bed time

for the last 3 or 4 days I have been moving, from a 2 bedroom apartment with a roommate to my own 1 bedroom apartment about 2 blocks away. The new place required quite a bit of cleaning and upgrading, but nothing that a little shopping could not cure! I found the great shopping areas in town, and my new favorite store called ACE (like ACE hardware in the US but with "bed bath & beyond" type merchandise as well). The new apartment is fully furnished, but the bed left a little something to be desired -- it is sooo old, and very bad for one's back. So my friend Ariel from Capoeira helped me search the Hebrew classifieds to find a new mattress for me.

We answered 2 ads, one in the south part of Beer Sheva, and from there we walked about 2 miles to the second one, to a beautiful "new" part of town, with high-rise condos that look like the buildings in Jerusalem (made of limestone or "Jerusalem stone" as the locals call it). The guy's place had an amazing view of ALL of Beer Sheva and the horizon line. Anyway, the mattress he was "selling" was as old and beat up as my existing one, and I told him it wouldn't work for me; that I was looking for more of a thick "foam pad" type of bed (very common around here), as we were on our way out.

Just as I said that, he started to rant (in English which he claimed was rusty) about how he JUST bought a bed like that 5 days ago, and has NOT been able to sleep on it because it is too hard! Unfortunately he was unable to return it to the store without penalty (and having to jump through a bunch of hoops), and so he didn't know WHAT on earth he was going to do with it (he paid full price 600 shekels). We proceeded to his room to look at it, and I told him it was EXACTLY what i was looking for, but that I was only prepared to pay 300 shekels MAX including delivery (for a used one). He likened my situation to the story of Rachel and Leah from the Bible (where Jacob went there for one wife but got her sister instead). He wanted to help me AND needed to get rid of it, so he offered me the NEW mattress for 400 shekels, including delivery to my doorstep (4th floor) later that same night!

So I got a BRAND NEW bed, for my wonderful new apartment (not as cool as my house in SD but totally perfect for me), and I had a fabulous night's sleep! My landlord came and "fixed" everything yesterday, and I also discovered a wireless network somewhere "in the building". Things are finally coming together for me here in Israel, and God has truly blessed me by putting great people in my path.