(no subject)
Got to the Israeli Consulate todayOn Thursday, with my husband. There are regulations about how soon after a marriage one should notify the consulate. I had left it a bit long, over seven years. Last time I got a new passport, they gave me one valid for a year and said they would not extend it until I did the proper form-filling and notarising etc. about the marriage.
It required sending off the marriage certificate to Milton Keynes, where it got an apostille and came back. Then there were forms, marked to be signed by me, and my husband in front of the clerk.
That required time off work, which took a while to arrange.
Thursday I got up in the morning, (which I'm not used to) and we left only an hour later than we had planned to. We got the tube and then walked down Kensington Church Street - lots of Antiques shops and cafes - and a big church.
I stopped at a bank to get money for the new passport I would have to get.
Found the consulate, entrance marked by two policemen with guns.
We signed the form in front of the clerk - well, she kept wandering away to do other things, but we were both there, and she looked at all the forms and typed at her computer and after a few minutes told us we were married. He and I looked at and congratulated each other. It has taken us over 7 (and a half) years to get around to properly notifying them. And by 'us', I mean mostly me.
Of course filling in the forms for telling the British Government that we're married I did much earlier, with much more promptitude. That was about being allowed to remain here legally, though. Which I consider important.
My passport was extended - it is now valid until 2019 - and when bureaucracy in Israel will be done with looking at the forms, I'll get a new sticker in my passport with my new name. (I like having this name, that other people can easily guess the spelling and feel familiar with. It feels sort of like camouflage.) That meant I hadn't needed to stop at the bank, since I do not need to pay for a new passport. Which is nice.
***
On the way home I walked into the best local shop and bought whole spices. Mmm, spices. Cumin, coriander, black peppercorns, brown mustard seeds (the way they pop and bounce in the pan!). Also sesame seeds and black onion seeds. And two ground spices, too: turmeric and sweet paprika. :D
I feel so much better now the spice-cabinet is replenished.
Also I bought red kidney beans and white beans, for the cholent I was planning to make.
***
So that was Thursday, I got out and I did useful things I had been meaning to do for a while.
In the evening I put some beans on to soak overnight for the cholent.
I like the way recipes mostly the recipes in Hebrew) are written -- soak the legumes on Thursday, assemble the cholent on Friday, eat on Saturday. Not just the first day, the next day, but those precise days.
It required sending off the marriage certificate to Milton Keynes, where it got an apostille and came back. Then there were forms, marked to be signed by me, and my husband in front of the clerk.
That required time off work, which took a while to arrange.
Thursday I got up in the morning, (which I'm not used to) and we left only an hour later than we had planned to. We got the tube and then walked down Kensington Church Street - lots of Antiques shops and cafes - and a big church.
I stopped at a bank to get money for the new passport I would have to get.
Found the consulate, entrance marked by two policemen with guns.
We signed the form in front of the clerk - well, she kept wandering away to do other things, but we were both there, and she looked at all the forms and typed at her computer and after a few minutes told us we were married. He and I looked at and congratulated each other. It has taken us over 7 (and a half) years to get around to properly notifying them. And by 'us', I mean mostly me.
Of course filling in the forms for telling the British Government that we're married I did much earlier, with much more promptitude. That was about being allowed to remain here legally, though. Which I consider important.
My passport was extended - it is now valid until 2019 - and when bureaucracy in Israel will be done with looking at the forms, I'll get a new sticker in my passport with my new name. (I like having this name, that other people can easily guess the spelling and feel familiar with. It feels sort of like camouflage.) That meant I hadn't needed to stop at the bank, since I do not need to pay for a new passport. Which is nice.
***
On the way home I walked into the best local shop and bought whole spices. Mmm, spices. Cumin, coriander, black peppercorns, brown mustard seeds (the way they pop and bounce in the pan!). Also sesame seeds and black onion seeds. And two ground spices, too: turmeric and sweet paprika. :D
I feel so much better now the spice-cabinet is replenished.
Also I bought red kidney beans and white beans, for the cholent I was planning to make.
***
So that was Thursday, I got out and I did useful things I had been meaning to do for a while.
In the evening I put some beans on to soak overnight for the cholent.
I like the way recipes mostly the recipes in Hebrew) are written -- soak the legumes on Thursday, assemble the cholent on Friday, eat on Saturday. Not just the first day, the next day, but those precise days.