Wow.
Went to an open air market in Tel Aviv this past week. Looked at a number of "one size fits all" skirts- some wrap-arounds, some broomstick like with elastic waists. On the other hand, only one stall guy was even remotely obnoxious about it.
Not one would have fit a leg, never mind both.
And I might add this is after introducing 40 minutes of quick walking a day into my life (we do not have a car here and I need to be a 20 minute walk away by 8:30 every morning and get home in the afternoon) that has none of my clothing staying up anymore and me starting to get desperate for a good seamstress!
In all seriousness, this not being able to get clothing in this country might be a problem much sooner than I expected.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Shalom Y'all
Well, my family and I have been in Bet shemesh for 5 weeks now. A little nutty to think about how fast this all happened.
I have received a number of emails asking me where I was and asking that I keep writing, so I am going to. To those groaning and asking why I am back, well- why are you here exactly?
So being fat and friendly in Bet Shemesh is a whole different ballgame from being fat and friendly in Toronto. For starters, there are a lot more people here who do not fit the standard mold. For starters, it seems that almost everyone and their sister's are pregnant. That certainly gives one a more "well rounded" view of beauty.
There does seems to be an easier understanding here that people come in different shapes and sizes. I have NEVER had any trouble here with turnstyles, seats and even plastic furniture. I have never been harrased or teased for my size, and the one time a child did say something the mother responded "so, and you have brown hair" (as in, that is juts part of who she is just like you are who you are).
On the other hand, I should admit that it is hard to stay overweight in a country built into a mountainous desert. For some reason, no matter where you are going, it is always 30 minutes directly uphill. This is not to say that everyone is skinny minies, but I will say clothing I bought just before I left Toronto is desperatly seeking a good tailor.
The flip side though, is that there is absolutly NO plus sized shopping- and there are "processing fees (that seem rather randomly assesed) on ANYTHING brought into the country ON TOP OF CUSTOMS AND TAXES. Yeah, you read that right. It totally and comepletely sucks.
The other things is that the medical sustems seems to try to hide the fact they are incredibly fatist behind a screen of "we know what this is becuase we see it all the time. Yeah, we blame the fact you are fat for everything from a hangnail to a broken nose, but it is not becuase we assume it is, we have seen enough to know that black eye you got from walking into a door was really your fat@$$ flipping up and hitting you in the eye... Ok, so I guess they got me there... ;)
Our stuff finally got here this week so I have set up my studio and today started filling orders and what not. My new studio is twice the space my old one was, with loads of natural light and I love it! It is awesome to be working again.
This country is gorgeous. I can not get over the views. The view from my balcony is to die for. (You can go to http://weloveyoubutwearegoinganyway.blogspot.com/2008/09/channah-on-her-first-day-of-school.html to see the view from our mirpeset (balcony). Public transit is reasonably priced and fairly efficient. Our apartment is lovely.
So far, other than the clothing issue, I have no complaints.
Oh, I should also add that one would think chub rub would be a huge problem with the heat here, but for whatever reason it is mostly non existant. Seriously. Non-issue. I think it is so hot people are essentially (serious tmi here folks) self lubricating.
I have received a number of emails asking me where I was and asking that I keep writing, so I am going to. To those groaning and asking why I am back, well- why are you here exactly?
So being fat and friendly in Bet Shemesh is a whole different ballgame from being fat and friendly in Toronto. For starters, there are a lot more people here who do not fit the standard mold. For starters, it seems that almost everyone and their sister's are pregnant. That certainly gives one a more "well rounded" view of beauty.
There does seems to be an easier understanding here that people come in different shapes and sizes. I have NEVER had any trouble here with turnstyles, seats and even plastic furniture. I have never been harrased or teased for my size, and the one time a child did say something the mother responded "so, and you have brown hair" (as in, that is juts part of who she is just like you are who you are).
On the other hand, I should admit that it is hard to stay overweight in a country built into a mountainous desert. For some reason, no matter where you are going, it is always 30 minutes directly uphill. This is not to say that everyone is skinny minies, but I will say clothing I bought just before I left Toronto is desperatly seeking a good tailor.
The flip side though, is that there is absolutly NO plus sized shopping- and there are "processing fees (that seem rather randomly assesed) on ANYTHING brought into the country ON TOP OF CUSTOMS AND TAXES. Yeah, you read that right. It totally and comepletely sucks.
The other things is that the medical sustems seems to try to hide the fact they are incredibly fatist behind a screen of "we know what this is becuase we see it all the time. Yeah, we blame the fact you are fat for everything from a hangnail to a broken nose, but it is not becuase we assume it is, we have seen enough to know that black eye you got from walking into a door was really your fat@$$ flipping up and hitting you in the eye... Ok, so I guess they got me there... ;)
Our stuff finally got here this week so I have set up my studio and today started filling orders and what not. My new studio is twice the space my old one was, with loads of natural light and I love it! It is awesome to be working again.
This country is gorgeous. I can not get over the views. The view from my balcony is to die for. (You can go to http://weloveyoubutwearegoinganyway.blogspot.com/2008/09/channah-on-her-first-day-of-school.html to see the view from our mirpeset (balcony). Public transit is reasonably priced and fairly efficient. Our apartment is lovely.
So far, other than the clothing issue, I have no complaints.
Oh, I should also add that one would think chub rub would be a huge problem with the heat here, but for whatever reason it is mostly non existant. Seriously. Non-issue. I think it is so hot people are essentially (serious tmi here folks) self lubricating.
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