Sashita's ISRAEL Blog

Success: I bought a TOWEL! | October 12, 2009

ah yes, when traveling for a long time one does not have a choice but to abandon the habitual comforts of home.

So far I’ve been busy trying to piece together my little existence. Getting money out of the ATM, buying food, getting a cell phone…all building blocks of life.

Language-wise this has so far been TOO EASY! i don’t speak ANY Hebrew – so its not an option. Threfore, there have been no botched attempts at communication. That makes it easy. Also, I cannot yet tell who in this country is Arab and who is Jewish. If I were to make a mistake and address an Israeli Jew in Arabic… I would probably be cursed out. Consequently, I do not use my Arabic.

However, i do speak Russian. And EVERYONE in this country is RUSSIAN! I was at the beach and did not have sunscreen. I knew that i needed to protect my pale Minnesotan limbs, so i went on a search. Walking, looking: no sunscreen stands. I approached two ladies under a tree…two very obviously Russian women (you can always tell by the burnt orange or off-purple color of their dyed hair..).  I said hi, asked where I can buy sunscreen. They told me that I would not find it, but welcomed me to used theirs (“beri nash, krasavitsa)”. Hence: Easy.

Communication with Russians here opens many doors. Even though many of them have lived here for decades, you still feel the lingering air of meeting a fellow immigrant. They still largely exist as a separate cultural community within greater Israel. Therefore, as any of you who travelled will know, the sound of common speech immediately brings an air of familiarity and warmth into the conversation. Therefore: taxi drivers give me lower rates, women at shops advise on which yogurt is best, people give me directions more readily.

Most of these Russian-Jewish immigrants speak Hebrew…some do not. Some have asked me, why do some Russian immigrants find it o.k. to find refuge in Israel, yet forego learning the language?! The reason is this: many of them escaped from the Soviet Union (and later Russia), and had to completely remake themselves. These were doctors, engineers, professors, who by immigrating, gave up their home, their careers and status in society. These highly educated professionals took jobs as street sweepers, store clerks, construction workers. At the age of 30-40 they had to completely remake themselves. By middle age, one usually expects to start reaping the benefits of hard work done in their twenties and thirties. Conversely, these immigrants had to get additional aducation, live in poverty, struggle, survive. And they made it! And therefore, many, i think, feel that they have already proven themselves beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore learning the language is not a priority.