People & Places

My Left Pocket
On the long self-guided tours I take daily, I also bring along with me enough documentation to do most anything at any government office anywhere. My left pocket is a repository for what seems to be a never-ending bundle of documents, IDs and cards that are necessary for a new life here. I feel like I'm going on a trip every day and have to remember to bring everything with me, lest I need something somewhere that I don't have. This does not include, mind you, other papers and notes on which I record my thoughts that add to the depth and density of the left pocket.

Back at the Homefront
Getting back to the barracks I've gone by foot and taken buses. The former is more enjoyable; the latter is more efficient time-wise. Upon waiting for the #8 bus, I saw the Israeli version of Mr. T. He had a plethora of gold chains, clearly visible from his open shirt and on his belt he had a row of three cell phones on belt clips. Moments after boarding a bus on the way home, I had to re-check the route I was on since it seemed like I got on a roller coaster instead. I was nauseous and almost fell over a series of times - the speed and difficulty level of the course was on par with a black diamond. It seems that either the drivers are at the expert level and can navigate the turns without effort or that, while on their cell phones and punching tickets of oncoming passengers while flying down the track, they are ill-trained and we should actually fear for our lives.

Sitting out on the patio at the entrance of the ulpan dorms, I met some fun people. One, Ronit, seemed to have a foreign accent and said she was from Minnesota. Actually she said Venezuela. But it definitely sounded like Minnesota and she did say that other people had also thought she said Minnesota.

It Pays to Save
After confirming that the bank was open, I went down to their office, which is actually more of a comfortable, nicely furnished customer service center than a typical bank branch - absent of tellers and general transactions typically found in retail banks. Something that is different is the necessity to pay for pretty much every transaction you can think of - from depositing money to a fee for each check you write - as well as the amount of forms that are necessary to sign. I updated my phone number and consequently had to sign two forms. The crazy thing is that, because of the lines and the short time generally available with the representatives, I'm not able to read all of the Hebrew fine-print (which represents the whole page) and am just able to get the gist of what I am doing. I hope I didn't forfeit my assets. Actually that's ok for now too - I still have a $0 balance. I was elated to finally get my credit card, which I had ordered the week before. It doubles as an ATM card and I have a whopping ₪ 2000, which translates to an even more extravagant $500. I guess the bank is going to help me stick to my budget. I also converted my bank account to a student account which will save me on fees for 3-5 years depending on the type of transaction - good thing I saved my Hebrew University student ID from 10+ years ago. It's starting to pay off quite handsomely.