Adventures in aliyah! The grocery delivery, part I

Aliyah is a journey. Getting to Israel is just a step. After that step come many more steps. These steps take months, years, decades, generations. Each step is the dawn of a start of a beginning to getting to be somewhat Israeli.

You might call each significant step a milestone, but that would just show how far you still have to go. The proper term here would be a kilometerstone. (And you still think in Fahrenheit, don’t you? Admit it!)

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The three-part kilometerstone we will begin to start today is:

Kilometerstone 16a: The Accidental Delivery

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Life is a journey. Aliyah is a journey. Getting groceries delivered in Israel is a journey all its own.

One evening we came back to our flat to find that our front door was barricaded by 15 bags of groceries from Rami Levy that we had not ordered. Our family name was clearly marked on the doorbell. We looked for a slip in any of the bags to show who was supposed to get the delivery, but found none.

We lived at #7, entrance 3. Entrances 1 and 2 are really separate buildings. Delivery people can never figure this out. They call to complain, “I am on your street–WHERE ARE YOU?!” We go outside and see a truck halfway up the street, with a perplexed man or woman looking in all directions. We wave. They are happy.

We dragged the Rami Levi bags inside, because they were blocking both our door and the stairway neighbors use to go upstairs to where they live. We put all perishables in the fridge. Because it was 8 PM (Sorry: 20:00 hours), I was unable to reach anyone at Rami Levi. Next morning I tried again and actually got through.

The woman I spoke with was sympathetic. She promised that someone would come right away to redirect the delivery. I gave her my address, complete with entrance number. I felt slightly competent, itself a rare delight for a new oleh. Another kilometerstone in a strange land.

Then no one came. By noon we figured that no one was going to pick up the groceries–no doubt it was more cost effective for Rami Levi to write off what they sent us and just ship it to the right people.

We and our daughter divvied up what we could. Eating other people’s grocery order demands some culinary flexibility. For instance, we found several liters of 3% milk, though we usually drink 1%. We adjusted by diluting each liter of 3% with 2 liters of distilled water. Aliyah demands creativity.

Somewhat more complex was having to research recipes that called for a lot of fresh kohlrabi.