Kvetchy

Well, I think I hit a wall today. It's the first time I've felt really out of sorts since I arrived in Israel, and though it's already starting to pass, I've been feeling cranky and kvetchy. First of all, I've been wearing my flip flops around my neighborhood (probably not a good idea at all), and though I realized they were starting to lose their tread and I was starting to slip sometimes on the very smooth stones that pave the sidewalks, it wasn't until I went--as the British so quaintly put it--ass over teakettle in the middle of the street that I had the clear realization that I need to reevaluate my footwear choice.

I am none the worse for wear (physically at least--my pride is certainly dented!) and guess I'll see a bruise or two tomorrow but not anything worse. My cell phone, which I've had for almost two weeks now, has never worked properly, but fear of dealing with the cellular company has kept me from doing anything about it. I bit the bullet this afternoon and skyped them for assistance. A full hour later they decided I needed a new handset (my amateur opinion from the start)--they are due here to drop off the replacement at my apartment this evening. The main problem, other than the wasted hour on the phone, is that they will only commit to arriving between 7 and 10, so I have a three hour window in which to wait--on the one "non-school," non-Shabbat night of my week. Bummer. Still, it will be good to have an operational phone, and I am hoping it arrives early enough for me to still take a walk before it's too late.

I'm not sure what else is making me cranky, though I did also try to figure out how to take a bus from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, as I'm hoping to go sometime before I leave. The bus website was impossible to navigate, though my Uplan teacher later assured me that it's impossible for Israelis, too. I guess that's some consolation. I suppose the main issue is that bureaucracy is no fun anytime, but it's particularly unpleasant in a foreign language and far from home. Israel definitely has a "rep" for being an impossible place for services and ease of living, and I guess I'm seeing just a tiny bit of that.

Okay, enough complaints. My Talmud class continues to be great, and I am still loving Ulpan and feeling very motivated to continue studying Hebrew when I get home. Looking forward to a peaceful Shabbat--I'll post on Sunday or Monday. Shabbat shalom!