[img]96|left|||no_popup[/img] Dateline Jerusalem — It has been a week since I arrived back in California to go to a wedding and to visit family and friends. As a shopaholic, the only thing that prevents me from buying out a department store is that I have gotten so fat nothing fits. The sales and bargain racks tease me. I remember the good old days when everything would look good on me. Lack of money in my bank account was all that prevented me from buying out a store. Now I window shop inside a store. It still looks as though I will have to buy another suitcase to carry back to Israel all the new clothes and books I have bought.

Whenever I am in Israel, I crave American food. I cannot wait for my next trip to the States to satisfy my yearnings. Kosher teriyaki and original flavored beef jerky usually fill my suitcase for the trip home from the States to Israel. I pretend these packages of dried beef are for my earthquake and war supplies. In reality, only a few serve that purpose. Usually only half of the packages I buy make it into my suitcase because I have eaten them while still in the States. Of those that finally make it to my kitchen in Rehovot, less than half remain for emergency supplies. When I first arrive in California, I travel to my favorite kosher market that also has a deli. I order the combo deluxe beef hot dog and hamburger with fries and soda. I can only find chicken hot dogs in Israel. I crave the old fashioned beef ones. As for hamburgers, somehow they do not taste the same in Israel. I used to be a big beef eater in the States, but rarely have beef in Israel. U.S. cows taste better. Of course, the main object of my quest for kosher food unavailable in Israel is corned beef piled sky-high on Jewish rye bread with half and half dill pickles. I am in heaven!

Once my cravings are satisfied on my trip to the States, I miss Israeli food. The other night friends and I went to a kosher Israeli restaurant in the San Fernando Valley. The table had ten different kinds of salads and homemade lafa bread and pitas, just like going to a restaurant in Israel. The menu gave us a choice of Mediterranean delights such as falafel balls, kuba, tabouli, stuffed grape leaves, hummus and tehina, Morroccan cigars, matbucha, baba ganoush, moussaka, schnitzel, shwarma, ground beef kebabs, shishlik, lamb chops, rib steak, lentil soup, yemen soup, salmon and musht. The menu was more extensive, but these were some of the well-known Israeli fare. The Valley is a second home to Israelis. It has been said that more Israelis live there than anywhere else in the United States. SuperSal market, so famous in Israel, as well as Aroma Cafe are in the Valley. Israel's very own The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf cafes are found all over California. Perhaps the reason so many Israelis congregate in the Valley is because the weather is reminiscent of that in Israel. There are so many Israeli restaurants, falafel and shwarma stands, and book stores with Israeli music.

Just before I left for the States I tried to buy an apartment in Rehovot. To my amazement, the Israeli bank approved the mortgage loan in one day. But my purchase offer was declined by the owners. I happen to believe that if things are meant to be, they will happen. In this case I would have had to do some work on the apartment and the rooms were so small I would have had to put some of my living room furniture in a bedroom. The master bedroom was only big enough to accommodate a double bed. Now I am happy the deal did not go through. When I think about it, the cost of an apartment is unaffordable in Rehovot, but totally prohibitive in areas such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. In the States a down payment usually is not greater that 20 percent, but in Israel it is not uncommon to put down 50 percent. And unlike California where realtors handle the transaction, both lawyers and realtors are involved in Israel. There are very few single family homes in Rehovot. Most people live in attached homes or buy small apartments.

I still am jet lagged, and I have not acclimated to my new environment. I bought myself a watch in Israel that shows the time for both Israel and California. But somehow I only look at the Israeli time. I guess that means I miss Israel and Israeli life, even if it isn't easy to live there..

L'hitraot. Shachar.