Another Weekend Begins & More Adventures

Today I finally got a cell phone number, which is due to change tomorrow for some odd reason which will somehow save me money monthly. Stay tuned to see how that works.
Along with my new phone number(s) I sent my first Hebrew texts, which are fun and pretty cool because they have T9 in Hebrew (or should that be ת9 or ט9) and not in English on the phone so it's actually easier to text in Hebrew..

Some weird underlying thought I am beginning to develop, for better or worse, is that I feel like I need to rush everywhere. Not because I'm in a hurry or because I am running late. Rather, every additional second that goes by that you do not have a number and are waiting in line is another second that provides 10+ more people an opportunity to go in front of you. You really don't want to be stuck in the back of a government office/bank/post office line.

Before heading North for the weekend, I made a few quick stops to take care of some more paperwork. I had an 8:30am appointment with the Ministry of Immigration Absorption. Of course I brought the wrong form with me to give them.

On the way to another of these lines - for health insurance this time, a security guard to the building engaged me in a funny conversation. I brought with me a small roller-suitcase for my stuff for the weekend. The guard saw it and started complaining in a heavy Russian Hebrew accent. His philosophy was to let people in the building whom he recognized without putting them through a rigorous security check. Not having seen me before, I guess he wanted me to fit that criteria and complained that his boss was very strict on making him (the security guard!) do his due diligence and actually check peoples' bags.

After receiving my health insurance ID card, I made my way to Jerusalem's central bus station for my exciting weekend getaway to Kibbutz Gadot, in the Upper Galil and on the border of the Golan Heights. I took Bus 963 to Hazor HaGlilit where Yehuda picked me up and took me back to the kibbutz, this time as an invited guest and not a lost hiker (more on that soon). I had some great soup, schnitzel and tea upon my arrival and enjoyed eating even more food not long thereafter for dinner. It was a nice way to begin the weekend and certainly another great transition to Israel by absorbing the Gadot's tranquil setting.