The Holocaust in Ikea

Monday, we took a TASP field trip to Yad V’shem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem (affectionately known as J-town). The last time I had been there was in 1999. A new part was built 5 years ago and the old museum was closed, so I was strangely excited to go. We went on a guided tour, which is not how I usually go through museums. While I heard a lot of things that I’m sure were not written on the displays, I discovered that I am not fond of guided tours. I would rather go through at my own pace, able to read everything that I want. I’m going to have to go back at some point in these next 2 years. I think I can squeeze that in.
Afterward, we went on a winding bus ride through the hills to a boutique winery (that means they produce less than 100,000 bottles a year). They gave us loaves of good bread, dishes of soft cheese and olives. A woman taught us about how wine is made, the differences between reds, whites and roses and how to properly taste wine. We had a sauvignon blanc and a cabernet sauvignon. Both were delicious! They also have honey in the gift shop from all the bee hives they have to pollinate the grape vines. I got a jar for Rosh Hashana, which is in a few weeks.
When we got back to Tel Aviv, Allie, Raquefette, Julie and I went to Marty’s to hang out. We bought the beer and he provided some good music and food...chicken kebab and mini burgers, hummus, babaganush and tehina. Mmmm…
The only thing to note about Tuesday is that Allie and I met up with my friend, Roy for dinner. He took us to a small hummus restaurant. Everyone gets their own bowl of hummus (I got a hard boiled egg sliced on top, too.) and it’s served with pita and Israeli salad. Yum!
Wednesday, I went to school to meet some other teachers and start decorating my room. I was only there for a few hours, but it was plenty of time to prepare for the first week of my classes. My room is the bomb shelter, so it’s underground. I felt a little dirty when I left.
I got back to the hostel and Ali, Allie and I walked to get lunch (falafel!) and hopped on a bus headed for the train station. We took the train (only 6.5 sheks- approx: $1.50) to Netanya, where Israel’s Ikea is.

Turns out we got off one stop too late, so we grabbed a cab for the short ride there. Things in Ikea started out pretty well. We were really excited to be there and were so amazed with everything there. We had to ask a few people before we could get help in English about how to get the big things, like a futon to use as a couch and beds. So many of our first choices were out of stock, including the futon I wanted for my room. There’s a futon store on Ben Yehuda St. in TA, though, so we’ll go there to get it. In the living room section, we were reminded of Yad V’shem by some pillows that shared an uncanny resemblance to concentration camp uniforms. We vetoed those! Helping Ali and Allie pick out mattresses was fun! Selecting sheets was surprisingly confusing. Had anything been in English, it would have fine. However we had to rely on deceiving pictures. We finally realized the sets were just comforter covers and pillow cases, but the measurements were bigger than the beds (so they can hang over). That’s right, measurements. Not easy words like ‘full’ or ‘queen’. Then came the sheets. Of course, they were not labeled with ‘fitted’ or ‘flat’ (not even in Hebrew). We had to open a package to find out what was going on. It was fitted, but all the other pictures were the same. I don’t even think they sell flat sheets, so we didn’t get any. Comforters, towels and hangars calmed us down. And then we entered the warehouse. This is where we were to pick up all our big stuff. I can’t even begin to explain the frustrations of trying to get all the pieces of a large futon when everything is in another language and no one speaks English.



Some of Allie’s bed wasn’t even on the right aisle. They had to get lift to get it down. Luckily, Ali can communicate enough in Hebrew to convince people we’re not completely idiotic with our hand gestures. The check out line was ages long, it took 30 minutes to get their mattresses, (Ikea has food, so we ate hot dogs and fries for dinner then.), and then we had to attempt to get everything delivered. Luckily, that woman spoke English and it was fairly easy. We still had 7 bags to carry of “little” things that Ikea won’t deliver. The next counter was to get the stuff built once it’s delivered. She didn’t speak English and literally ignored us while we stood and stared at her for at least 20 minutes. I don’t know what compelled her to pay attention to us, but the Hebrew was basic enough for Ali and Allie to take care of business for us. Heading back to TA was an ordeal, of course, also. We took 1 sherut (a van that follows bus lines) in the wrong direction even though the driver told us it went to the train station. The other one went straight to TA, and we got off kind of close to our hostel, carrying all of our bag, including one with a broken handle. The boys were nice enough to let us store our stuff under their beds because they have so much more space and then we collapsed on our beds. I really hope we don’t have to ever go back. 7 ½ hours was enough for a lifetime.