u/gasschw

My mother and I made aliyah from Brazil a month ago. Both highly qualified, but still job-hunting, starting from zero without much help. We only had one week in the misrad haklita before they made us leave.

So we rushed to find an apartment that fit our budget. We're in a small rental in Haifa with just a mattresses (beds coming soon via Keren Leyedidut) and literally nothing else (No table, chairs, sofa, whatever makes a home). We had a good life in Brasil, and we planned our aliyah the best we could. But this is way way harder than expected.

Buying new isn't an option right now, and even secondhand prices have been out of reach so far (we have some savings, but these need to stay as an emergency fund as my mother is 64 and we need some security).

For those who've been through this: where did you find furniture and basics for cheap or free? Gemachim, Buy Nothing groups, Facebook marketplaces, municipal resources, anything that actually worked for you as a new oleh/olah would help a lot.

Not trying to furnish a mansion, just trying to make this feel like a livable home for my older mother. Appreciate any pointers, truly.

I am an Olah. My life isn't easy here, it wasn't back when I was in Masa and other programs and it isn't now, as an olah. I am 25, and my crying breakdowns are somewhat frequent. I have had a very rough time not comparing the hard life I have to the smoother ride my friends and extended cycle that were born and raised here get to live. When your family has been here for a while, you have no clue the huge challenge that it is to be an immigrant here, specially during this time. The connections, the language, the family, the money (even more so considering I come from a poorer country), the culture, the smoothness of everything. Today my boyfriend invited me to his friends big ass fancy ass *house* in the center of TLV and I just cried and said I was going home. I frankly just couldn't bare the thought of beinh around these intelectual elite people while I have the Hebrew of 6 year old and no money to buy a falafel. How do you get over it? I don't want to be sad all the time. I know comparison is the thief of joy, I know we all have struggles. But I understand why some many olim go back to their origin countries, this is so hard.

\- dad beating mom, sister and I until I was a teen

\- mom fucked up and made him our only financial provider even after their divorce, keeping him in a horrible cycle of psychological and financial abuse until now

\- mom made us her emotional caretaker and made us all share a room until we could move out because wasnt wiling to move somewhere cheaper or work harder for a better place

\- faced insane amounts of bullying and racism in school and insane academic pressure to keep my scholarship

\- got in a "relationship" when i was 13 - 15 yo with a 20 - 22 yo who raped more than 1000 times, my parents did nothing

\- got a wrong diagnosis and was medicated with stuff that got me obese and suicidal

\- went through multiple attempts and years of cutting

\- was raped again at 16 yo by a random guy

\- in uni, i went through a fire that destroyed my lab and my entire department, too

\- then my uni boyfriend raped me hundreds of times, too

(All while this, my dads abuse never stopped)

\- suffered a new level of racism in uni, with death threats and being followed places and with someone attempting to run me over

\- was abused by my research advisor for 3 years and couldn't tell anyone

\- moved countries alone with no money

\- went through 2 horrible wars in my country, months of horror after horror

\- saw my dad develop dementia

\- graduated with 2 internships and years in research and am about to go homeless because i cant get a job with my biology degree

These are the main ones

As an olah hadasha, I always have a billion questions as to what is, to me, a whole new universe. I often ask them on this sub, and you guys help so much. Last time I posted, I asked about a contract for an apartment and you pointed some bad points about it. Based on that, I had a meeting with the renter and we changed these points. I often ask for tips and tricks here. And I always get help from you, fellow israelis, tsabras or olim. Thank you. Am Israel Chai is always stronger together.

Hi! My mom and I made aliyah 9 days ago and we're about to sign our first rental contract in Haifa. Since we're new to Israel, we'd love to know if this looks like a standard lease or if there are any red flags. It's just so hard to know if we are being taken advantage of as olot.

Main terms:

₪3,300/month for 1 year

₪3,300 security deposit

12 post-dated rent checks

4 blank checks for arnona, water, gas and electricity

Promissory note (shtar hov) and 2 guarantors

90 days' notice if we leave early, and we have to find a replacement tenant approved by the landlord

Landlord can also terminate with 90 days' notice

We have to repaint the apartment and repair nail holes before moving out

Apartment is rented "as is"

Does this sound pretty standard in Israel, or would you try to negotiate any of these terms? Anything here that seems unusual or unfair?

Thanks!

Fiz 3 programas de longa duração antes da aliyah, sendo que já tinha morado aqui por 3 meses, 4 meses e 1 ano antes de fazer aliyah. Estive aqui durante as guerras recentes e já conhecia essa e outras dificuldades do país. Mas agora voltei de vez como olah. Vim junto com minha mãe de 64 anos, e minha irmã já mora aqui há 3 anos, mas é religiosa. Tenho 25 anos e bacharelado em ciências biológicas pela unesp. Agora to conhecendo ainda mais dificuldades, como o custo insano de vida,a dificuldade em alugar um apartamento decente, os empregos muito difíceis e pesados, etc. Como foi seu primeiro ano aqui? Melhorou, depois?

Pessoal, preciso sair de um ruivo artificil de volta ao meu loiro acinzentado natural. O salão que costumo ir me orçou em 1300 reais. Conhecem algum bom colorista, em qualquer lugar em SP, por um preço mais aceitável? Obrigada demais

Hello everyone!

I am 25 years old, and recently graduated in Brasil with a Bachelor's in Biology, having written 2 thesis and done a lot of research during my 5 year long Bachelor's (Brazilian standard).

I am immigrating to a new country and am not yet fluent in the language spoken there, although I am working on that and am already fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

I am attaching my resume, so you can give me any insights on how to market mysef. Bottom line is: I NEED TO WORK! Any job, specially office or lab jobs, would be a start. I must begin a career, and my very demanding and long Bachelor's hasn't allowed me to start quite yet. It is now a bit weird for potential employers that I am 25 with almost no job experience, and I need some perspective beyond academia. I plan on starting a master's October 2027, but I need to work before that.

Any help is greatly appreciated, I am a young professional and I believe I might have some potential in me. Just not sure how to explore it...

My resume:

Biology Graduate | Research & Data Analysis | Multilingual Professional | Human-Centered Research

PROFILE

Biologist and multifaceted professional with experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, ethics-approved human-subject research, field interviews, and project coordination. Skilled in designing research instruments, managing complex datasets, synthesizing qualitative and quantitative findings, procedural routines in multiple laboratories and communicating results to diverse audiences. Experienced working in multicultural and multilingual environments, with strong competencies in research ethics, public engagement, complex protocols and data management. Fluent in Portuguese and English, with advanced Spanish and working proficiency in Hebrew.

EXPERIENCE

APR 2023 - DEC 2025

(Redacted name) Laboratory — UNESP - Undergraduate Researcher and Thesis Student

Systematic collection of behavioral and ecological data in the field (five locations in the interior of São Paulo);

Conducting semi-structured interviews with residents and rural workers in sensitive contexts, applying protocols to minimize social desirability bias;

Maintaining research records, data quality control, and qualitative coding;

Integrating qualitative and quantitative methods in a long-term research project on anthropogenic pressures and human-wildlife interfaces.

DEC 2024- FEB 2025

Gazelle Valley Park — Location x - Intern — Environmental, Educational, and Habitat Support

Environmental monitoring and habitat maintenance in the field;

Participation in multilingual guided tours and environmental education activities.

MAR 2025 - AUG 2025

Sala Verde — Environmental Training Center - Intern — Environmental Education

Development and management of educational programs for schools, support centers for people with disabilities, and other visitors;

Support in team training and production of teaching materials.

OCT 2025 - MAY 2026 - Freelancer Writer

Produced informational and educational content for diverse audiences;

Researched, organized, and synthesized information from multiple sources;

Edited and adapted content to ensure clarity, consistency, and audience appropriateness;

Independently managed deadlines.

EDUCATION

2020 - 2025

São Paulo State University (UNESP) — Bachelor's Degree in Biological Sciences, Institute of Biosciences.

Total completed coursework: 3,900 hours (mandatory and elective courses, curricular internship, and final project)

Grade point average for the final year (2025): 9.35/10 — grade 10.0 in the Curricular Internship; 8.7 in the Final Project

Overall Grade Point Average: 7.79 | Average Performance Index: 98.01%

Particularly relevant disciplines: Animal Behavior, Microbiology, Biostatistics, Human Physiology, Immunology, Parasitology, Molecular Genetics

Undergraduate research and final thesis

“Redacted title”:

Research approved by the Ethics Committee for Research with Human Beings of UNESP;

163 semi-structured interviews conducted in person in five locations in the interior of São Paulo (snowball sampling);

Development and piloting of a semi-structured questionnaire (37 questions, 10 categories) with a pilot study at opposite extremes of the anthropization gradient;

Content Analysis: definition of sampling units, elaboration of a codebook with explicit anchors, systematic coding of responses;

Construction of an ordinal index (0-3) by category and locality, combining quantitative synthesis and contextualized qualitative interpretation;

Data collection managed via KoboToolbox™; data organized in spreadsheets coded by question and locality;

Results contribute to the management of human-wildlife-forest interfaces from a One Health perspective (integrated human, animal, and environmental health).

SKILLS

Research with human participants: ethical protocols, semi-structured interviews, snowball sampling, minimization of response bias;

Qualitative analysis: content analysis, codebook, systematic coding, index construction;

Quantitative analysis: descriptive statistics, biostatistics, KoboToolbox™, Excel, Google Workspace;

Research design: instrument development, pilot study, methodological standardization;

Scientific writing and communication; multidisciplinary teamwork;

Work in intensive environments, with rotating shifts;

Fieldwork under variable climatic and physical conditions;

Environmental education and multicultural communication.

ADDITIONAL TRAINING

Neurons, Synapses and Brains — Hebrew University of Jerusalem;

Body, Movement and Cognition — UNESP;

LANGUAGES

Portuguese — Native

English — Fluent (Cambridge Certified)

Spanish — Advanced

Hebrew — Basic-Intermediate