings kind of way.