Wheels
The first was that on Yom Haatzmaut, our daughter fell off her scooter (no, don't close your eyes to just see what happens) and needed stitches. Any time a child requires medical attention, it is stressful. Add on top of that a national lockdown, and that while you live in Beit Shemesh, Ramat Beit Shemesh (your neighbor) is a red zone prompting even tighter restrictions, the recipe equals disaster. Our neighbor was kind enough while hearing the crying (as we were trying to figure out what was going on), to let us borrow her car. This was incredibly kind, except that after two throw up episodes, we felt terrible. They insisted it was a chesed and not to worry, but we worried (if the circumstances were flipped, we'd be a little annoyed, even though it's the right thing to do - - doesn't mean to not try to make it right and show hakarat hatov). The air freshener purchased to help air things out is still on their dashboard among other things we bought them to repay them for their kindness.
One of the many nice advantages of Beit Shemesh is that there's great transit. Buses, citicar, rental car places. When a sudden heatwave this week decided to emerge (goodbye corona, maybe?) we decided to rent a car to help with all the various drop offs. Well, while many cars were available for rent, it took two hours of waiting (in the heat) till it arrived. Time is precious just the same. The rental car place is not exactly around the corner.
The summers are hot here and if camps also do open, it's another challenge. That said, school might be extended longer thanks to all the missed days. The kids are not interested in going to camp either. They just want to chill with Legos, card games and LOL dolls.
And so, while we did not anticipate to purchase a car just as soon as we did, the actual process was far from the nightmare we were warned about.
The hardest part was narrowing down do we buy used, new, yad1, yad2, do we use our olim benefits, do we buy a 5 seater for what we need now or think ahead with 7 seats just in case we need more passenger space? Hybrid cars are also almost non existent in the country. Right now Israel has the hybrid 5 seater Kia Niro (some other models as) but for 7 seaters, options are the Toyota Prius Plus (which knocked baby Yaakov's head twice and the hubby's as well). Sadly no Toyota Highlander hybrid model. The Mitsubishi Outlander is now coming out with an electric model and Volvo, if you have 500,000 shekels lying around, boasts an electric model as well. That's not exactly the same as a hybrid... An electric vehicle requires installing a recharge unit, where if you don't own a house, how would you then take care of the car?
In any case, we had a great experience at the Nissan dealership. We decided to go with a recognizable name brand car (which was narrowed down from Kia or Toyota). Then it came to price. And the price kept going down and down...my mom a'h would be so proud. While test driving the car (Josh, that is, not me) the car had gadgets that reminded me of the car my father a'h had. When asked what color we wanted, it was no brainer thanks to the heat here and memories to go with a metallic silver (we had two black cars in Sharon, MA which didn't bode well to my dad and grandmother - - hard to see at night). I listened this time around! To my mom as well, if you buy, buy big and use seychel (brain).
Leaving the dealership, a song played that made me smile. אבא אוהב אותך it recited and while it was referring to the creator, I couldn't help but also think of my Ima and Abba.
Now what to do with this car...
Since one of us is terrified of inner city driving, the car will be great for rainy days, traveling to see family and the every so often outings. G-d willing, we hope, not anymore family emergencies. Gas prices are also at an all time low now thanks to corona and no one leaving their homes.
A couple tips to navigating dealerships.
1) Bring your foreign passport when you buy a car. We didn't but luckily could WhatsApp a picture (love this country).
2) Make sure to have your foreign drivers license, current license and teudat oleh.
3) We were surprised to get a call from our bank the next morning to show proof of purchase. Make sure then that your bank is aware prior to big deposits and purchases!
We felt really at ease and happy yesterday. Something about the process just felt so right. I remember my father checking out our first new car when we just moved to Boston, followed by a family vacation in the Catskils. It was a huge achievement. Buying a car also made us feel more grounded. As we approach almost a year now in Israel, Josh feels settled and not in denial being here. I still felt like I had one foot out the door (not back to Boston [too cold, not enough schooling options], but maybe NJ, closer to my sisters - though I believe they are proud we are here - despite being far). I'm not sure why I'm still in denial...but working on it.
In other news, August 2nd we will be moving around the corner to another rental house in the same project we have been in. Buying property is challenging (a post regarding that when Gd willing we become successful with that milestone), and thanks to Corona, supply and demand became extremely complicated. We were extraordinary lucky to find the rental that we did and not be homeless. We would just find ourselves in Meitar and juggling logistics...and unhappy children who are very thrilled to be here in Beit Shemesh with close friends.
Here's to the start of summer... hope we are treated with ease and blessing as we keep moving forward conquering the holy land.
PS - - if you go to Nissan in Talpiyot, say hello to Alon Shai for us. He was wonderful. Don't worry, he will remember us.
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