Sleeplessness

I am tired everyday. Whether it's language, sun, lack of water or "fish out of water" cultural fatigue, I am always tired. Going to bed early would be a worthwhile thing to do but it is almost impossible. Tonight, after Shabbat ended, for example, we came home, put Akiva to bed and then went through papers trying to determine what tomorrow's jobs are. Lists were compiled, papers shuffled and now I get to think about it until morning.

I could go to bed but the bed, such as it is, is a mattess on the floor. It's a nice mattress as mattresses go but it does not compare to my lovely, natural latex mattress that is currently floated somewhere out in the Meditareanean Ocean. I wake every day with a back and hip ache that makes me feel a bit like an old lady.

When we picked up our Teudat Zehut - ID cards last week, I picked up some information at the Nefesh B'Nefesh offices about how to reduce stress after making Aliyah. Ira and I are failing on some big items like eating and sleeping normally and getting enough rest. But it's been getting better. Fridge has food or the potential of food and the house feels more and more like somewhere recognizable. We need our stuff for it to be home but it's a start.

I cooked a couple of times last week - rice and beans, a quick stir-fry and lots of toast for Akiva in our "toaster," a nice frying pan. Camping out has it's plusses in that's it's reduced us to the most important things that we need for survival - let's see, laptops, ipods, cellphones....
We can go over to my sister's when we need such niceties as a sofa and washing machine.