it’s official!!

my visa is ready to go! neil is mailing it to me after memorial day!
i got my official NBN approval letter today.
i got my flight confirmation letter today.
holy crap, this is for reals.
july 6 i fly out.
july 15 i start ulpan etzion.
oh wait, i guess that’s the one thing that is still only unofficial…..neil says i’m approved for ulpan etzion, but there is still one or two things i need to do for that. namely, give them money.
i’m so excited, but i absolutely must go to sleep now.

hurry, hurry, now wait…..

My passport is with Neil, the JA shaliach as my visa is being finalized. It’s a good thing no one has ever taken a restraining order out against me…that was one of the forms I had to fill out for the visa!
JA says I’m approved for Ulpan Etzion and that the July 6 flight should be fine, but NBN doesn’t seem to be making any decisions. I am still wary about the JA/NBN merge.
I still haven’t found anyone to take Luna while I’m in ulpan, but my friend Jess has offered to take her if no one else steps up to the plate…..Jess must be part Israeli-only an Israeli would offer to take in a cat to add to her own 3 cats after having not seen the owner in 6 years.
Further proof that Jess is Israeli- after high school we lost touch (mainly due to my adolescent naivete) and the last time we saw or spoke was 6 years ago. And yet, she practically insisted I stay with her while in Boston to collect my dad’s things. And that’s not even the half of it- she schlepped me out to his apartment, helped me more than she can ever imagine practically and emotionally. I’m grateful to reconnect with her before I leave though it makes me sad that it is so close to my leaving.
All the boxing up we did from Dad’s really drove home how much packing I have to do here. Yikes. I don’t even know where to begin. Thankfully, after Memorial Day I’ll be home for a couple solid weeks!!
I still don’t know when I’ll be able to schedule a yard sale to get rid of all the stuff that I’m NOT packing.
Can I just go crawl under the covers now???

checklist update and neil gillman is my hero

Appointment with the rabbi next week…check

email mayanot…check (though no response from birthright and a “we’re a really small office” from the school.

research NGOs….ongoing (that counts as a check, right??)

contact shaliach with Jewish Agency, Neil Gillman…check!!!!!

I emailed Neil to set up a meeting.  Mere moments later, I got a response!  He asked me a few questions and then told me to call him.  I left a message on Friday around 3:30.  Got a voicemail Monday morning.  Called back that afternoon.  (No waiting for responses, no unanswered phones, no faulty websites- the world could do with more of this follow through!)  Neil answered the phone and the deep, British accent immediately put me at ease while leaving me feeling slightly like I was the butt of a joke that I didn’t know about.  But I find that feeling any time I talk to someone from the UK, so it was sort of reassuring.

Neil pulled up my file (or at least our email exchange) and he started asking me questions.  It sounded like he was beginning to fill out some sort of paperwork: Date of Birth, are you Jewish by a Jewish mother, have either of your parents ever lived in Israel, what is your history with Israel, etc.  This checklist immediately pulled my frazzled brain together. 

I masked the bigger ulpan fears with the silly “well, it will be really hot in July…” which Neil debunked with that soothing/you’re the butt of the joke tone.  Then we got into the real fear: what if they don’t let me in because I didn’t finish college?  It turns out that this rule is not set in stone.  Upon a respected source’s recommendation, the ulpan MAY choose to waive the requirement for an individual.  Big sigh of relief at that one!  Though of course that doesn’t mean it’s a go, just a maybe go.  Still I feel better.

Neil answered questions about dual citizenship and voting, though I forgot to ask about taxes.  I’ve heard that you can get stuck paying taxes twice-once in the States and once in Israel on income.  Have to find out more at some point.

He gave me tips on learning Hebrew, finding others who are making aliyah and talking to the rabbi.  He offered to drive to Richmond to have our meeting eventually if there are others in the area.  He assured me that he and his coworker Maryanna are very good at returning phone calls and emails (as I’ve already seen) and that I shouldn’t hesitate to call with even small questions (like is it too hot in July to move to Israel).  He explained the hurry up and wait aspect of Aliyah- because an aliyah visa must be used within 6 months of opening but in order to get on the NBN aliyah flight that a person wants, there is this rush to get papers in early but then no results for quite a while.   Sigh…I guess I will have to find some miracle to give me patience.

Later that day, he emailed me paperwork.  Turns out I already had the same paperwork and it was partially filled out, but I still filled this set out fresh and I am preparing to put it in the mail.  Somehow, the starting fresh paperwork felt right.  I have to get my Rabbi’s letter at our meeting next week and a passport sized photo of myself and then I can put it all in the mail!