Spring bulletin from Pittsburgh

Again, it's been quite a while since I last wrote. Finding the time and muse to sit and write has become more of a challenge lately. Life is fairly busy on our end, but definitely in a very positive way. My job is still as good and satisfying as I previously described, though after all it's a full-time one, leaving little time for such things as reporting about what's happening with us here in far Pittsburgh. But here I am, trying to find the time and get the word out, even if not as often as I used to in the past.

For those of you who may not have the time to read this lengthy bulletin (Banai? ;-), I'll start with the bottom line – life is great!

Let's start then with the two main reasons for this cheerful mood of ours – Hadas and Noga, what else. They're a source of constant happiness and joy to us, and spending time as a family is simply pleasant. There many things I could write about; the four of us rolling on the carpet, hugging, tickling and laughing so loud that the neighbors might complain; our blessed put-to-bed routine, watching them playing together in the bath; sneaking a glance at the imaginary games they often play; seeing the reaction towards Noga from her classmates when she joins them; caressing, kissing and sniffing Hadas after her nap, when she is still almost fully-baked; listening to Noga fluently reading a book (in English, reading Hebrew is not as advanced); celebrating Hadas's 3rd birthday, seeing how happy and non-envious Noga was for her; observing each of them thrilled in their swimming classes, the two cute little fish; Yep, it probably sounds corny and one could say it's the usual bla- bla produced when parents talk about their kids, but what can I do, this is really how I feel.

In several personal communications with some of you I realized that many things about our general way of life here weren't necessarily conveyed in my previous bulletins. So I decided to provide some details, risking the boredom of some.

Other than spending time as a family, we have lots of social activities. We have far more social options around than we have available time, which I suppose is a good thing. We have many friends, some of them Israelis and some American. One nice surprise we had about Pittsburgh is the huge Jewish community and sizeable Israeli community. We live in a neighborhood in which circa 60% of the residents are Jewish, and the Jewish Community Center (JCC) is a walking distance from our place. It is so extreme in American terms, that two weeks ago we participated in a fully-fledged Purim carnival. My point is that the sense of community here is very prominent, which wouldn't necessarily be the case for us in many other places in the states.

Typically our weekends are full of activities such as going to a museum/show/park, visiting or hosting friends, attending birthdays (the girls have many classmates…) or simply going to a playground. The winter was fairly mild in Pittsburgh terms (yes, in Israeli terms it was still frickin' freezing ;-), and didn't force us to constantly stay indoors. Now that the spring has emerged, we'll probably spend even more time hiking, camping and generally going outdoors. During weekdays we also have various evening activities – basketball (me, usually twice a week), yoga and book group (Anat). In short, for a very long time now our lives by no means feel temporary or under adjustment - our routines are well established and stable. I already mentioned above that I'm very happy with my job, so I'll also add that Anat is working hard on her research, and travels fairly often to destinations such as Texas and California. It seems she is making good progress; she is running multiple projects and experiments and is very active and interested.

On top of all the above we were, are and will be fortunate to have many family visits. Without delving into the details, I could say that there's hardly a month without a family member(s) visiting us, which is wonderful and very impressive considering the distance from Israel. Combined with our plans for several upcoming trips and vacations, it'd be fair to say that there's not a dull moment for us. On a more fundamental note, I sometimes find myself realizing that my life is being run in the US, and it's definitely strange to think about it. As I explained above, the transition was totally smooth, but I'm not (and probably will never be) an American in my feeling. Although all my communications and interaction with colleagues in the office are obviously in English, I still feel handicapped many times. My written English is decent, if I may say so myself, but my spoken language is not nearly as good, and my accent is pretty strong. It is not uncommon for me not to find the words needed for conveying an idea, and many times the verbal exchange between other people is simply too fast for me and I miss some words. It's nothing which prevents me from understanding what's going on around, or from performing my professional duties, but it's definitely different from being in a Hebrew speaking environment. English is my second language and will always be. But, it's a fascinating experience and I'm learning a lot every day, not only about the language, but also about cultural aspects. Since I was young I knew I would like to try living a different country, even if for a limited amount of time. I must say that this desire makes a lot of sense to me also in retrospect, when I am fulfilling it.

We hope you will all have a delightful spring and as The Seder is looming – happy Passover! Hugs and kisses, Hadas, Noga, Anat & Giora