My town has thousands of little shops, corner grocery stores, sidewalk cafes, open air markets, butcher shops and bakeries, an outdoor mall, and a large modern indoor mall.
There are so many little businesses that I have no idea how the owners can make a living.
I haven’t shopped in every store yet, but I can’t believe the great deals you can get here.
I go to the supermarket, choose what I want, and they deliver the groceries to my apartment free of charge.
Middle of the Day
In fact, I bought my TV at the supermarket. The only problem seems to be mid-day, when many places close down for a couple of hours (government offices, post office, and some stores).
Sort of like a siesta.
Transportation is convenient with a train station, central bus station to travel to Israel’s major cities, taxis, sherut (shared taxis), local buses, and everything is within walking distance (at least it seems so from my apartment).
Some people own cars but the majority of people here do not have a car.
People walk the streets at all hours of the night without the fear of being mugged.
I have seen several people ride around in golf carts, and have even seen some of them on freeways. There doesn’t seem to be a minimum speed limit.
Where Else?
When there is no room to park on the street, the sidewalks become parking lots, especially when someone gets a phone call.
It is illegal to talk on your cell phone while driving, but it does not seem to be illegal to drive onto a sidewalk.
I met a woman on the bus the other day. She contacted friends of hers, and I have been invited for lunches and dinners ever since. I am booked up for weeks.
Where else in the world can you feel safe to go to the homes of absolute strangers?
Word of mouth travels fast about being new in town.
I met a few people this weekend, and I have been getting phone calls all day from other people I have never even met with invitations to their homes or offers of help.
A Nagging Thought
If we could just get rid of terrorists, this would be the ideal place.
I am trying to learn Hebrew by watching TV.
If a TV show is not Israeli, it has subtitles in Hebrew, Arabic, and/or Russian.
Right now, I am watching an American movie dubbed in Russian with Hebrew subtitles. There are lots of shows from England, Australia, South Africa and Canada. They aren’t very good, but at least I can understand them. There are sitcoms like Fran Drescher’s “The Nanny.” But she isn’t in it.
The name of the show is the same, it has the same cast of characters, but the actors/actresses are different, portrayed by Russians. And of course, it is in Russian.
About Those Languages
The soap operas are in Spanish, Hindu, French, Arabic, Russian, German, and Hebrew. And the commercials are more romantic than any movies I have seen. As for news, there is Fox News, CNN, Al Jazeera, BBC, Italian, Jordanian, Tunisian, German, and French news stations.
Most of the TV shows are not Israeli shows, except for those that are take offs of American and British TV.
There is a channel covering the Knesset (Israeli government, interviews, political discussions etc), National Geographic, MTV, E!, and even ESPN sports channels can be seen here.
As for series, there is Law and Order, ER, The Practice, Desperate Housewives, Seinfeld, Everyone Loves Raymond, CSI, NCIS, Gilmore Girls to name a few.
I have cable with supposedly a better selection of movies. Considering what is aired is several years old, I can just imagine what is shown on regular TV. The cable TV company is named “HOT,” but why should that seem strange when the cell phone company is named “Orange”?
L'hitraot, Shachar
Shachar is the Hebrew name of a California-based attorney and former Los Angeles County deputy sheriff, who recently moved to Israel.