Yesterday was a big day

We finally got some things done yesterday.

For all new shluchim, IMMEDIATELY GET A SECRETARY! Things would have been so much easier had we had a secretary to begin with.

Anyway, we had someone from the community post ads in a local paper for an apartment, a secretary and a driver. We had her post the ad for a week and are still receiving phone calls every 10 minutes. Apparently the unemployment rate is very high here.

Anyway, yesterday three wonderful things happened and therefore I will write all three in capital letters.

1) WE GOT MEAT! - Yes, we received our milk last week from moscow, but Moscow finally sent us some meat. Chickens only. We'd made the order about two weeks ago, and they sent it on a bus. Most packages arrive via a Fed-Ex'ish company. On those boxes they write that it contains books, since according to Russian regulations, only books are permitted.

But for meat, they must send it by bus or train. If it's by train then you gotta bribe the police officer there. But it came by bus, so we went with a fellow form the community (nicest guy ever), and picked up the chicken. It came with a certificate from Rabbi Yitzchak Kogan, and it came in 32 Kilos, which for those of you who went to Oholei Torah, is in scientific terms: a heckuvalot. We have no freezer big enough for the three humongous bags, but we left them outside on the porch, and the freezing weather kept them fresh. THEY WHEIGH A TON! Anyway, today we need to buy a deep-freezer. We will keep them locked in the Jewish Centre (or, as it's called here, the Obshchin).

2 - WE GOT A SECRETARY! - Finally, and we should've done this first. We interviewed two women, one a college girl who spoke perfect English, the other came with awesome credentials, spoke fluent English and is a Mom with two kids. We hired the second one for the standard price here, about 350 dollars. Of course we will try to give her bonuses and presents, we will try to be good bosses (also it doesnt feel right paying someone that little, but what other choice do we have? Or Avner doesnt give us endless money).

Her first jobs are to help us find an apartment, and to try and arrange a second phone line in the Obshchin.

3 - WE GOT A DRIVER! - Yes, the ad in the paper produced like a million phone calls, yet only 10 guys showed up to be interviewed (though they still call). We narrowed it down to three guys. Mohammed - a Turk with an awesome car, Roman - nice guy, forgot to look at his car, and Vasili - Sweet guy with an ok car. In the end we hired Vasili because Mohammed wasn't so easy with the money, and we never saw Roman's car.

More updates to follow. I hope next time we have an apartment.