We started rolling. The house was offered for rent at a rental website and to our surprise raised more interest than we expected. Eyal took care for the bureaucratic aspects of the contract and insurances and we signed. So this part is behind us and the house is for us to live in until October 1st. Thereafter start the holidays and with them our vagrancy.
In the mean time we get interesting responses from people around us regarding our intended trip. Most are really encouraging and sympathetic like – “You are so lucky” or “I would go if only my husband/wife was into it…” or something like: “you are doing what everybody are dreaming of and don’t have the courage for”. There are also those who back up and encourage not without having difficulty to grasp the essence of this trip: “Ohh, you are relocating for a job?… No job? Then what would you do? A vacation? What, with ALL of your kids?…. And what about school?…”. And then there are those that simply ask: “Are you out of your minds??”. And they are all valid responses, but we just don’t have answers to them all.
The “community manager” here in the Kibbutz, who did not know who we are until a week ago (which is not surprising given the fact that he not part of the community…) had hard time grasping the nature of this trip as well. You see, we should get the community’s approval based on the reasons we provide for such a trip. After all, we are members of the Kibbutz who want to take a year (or two) off and what a better reason could it be to gather and vote. So Eyal was chosen to represent the family in the community management session and then we’ll wait for the tribe’s verdict. We don’t see a dismissal coming. Anyway, if worse comes to worst we will be deported to a lonely island…
Regarding the preparations at home, the current focus is at backing up stuff. In the past three years we did not print our photos in photo albums. After the first long trip with two of our children to Thailand, six years ago, we came familiar with Lupa, and we use them ever since. This wonder that shrinks fat photo albums into lean and light books was nothing less than a revolution in our archives, and we never looked back. The problem is that it takes time and effort, and a lot of both. Not so much for the editing (which can be even joyful), but more because there are TONS of photos from which you should only pick a bunch (not like in the old days where a film had only 36 photos at max). So after three years without printing (apart from wedding- or memorial- or mom’s-birthday- books) we now have to collect all photos that were taken during this time from folders in several places, cellular phones that are no longer with us for some time and some from our retired camera. And then we need to do some order in all those by months and years and back them up. Actually, there is no way to make the story short. It is a looong and tedious one.
A photo I ran into when going over our archives – our first born (now almost 10) during her first visit to Thailad – March 2008
