#69, 70, 71 Parking spaces, helpful people at the grocery store and using the new balcony furniture

 Now that I am back at school full time (which I am super duper excited about!), I have no time to do my job or hardly anything else! Suddenly three days have gone by and I haven't written. Therefore today there are 3 days of gratitude in one post.

#68 - Thursday 11 March

• Rolling white boards that kids can move to the covered walkway outside my classroom to work.
• A great parking space only a block from my apartment in a neighborhood where parking is notoriously challenging.

#69 - Friday 12 March

• Making it through my 4th in person full week of work in a year!
• The lady in line behind me at the Tiv Tam! Tiv Tam is one of the grocery stores here that carries a lot of foreign products. They have a huge store up by school (about 30 minutes outside Tel Aviv) and I stopped there on my way home from work on Friday. Most everything closes by 3 PM on Fridays for Shabbat but the big Tiv Tam by work is open until 9 PM on Fridays.

After my shopping extravaganza I found a short line but skeptically looked up to make sure it wasn't the express lane (I had about 15 items). When I was next in line to check out the woman behind me looked at me condescendingly and started counting my items. I looked at her in grocery-store horror and said, "oh my gosh, is this an express line?" Her demeanor changed immediately. I explained I had looked above the aisle but there was no sign. She pointed where the express sign actually was (attached to the gum rack--not ideal, if I do say so myself) and when I apologized profusely she said she was used to Iraeli's doing this but at least I was sorry! 

 It got better! The cashier asked me in Hebrew if I had a membership, but i couldn't answer her without a translator, so she rounded up a guy that was standing near a baklava table, asked if he spoke English (he did) and the two of them set me up with a membership card! I have tried to get a membership at the Tiv Tam by my house in Tel Aviv but they wouldn't let me with just my passport--but today I left with a membership AND $42 shekels in savings!

#70 - Saturday 13 March

• Gorgeous weather!
• A walk first thing in the morning.
• Studying Hebrew at my new table and chairs on my balcony! I was out there for a couple of hours enjoying a beautiful Shabbat. I was going to take a picture but I got so engrossed in what I was doing I forgot.