Last Days in Israel

With our time in Israel now over, we’re back stateside in between tours. Misha jumped immediately into Spanish before even getting over her jet lag, while I’ve taken the time to relax (because I just worked so hard before, right Misha?). The departure process included selling my car, sorting through our belongings (see below), getting Mochi up to date on her vaccinations, and making sure we said goodbye to all the friends we made. In my downtime, I’ve reflected on our time abroad and came up with the following list of our favorite parts Israel, as well as the things we will and won’t miss.

Favorites:
-Food- Schnitzel, Shawarma, Sabich, Falafel…basically anything that comes in a pita
-Restaurants- Coco Bambino, Thai at Har Sinai, Pastory (in Eilat)
-Sports bar: Mike’s Place
-Beach- Habonim Beach
-Relaxing Vacation Destination- Sea of Galilee
-Tourist Activity- Star Tour in Ramon Crater
-National Park- Ein Gedi
-Winery- tie between Amphorae and Netofa
-Brewery- Dancing Camel
-Beer- German imports
-Hummus- Schlomo and Doron

Things We’ll Miss:
-The weather, specifically from April to November
-The beach
-Sunsets
-Friends we’ve made, both in the embassy community and locally
-Flavored vape pens (yeah, we have the taste of teenagers, so what?)
-Ease and cost of travel to Europe and Mediterranean countries
-Ease and proximity of travel destinations within the country

Things We Won’t Miss:
-The cost of living. Tel Aviv was named the most expensive city in the world for 2021
-Awful drivers. Pick a lane, for the love of god!
-People stacking their groceries at the register while continuing to shop, then acting offended when you try to checkout before them.
-The “not my problem” attitude. Whether it’s the trash and dog droppings littering the streets, Ministry of Health officials in charge of making sure you are Covid compliant but not willing to help you, people who don’t put away their weights at the gym (see above), or general attitude of people in customer service roles who couldn’t care less if they get your business or not.
-The “this is Israel” explanation. Why did you do such a poor job fixing my bike? This is Israel! Then why did it cost so much? This is Israel! The country is basically a potato wearing Prada. Dress it up however you like, it’s still a potato.
-The cultural decision that rules are closer to guidelines, and everything is worth an argument if it gets you closer to what you want. People argue over literally everything, even if they know they are wrong. People walk in the bike lanes, ride bikes in the road, and drive motorcycles on the sidewalk. If you get hit riding in the lane you are supposed to be in, you better believe the person who hits you will blame you. This is not a unique attitude in the world, but it has definitely eroded my desire to return.
-Flying in and out of the country. It’s always something. Trays down before take-off, trying to sneak into empty seats in business class (and forcing the plane to turn around), arguing about prices, masks, or bathroom use, pushing through line to exit before the doors are even open, you name it. Every single flight there is eye-rolling behavior. You know it’s a problem when even the flight attendants say, “This only happens when we fly to Israel,” which we’ve heard from multiple flight attendants and on different airlines.

Overall, we had more positive experiences than negative ones. There is a lot to like about Israel, but we’d probably choose a different post over returning if given the choice (we’ve got the travel bug, if you couldn’t tell). Still, it was a good assignment to kick off our Foreign Service life. Looking ahead, we are excited about Guatemala City and our time here in the US. While Misha is learning Spanish, I’m hoping to tick a few more MLB stadiums off my list. It’s nice to have a sugar mama.