Home

Man it's good to be back. Back on my blog, but also back home.

I've been thinking about the word home a lot lately, and what exactly it means to me. It's a word we all throw around a lot - "We are heading home for the next two weeks" - or - "It's good to be home" -  etc.

Since moving to Tel Aviv, I have struggled with the definition of home. When people here ask where I'm from, in my mind I think, "Where from as in most recently, or where I grew up? Please clarify." I usually say Chicago. Yet we did live in Baltimore for the past five years - it's where we are most recently from, and where we will eventually move back to.

Baltimore - 4th of July - 2014

Sometimes in conversations as a couple, I just roll with Andrew's response of saying that we are from Colorado. It's easier - I did live there for almost two years - and it's where eventually we want to end up. The Colorado flag still hangs over our bed as I put minimal effort into home decor and we both dream of the days when we will live next to the Rocky Mountains again.

Estes Park - December - 2013

I think home can mean a lot of things. Ultimately, my home in regards to my roots will always be the Chicago area, my favorite city in the world and where my awesome family lives. Yet my home is now Tel Aviv, where my husband and I reside, and it took up until the past week for that to really hit me.
It was interesting going home the past two weeks - and by home, I guess I mean the U.S. We hopped from Chicago to Colorado to Mexico and back to Colorado, and saw almost all of our good friends and family in the process; it was a fantastic time. Yet it was the first time when meeting someone new and asked where we were from, we both smiled and said Israel. Tel Aviv.

But to be honest I was kind of dreading coming back. I was being a huge whiny baby and was afraid to fly back without Andrew, acting as if I was being sent off to a third world country with no connections or friends. When in reality, I was coming back to our cozy apartment and some super supportive and amazing friends.

I was wheels down here last Wednesday evening - JFK to TLV is an 11ish hour flight - followed immediately by a three day competition that I'm really excited to write about next. And what I was sure would be a tearful, mopey return on my part absolutely wasn't. It was easy, comfortable, and above all else made me realize that Tel Aviv is now truly my home.

Tel Aviv - Yom Kippur - 2016

I'll wrap up by getting a little mushy. This spring has been absolutely insane - in both good and bad ways. We lost our dog daughter which will forever make our souls ache, but have figured out how to work through hardships together while friends and family rallied around us. We had several visitors come explore Israel with us, followed by a fabulous time back in the States. We have tallied 15 total flights between the two of us since March.

Fort Collins - May 2015

Today is our two year anniversary today and while at this point a low-key night of wine and sushi sounds perfect, I don't want to downplay the celebration of the past two years. It's been nothing and everything that I could have imagined, and I cannot and would not trade a single second of it - I think he would say the same.

We aren't necessarily following the cookie cutter timeline of how things should look for married couples... we won't own a house for awhile still, and don't plan to start a family while living overseas.  But I've really never been a cookie cutter, follow the recipe/instructions type of girl. I prefer to make my own odd, unique cookies. Even if they sometimes get a little bit burnt.

Cheers -

Kait

Investments

I like the kind of questions that make me stop me in my tracks. The kind that get down under my skin and really make me think, forcing me to repeatedly revisit it.

April has been nothing short of a whirlwind, with two fantastic weeks of back to back visitors. First we had the honor of hosting Andrew's brother and wife, who then went on from here to Greece. Two days after I headed back to the airport to scoop up three of Andrew's high school/middle school/elementary school (IDK these guys have been friends forever) buddies, who we had a blast running around Israel with.

Andrew's friend count of visitors: 5

Kait: 0

(not including family)

Where ma' girls at?

Since the dust settled this past Monday and the boys went on to their next connections - including Andrew who had a work trip - the apartment has been eerily quiet. Too quiet. So quiet that I made a point to hardly be in it at all, jumping from working in coffee shops to dog walking to visiting new babies to the gym, etc.

But it was the quietness and loneliness of this week that made me revisit the question that one of Andrew's friends asked me last week - What would I even be doing with my time in Israel if I didn't have an interest in fitness.

The question honestly left me without an answer, and my response at the time was to laugh and shrug, admitting that I had never even thought about that.

Think about it though. Think of the most prominent interest/passion that you have in your life, whatever you are most invested in and love, and then pretend you actually don't like it at all. Wipe it off the map. What do you think your fall back would be?

I'm still scrapping my brain. I would say my runner up is writing - but how do you make friends through writing? Attend slam poetry contests? Maybe a local writers workshop hosted in Hebrew?

Perhaps I would get heavily invested in dogs. I mean I already am - and genuinely, heavily miss being a dog mom every single day. I've always had in the back of my mind to volunteer at one of the local shelters - and have even looked up courses as to how you can become a dog trainer. Dogs are probably my second passion tied with writing.

I don't know why, but the question shook me and simultaneously made me step back and really appreciate what this passion has done for me - actually for both of us as a couple - in regards to the life that we have built here in TLV.

Outside of the fact that fitness-related activities take up a lot of my time and are slowly but surely intertwining with my career, it's also how we have made roughly half of our friendships in Tel Aviv. So to imagine removing that entire portion of my life actually makes me wince a little.

It's an odd thought to have, but I found it to be an equally productive brainstorming session. At any moment passions/loves/interests can quickly be extracted from our lives, and perhaps it's smart to know what you can fall back on when it comes to dedicating your time and energy.

Just felt the need to share, and let the general realm of health and fitness know that I'm appreciative of it. On that note - I'm off to swim. Have a great weekend!

Cheers - 

Kait

Things (part II)

I know I've already brought up a few things I miss from the U.S., as well things I love about Tel Aviv, but I've got a new list that I've slowly been compiling so bear with me.

Like any country, there are different trends and routines that Israel has seem to embraced and adopted, etc.  The fixed-price coffee cafes are awesome and super reasonable, and I'm going to be honest and admit I'm a little obsessed with all the girls wearing boy jeans trend right now, simply because they look really comfy....

But today I want to talk about things that Americans are used to that aren't really 'a thing' here in Tel Aviv...

- Exhibit A: (and what inspired the brainstorming of this list) - Brunch

Now, you can find some brunch options at a few restaurants around the city, and a lot of places do all-day breakfast.  Yet it's crazy to me that the concept of bottomless brunch hasn't really been embraced here.

You can find a few all-you-can-drink bars at a flat rate - any time of the day, which we have yet to try. But man I'll admit that I miss the occasional solid brunch option - which is why it was pretty amazing when one of our friends hosted one of her own this past weekend.

- Exhibit B: The casual wearing of workout clothes while running errands.

I realize I probably definitely tend to prefer wearing workout clothes more than your average girl to begin with... but on my Target runs back in the day I saw PLENTY of other humans rocking their gym gear and/or sweats while out running their errands.

Not a thing here.  Not even a little bit.  It makes me stick out like a sore thumb and furthermore look like a hobo compared to the trendy outfits the girls here seem to be wearing 24/7.

Of course, that doesn't detour me from doing it.  It just helps to scream 'I'm an American' as I walk down the street in search of chicken broth (which is also oddly hard to find).

- Exhibit C:  Uber.

There are actually a FEW when you open the app, but rarely used and I've heard it's unreliable here.  The ease of Uber back in the States has us all super spoiled.  There's another app called Gett Taxi which is almost as easy but for some reason I don't like it as much... I think because it's actual taxis?

I guess I've just learned to enjoy hanging out in random stranger's personal cars.  Especially when they offer you free candy and chargers, which 100% contradicts how we raise our children.

- Exhibit D:  Pre-packaged margarita mix. 

Not a thing.  I've now searched several stores and they just don't sell it - probably because cocktails really aren't as big of a thing either. Liquor is substantially more expensive, but you can usually order a marg at most establishments; and we've found a few solid ones at Mexican restaurants.

We even found one Mexican Restaurant that said they would be willing to sell their margarita mix to us... but the confusion they expressed when we inquired about buying it made me realize we sounded desperate and weird and therefore I've resorted to simply making my own healthier version with sparkling water and lime juice.

NO I DON'T DRINK MARGARITAS REGULARLY, it's just my favorite cocktail OK. Jeez. Judge harder.

- And lastly, Exhibit E: The word sorry.

I've heard a few people mention (maybe a joke maybe not) that there's not actually a word in Hebrew for 'sorry.'  Which makes me question how Justin Bieber's song Sorry would then be translated.

But seriously - I typed it into my Hebrew App and there doesn't seem to be a singular word for sorry, but instead just the phrase 'I'm sorry.'  I belong to a few Tel Aviv Facebook groups so that I can stay hip and in the know with what's going on, and I actually once saw a thread about how Israeli's hate how many people they now hear saying 'sorry' out on the streets.

I will agree that the word sorry is definitely overused in the U.S.; almost as an awkward filler word.  

I almost just reached for the same jar of salsa as you at the grocery store OH GOSH I'M SO SORRY. 

But in my American opinion, it's perhaps a bit underused in Israel.  But who am I to make that call - you live and you adjust.  You start hosting your own bottomless brunches, and the next time your dog lunges at a stranger's shopping bag on the street because she thinks it's actually a toy of her own, you don't apologize you just keep walking.

Just kidding I would never do that I promise.

Anyways, there are my recent realizations of things in America that aren't things in Israel.

Cheers- 

Kait

Mornings

Fun fact: Out of the 14.3 million Jewish people in the world, 43% reside in Israel. 

Mornings in Tel Aviv are super quiet; it's actually my favorite part of most days here.  6:30 AM walks are usually with only a select few dogs, traffic is light and the temperatures are beginning to stay cooler and cooler while the sun is still rising. 

Weather this time of year is absurdly consistent; it's basically the same. exact. thing. every single day.  A few clouds in the morning, then clear skies the rest of the day, highs in the mid-eighties.  We've been told a few different things in regards to what fall and winter are like here (opinions vary depending on what people are 'used to' for winters) but from what I can gather it will stay fairly mild, and we won't see snow unless we venture towards the mountains - sometimes even up in Jerusalem.

Another reason I have grown to prefer mornings here is kind of a selfish one - no one randomly approaches me on the street and starts speaking to me in Hebrew.  Now let me preface that with, I'm extremely grateful that Tel Aviv is such a friendly city, and that every fifth person on the street wants to know 1. what kind of dog Kai is 2. how old she is or 3. directions to somewhere.  (Top three reasons I'm usually approached).

As a sidenote, even having headphones in does not detour people from approaching me... I try it daily.

But recently  I've shifted from feeling confused when someone approaches me in Hebrew, to now kind of annoyed.  Not with them - but with me - because I know VERY little Hebrew, and even if I did I can't help with directions yet. My response always makes me feel like a brutish ape - usually I kind of grimace and half yell "WHAT" and they either quickly switch gears to English, or they keep speaking Hebrew and I have to put on an I'M AN IGNORANT AMERICAN AND HARDLY EVEN KNOW ONE LANGUAGE face and ask if they speak English, in English.

Roughly 80% (of who I've encountered) do.  The amount of languages most people here can *fluently* speak actually simultaneously blows my mind, and leaves me feeling super incompetent.  It's not a secret that most of the world seems to know at least enough English to get by, yet (majority) of American's notoriously never pick up another language - not very well at least.  And I guess I had never really formulated any feelings around that until I actually immersed myself in a culture where it mattered.

Example: I heard a girl at the beach the other day quickly switch from Hebrew, to English, to Portuguese. 

Sigh.

It's unrealistic to declare that I'm going to be fluent in Hebrew by the time we are done here - Hebrew is a super tricky language, and even learning the alphabet system would be a feat for me. However, I am now much more dedicated to learning basic words and phrases to get by.  So far I know... roughly five words (can we count Mazel Tov?).  Current state learning is simply using a pretty cool app on my phone, but I think we both may eventually move to a tutor once or twice a week for awhile, as that's a resource that's available to us.

Anyways, those are some of my thoughts on the week.  If anyone reading knows some Hebrew and wants to give me some pointers, I would appreciate it.

Have a fabulous day, cheers - 

Kait