Translators, Memories, and Challenge Day 2

Living abroad in a non-English speaking country can be hard. There are a lot of things you take for granted - like the ability to buy stamps in your native language. There were times I had to use a translation service in order to look over rental contracts. It was really difficult and it was something  I never imagined I'd have to go through! Still, living in Israel gave me a different life-style. One in which I went to Moshe the veggie guy nearly every day. A lifestyle where I walked from the main city to my apartment in a different shochna (roughly translated to section) in the city after getting off the bus just so I could take in the landscape. And the kind of lifestyle where eating healthy and being active was part of daily life.

Still, not being totally fluent really sucked. I couldn't argue at the grocery store very well. I got paid in peanuts at first because I couldn't negotiate a higher salary in Hebrew.  I couldn't even call the pizza place to tell them how dumb they were for half-baking my pie.

Then there's last night. Back in America, I CAN call the pizza place to tell them how dumb they are. I know, we're supposed to be doing a challenge where we eat all the stuff in the house but after my first day back at work (where I kind of feel like a bus hit me), I was zonked and didn't feel like cooking. I missed Yoav and Craig - and I just wanted to spend some time with them and with Ori.

Back to the pizza. When you order online and they don't have something you want - but you order it anyway without knowing they don't have it - wouldn't you get upset that they didn't bother to phone and ask if you want something else instead? Yeah. That's what happened. Perhaps I should have cooked.

Tonight's dinner will be some kind of chicken and rice dish and this is Yoav's lunch for today:

He'll be eating sunbutter and banana waffle sandwiches, cheerios, a granola bar, mixed berry oats, blueberry yogurt, string cheese, non-GMO sweet potato tortilla chips, and juice. Plus whatever else they give him at daycare.

Sometimes I miss Israel - even with the need to utilize translators, I still miss that place. Especially when it comes to food.