We would really like to pay our rent. And we went to the place where we paid the rent the first time to pay it again. The first time we went with our project coordinator who reserved the unit for us. She's the one who let us into our temporary quarters on our first night here even though we arrived late and she was off work and she would have preferred being at home with her family celebrating Hanukkah. But that night she didn't want any rent, and she would deal with us after her paid 5-days off for Hanukkah were over.
We were supposed to meet up on Monday at the Ministry of Absorption and/or the Ministry of Interior where we would get our ID cards and take care of other immigration details. When we arrived, we couldn't find her and went back and forth from the 3rd floor to the 4th floor back to the 3rd floor, finally figuring out what we needed to do on our own. Well we finally caught up with her and she drove us to a dilapidated building about half a mile away and we trudged up to the second level only to be told the woman she wanted to see wasn't there. However our project coordinator was insistent and we saw another lady who wore dark red lipstick that had smeared onto her upper lip. We listened as they argued in Hebrew. Once clarified, the lipstick lady fiddled with the computer for about 30 minutes and finally we paid about a week and a half worth of rent. Once the rent was paid, our project coordinator gave us vague instructions how to get back home and we were on our own.
We've been doing pretty good on our own.
A week later -- even though no one was actually asking for it -- we decided we should pay some more rent. The first hurdle was finding where to go. Our project coordinator was not going to drive us there this time and all we had was an address -- 48 Hanimal --and vague memories of a dilapidated building with a parking lot nearby. We took the bus and found Hanimal street and started looking for number 48. We found 49, so 48 should be across the street with the other even numbered buildings, right? We walked up and down the block and could not find 48, we found all kinds of numbers that had no particular order, sequence or logic.
We went into buildings and asked in our garbled half-Hebrew mostly English: Where is 48 Hanimal?
Answer: Not here.
Finally someone spoke English and knew the area well enough to explain 48 Hanimal was across a small park nearly two blocks away.
How does that make any sense?
Anyway, we finally found the building and went up to the second floor where we originally paid the rent. An older man who seemed to be the receptionist spoke in Hebrew and presumably asked what we wanted. In English we said, "Pay rent." He didn't understand a word of English, but somehow communicated we should wait while he found someone to help us.
Finally a Russian lady came out and said in English, "I don't speak English, but I'll see what I can do." We explained we wanted to pay the rent. Apparently she could speak English, she just couldn't understand it because she kept asking us the same questions over and over about who we were, where we living and why we were here. She went to find someone to help and we waited. Every so often, she would return ask us the same questions about who we were, where we were living and why we were here, then disappear.
"Pay the rent," did not seem like a concept anyone there understood.
We waited, and waited.
Finally the woman returned and said, Apra will help you, and pointed to a woman passing through the lobby. The next thing I knew, Apra, the Russian woman, and the woman who took our rent the first time were all in the lobby yelling at each other presumably about who would take care of us. Then they left. We continued to wait.
And wait.
Other people came and left. They were taken care of, no problem -- but then they spoke Hebrew.
We waited some more.
Finally it was getting to be lunchtime and we were hungry. We decided we had waited enough and if they wanted their rent they could call us and ask for it. Which they probably will, but it will be in Hebrew and we won't understand a word.
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