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photo page 54 |
Our sabbatical comes to an end: the partnership with our business partner is almost over, and soon we will have to earn a living
once again. The rental contract for the apartment also had to be extended, and that would certainly cause major "balagan".
These have been four wonderful years, in which we had many adventures and special experiences, and made many many very good friends. The
perfect weather, the openness of the people and our own de-stressing have all contributed to this.
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Time for a little wailing..... we have very seriously considered to try to earn our living in Eilat, by starting our own little
enterprise here, building hi-tech electronics with a few employees and exporting the products. But, our experiences with corrupt
real-estate agents, dollar-hungry house owners, burglars, fraudulent lawyers and unholy civil servants have eventually "cured" us from
this plan. The fact that we, not being jewish, can not obtain a visum of more than 3 months (not even a Toshav Eilat!), added to the risks.
Ivriet was another obstacle, but we noticed that even native Israelis were not able to detect all the nasty tricks and juridical escapes
in contracts. Not to mention the
frustration over frequent strikes, customs offices that stop urgent shipments for 3 months for no apparent reason, import and
export duties, and 24-hour express shipments that always took 3 days to deliver.
So, after much consideration, we have decided not to start a business in Israel. The Dutch climate is lousy, but the business climate
is much more relaxed, being based on mutual trust, a dedication to supply good products and services, and allowing your partner to earn a
living, much opposed to the "haggle for a shekel" mentality in Israel. This mentality runs so deep, that people and businesses
habitually confront you with suspicion and raw egotism. The well known saying "If you want to make a small fortune in Israel, bring
a big one" is very very true, unfortunately.
And another thing: living in Israel exposed us to the utterances of the three Abrahamic religions. The sheer hypocrisy and intolerance,
increasing with the level of holiness ("the bigger the kippa, the bigger the hypocrite"), has baffled us and has invoked in us a profound
revulsion against it. Were we utterly tolerant agnosticists from the outset, Israel has turned us into convinced atheists.
Richard Dawkins book "The God Delusion" features prominently in our bookcase, and we have
viewed many of Pat Condell's video clips with gusto.
Before we really get annoyed, we go back to Holland. So, we put our furniture for sale, and start packing.
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The jeep is also for sale, and Amitsa's giant scratching pole goes to Maaike, the cat of the Koth family.
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Cat's corner being dismantled.
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Cat for sale!!! Only 50 shekel!!! (discount due to bad temper).
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All stuff for sale is displayed on a special furniture page of the website.
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Amitsa lost her luxury double bed....
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... after we sold ours, the 4-poster bed from Holland.
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A cupboard full of bargains: almost everything for 5 shekel.....
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Two hunderd kilos of small stuff is ready for transportation by EMS.
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Despite these works, there is still some time for fun: we make a few more trips with the jeep, and have wonderful dinners at Sjato and
Tonino's, with Rayond, Etti and Ruthy. The final jeep trip is in Wadi Shehoret, on the Saturday before departure, at sunset.
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Sonja returns the stones that have decorated our balcony.
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We make a trip with Valerie and Joshua, and Valerie gets her first ever driving lessons: off road in the desert, in a Landrover: what
a way to start.....
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Nice knees, huh? A souvenir from the trip with Valerie and Joshua. Sonja brought some water-balloons, and make a graceful dive into
the gravel to catch one. For a week, everyone looked at Henk with clear suspicion .......
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Sonja also manages to have a final belly dance lesson with Celine, a friend of Hadas.
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And we make a set of pictures of GiepGooi.
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And then D-day arrives: the table and sofa are dismantled, because the movers can be here anytime now.
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Amitsa clings on to the sofa, and starts practicing her most angry look......
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.... but to no avail, the sofa and most of the other furniture is carried out by a bunch of Russians.....
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....straight into the moving van.
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The result: a completely empty living room, apart from 2 garden chairs and a plastic table. Those will be sufficient for the last 2 days.
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Meanwhile, we pack the remaining stuff in the boxes, and into the jeep. Fifteen movers boxes, 2 plastic crates......
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..... and one gigantic long box on the roof. That box contains the long candelabras, the bows and arrows, the tripod, and
all other stuff that does not fit in normal boxes. Tuesday morning, the whole lot is carried into the post office, Wednesday morning
we fly back to Holland, and Thursday morning, the postman knocks on the door with all 18 boxes. Some are a bit battered and bruised,
and there is some breakage, but everything is there.
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Well, and this is how you look after such a week........ Well, to be honest we had the flu and cold already the whole week before
returning, but no time to take a break and get well. Back home in the Netherlands, the sickness starts in earnest, and the first
couple of days we feel terrible and hardly get out of bed. A simple painkiller has a profound side effect on Henk: oedema in his
lips. Sonja kind of likes it: kissing without missing!
When we recover, we'll start unpacking, stowing, finishing the house, and make new plans for the future. Although the title "..in Israel"
will have to change, we will put updates on this site, so give it a click once in a while.
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