Settled down in Haifa, Israel

Dear family and friends,

We have been silent for a long time, but certainly not due to a lack of things to write about. Simply put, we've been extremely busy. But we're still here, alive and kicking :-) It'd be fair to say that we're now fully settled in our new home in Haifa, Israel.

The girls are all happy by now, which wasn't the case at some stages. Noga, as I wrote before, had a rough start. Eventually, we transferred her to a different class in her school, which improved her situation drastically. She returned to being a happy girl, with a rich social life and a smile on her face. Sometimes, you learn to appreciate something only when you lose it (if temporarily), and in Noga's case, her vivacity is such a big part of her personality. Still, my gut feel is that she's not as happy as before, but I believe she will fully bounce back eventually.
Hadas was almost instantly integrated into her new environment, and experienced very few difficulties if any. She has become a very popular kid in her kindergarten, and she explicitly says that she likes it here a lot.
Maayan proved unique again, being part of those 3% of kids that get a vaccination against chickenpox but catch the disease nonetheless. And boy did she get it - in a very violent form! She was very miserable for a few weeks, and so were we - although common and seemingly harmless in the long run, this is a TERRIBLE disease. But luckily the ordeal is now behind us, and she's back to amazing us daily by how advanced she is, how charming, how verbal, how assertive (not to say aggressive) and most importantly how happy she is. We often refer to her as being a "Goosh Osher" (something like "bundle of happiness").

Our family life has settled into a welcomed routine. I typically leave home early in the morning (around 7am) leaving the morning drop-offs to Anat. I leave work very early (before 4pm), to pick up the girls and spend the evening with them, playdates and other after-school activities included. Anat normally joins us much later, around dinner time. We're fortunate in being able to conduce our daily lives with very little driving - Noga walks to school daily, Maayan's daycare is a short walking distance and Hadas' kindergarten is literally across the street from our home. Anat has an easy short bus ride to the university and even my commute, in the aforementioned times, typically takes no longer than 15-20 minutes.
We live on the Mountain top (Mt. Carmel), and Google Haifa is down by the beach, so I also get the bonus of magnificent view to the Mediterranean Sea while driving downhill. With the typically blue skies of Israel, this is a fine way to start a day! In general, I'm very happy with my job, mostly with the fact that it allows me immense flexibility in my work hours, so I can afford spending a lot of time with the girls. Make no mistake, this is not at all common in the Israeli high-tech industry, and I consider myself very fortunate for this. I also feel more confident professionally than I did in Google Pittsburgh. In terms of leisure activities, I play basketball once or twice a week, and also started attending Pilates classes once a week. Oh, and last but no least, I visit the open-air market ("Shuk") every Friday morning, marveling at the unbelievable variety of fruits and vegetables Israel has to offer.

Anat had a bumpy start professionally. It's natural for new faculty to get overwhelmed, and I think that in her case several factors made it even worse, such as the insane teaching load and the need to integrate into an environment which is drastically different from those she was part of in the past. I believe she has passed the peak of her frustration, and is getting on track to maintain and develop her new lines of research. But, nonetheless, her career is greatly demanding, and leaves her constanly terribly busy, at least in the first few years.

But, as part of getting on track, we definitely remember to live, go out and have a good time. Last night, for example, we sent the girls to my parents for a sleepover (didn't get that in Pittsburgh...), and went out to a fantastic show by Chava Alberstein, one of our favorite singers. It was fabulous!!!
So, the short version is that the girls are truly amazing, life is fantastic, and although busy and often fairly tired, we're enjoying it a lot!

Kisses to all of you, and please do write!

Maayan, Hadas, Noga, Anat & Giora