Chanukah oh Chanukah

Chanukah was a lot of fun. I had off from the school the whole week. The country took on a festive feel, though there was no snow... in fact there were barely any winter coats. i took advantage of my free time to relax a bit and get some errands done. We also went on some day trips. The Modiin Ministry of Absorbtion organizes trips for olim every now and then, and we decided to go on one of them- it was to a place called Kibbutz Gezer. Though the trip ended up being nothing to write home about, my registration for the trip was quite noteworthy. The morning before the trip we called the Ministry of Absorbtion and asked if we could still join the trip. They said there was still room, but we needed to bring over a check that same day. So I headed over there, and took care of the trip registration. Before turning to leave, I asked a completely unrelated question to the clerk- whether the government would pay my tuition if I was to pursue a Teaching Degree. After all, all the rights and benefits of new olim is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Absorbtion, so if anyone could answer my question, they could. She gave me the number of someone else (of course) who could help me (meanwhile that someone hasn't returned any of my phone calls), and she proceeded to ask me about other degrees and certificates that I have already. She explained that if I plan on pursuing another degree I may need to get my degrees and transcripts translated and notarized. I sighed (more errands, more expenses...). Obviously she sensed my frustration and said, "weren't you told that we would take care of that for you?" I said "no." She said, "you mean your liason didn't tell you that?" I said "no." and then I thought to myself- I don't want to get anyone in trouble here, I mean I actually like my liason... So I quickly corrected myself and said, "well, it could be that she told my husband, and that he didn't tell me." She then said, "what, you dont speak to your husband... your'e divorced?" Whoa!!! Where was this coming from? Of course, I took this quite personally, her implying that the level of communication between me and Yaakov was equivalent to that of a divorced couple. So I answered shortly, "no, it could just be that he forgot to tell me." Then I decided to elaborate, "you know that making aliyah is a bit overwhelming and sometimes we tell each other 99 things a day instead of 100" to which she said, "oh, so you have many children?" Again! Where is this coming from?! According to this woman, if you're overwhelmed by your aliyah, you must either be divorced or a mother of many children. You would think the Ministry of Absorbtion would hire some more sensitive individuals! As the tears started welling up in my eyes, I said, "why are you yelling at me, no I'm not divorced, and I only have one child, but there is still alot to take care of and a lot to adjust to!" The tears must have worked because she turned a bit softer and said she's here to help with whatever I need. Whatever.