2. As a going away present my friend was given a necklace with a Kabbalah symbol on it. The necklace is meant to help her attract a boyfriend. She was also told that at the ripe old age of 23 her clock was ticking. This was done with no other motive than the genuine hope that it would work for her. There was no shame, no embarrassment. It seemed completely logical and in no way offensive.
3. Do not mispronounce the word for cup in Hebrew when ordering ice cream, it is highly embarrassing and offensive. I learned this the hard way.
4. When I speak Hebrew I am so concentrated on the words I'm saying that I don't even begin to worry about my thick American accent. For this reason I suppose, on more that one occasion I have spoken Hebrew to an Israeli and the response has been "I don't speak English".
5. In the fall I went to Tel Aviv with a group of girlfriends for the weekend to celebrate a friend's birthday. We took a Sheirut (a big taxi) from Ashkelon to Tel Aviv on the way there. It cost 20 shekels each, that's about 5 dollars. At the end of the trip we got in a Sheirut to head back to Ashkelon expecting the cost to be slightly higher because it was Shabbat and there were no other transportation options. We begrudgingly agreed to each pay 35 shekels, about 9 dollars. After five minutes of driving a man gets on the Sheirut (presumably the driver of another Sheirut) and tells us that the journey will cost us 5000 shekels. After the same drive had previously cost us 5 dollars each, we were told the return would cost us all together 1500 dollars. After a long debate and many threats to exit the Sheirut, we each payed 35 shekels.
(The driver did not realize that we understand Hebrew and asked on the radio how much the drive from Tel Aviv to Ashkelon should cost on Shabbat. We all heard as he was told 32 or 33 shekels.)
6. Gifts, without fail, always have a religious Jewish context. Always. (I love it!)
7. Max, Tali, and I were all late to a meeting with the Yokneam mayor the other day (luckily he was running even later than we were). Arkady, who works for the partnership and was given the delightful responsibility of being in charge of each of our lives for the last three months in Yokneam, declared that we had officially completed our absorption into Israeli society. We were, after all, late for the mayor.
8. About a month ago I was visiting a friend in Kiryat Shmona over Purim. I arrived on Friday afternoon and we went directly to her adoptive family's house for lunch. Every Friday her adoptive mom makes enough Kube to feed an army. I wasn't particularly hungry when I arrived (and everyone had already eaten) so when she asked me if I wanted some Kube I very clearly said "No, thank you." A minute later there was a steaming bowl of Kube in front of me as she told me I was lucky because this was the last of it. Now, there are two very plausible explanations for this...
A. She was not listening to my response because it was never really a question. What I said
didn't really matter, there was only one right answer.
B. She heard my response and continued to get me Kube because again, my answer didn't
really matter.
Either way, the outcome was the same. I didn't even comment as she put the bowl in front of me. I just realized my error and ate my delicious lunch.
9. A couple weeks ago Max was walking through Daliyot and saw two kids doing some kind of project with an empty bottle of Jim Beam. He asked them what it was (as he got a whiff of the leftover bourbon stench) to which they simply replied, "a bottle." Concerned, Max told the Vice Principal who immediately handled the situation. She explained to the arts teacher who had brought in the bottle for a project that in the future the bottle needs to be thoroughly cleaned and the label removed before giving it to elementary school students.
10. Most of the above are all ridiculous stories that have happened to either friends of myself over the past seven months. But there are of course many other things that would only happen in Israel that are more of a testament to the country than these silly anecdotes.
A. People here are honest to a fault and while intimidating at times it is above all, genuine.
B. Random acts of violence do not exist here to the same degree they do in the states and
so children and women can feel safe in a way that is often lacking at home.
C. Families invite you into their homes for a meal or an extended stay without considering
for a moment the imposition you might create.
D. Etc, etc, etc.
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