To any purebred American, Israel can be a bit...jarring, shall we say.
About a week ago, my uncle went to find out about the school I'm going to go to. I'm the third generation in my family to go there. "Fine," said the person he talked to. "Everything should be set. Just let me know which school she wants to go to." Yesterday, my mom went to the school to sort it out. "There's no room," they say. "We have forty kids in a class. It's the biggest grade, all around the city. Absolutely not. We would love to accept you with open arms, we know this is the third generation, but we have no room whatsoever." This morning, she went again. At first, it was the same as yesterday, but gradually they relented. "There's room. We'll put her in the class with the least kids. She'll be the thirty-ninth." At the school, when my mom arrived, there was music blasting. "Yeah," says the principal, "it's like this every morning from 11:05 to 11:30." Also, in the middle of a conversation, the principal spotted a boy with baggy jeans. "Lift your pants up, honey," she says, in between sentences about how the school works.
Earlier today, my aunt was talking to a salesperson over the phone about getting a SIM card. The salesperson says, "I'll send a messenger over to you. You won't have to do anything." "But it's for my brother-in-law," my aunt replies. "So?" asks the salesperson. "You see him often enough, don't you? We give it to you, you give it to him. What's the problem?" Literally, that was what they were planning to do.
I've noticed that I'm drinking far more tea than in America. Not black tea. Herbal tea. If it was black tea I'd be bouncing off the walls. Coffee is very popular here as well. Going to someone's house for coffee is very common. Generally that means coffee or tea. I drink tea.
Here in Tel Aviv, people walk everywhere. If they don't walk, they take public transportation. Today it rained. In Israel, winter means rain. So there was a thunderstorm. My mom and I sat around at my grandma's apartment, saying, "Ah, when the rain stops, we'll walk home." After half an hour, I said, "Alright, let's go. It doesn't look like it's going to stop." So we took umbrellas and went down to the street. "What's the problem?" I demanded. "It's not even snow." Turns out rain can be worse. By the end of the ten minutes it took to get home, my shoes were filled with water and my jeans were sopping wet. Not fun, not fun. But Tel Aviv isn't the place to drive. Taxis or buses, yes. Or "service taxis" as they're called, which are vans that take the routes of buses but don't have fixed stops - they'll let you off anywhere along the way. You can get by without owning a car here.
When we arrived, our entire family jumped to give us stuff. Most of the things we use, including silverware, bedding, and towels, are courtesy of our family. My aunt and grandma bought super-soft blankets for my brother and me. They keep looking around our house for things that we need.
This morning, my cousin got drafted to the army. She's eighteen, so like almost all Israelis her age, she's going. She's coming back every two weeks. It's normal here. No one makes a big deal of it at all, so it's just like when she was at boarding school. In fact, it's the exact same schedule. So for the amount we see her, she might as well be at boarding school. Only it's much stricter.
Here, you work or go to school six days a week. I haven't gone to any school at all so far and likely I won't until Sunday. It's a bit like a vacation, just settling in and seeing family and wasting time on the internet. But then we'll start with the "six days a week" thing. However, sometimes, my cousin says, classes are canceled, so you might go to school late or end early. I can't say I'm not looking forward to that.
Cups of tea: 4
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