P.S. Comfort zone, I miss you! Please come back soon! Love, Sara

Today, I reached the official two-week mark in Israel.  It really seems like so much longer, but I'm not sure why.  I have a few idea's on "the why?" though.  It isn't like I moved across the state of Washington, where I could still get my way around.  This is a whole new life and culture.  Most everything is different.  I do not know the language, which is one of the many things I have had to begin to get used to.  As far as I can tell, there are two major languages here, Hebrew and Arabic, then followed by English, on occasion.  On all of the road signs, there are three languages: Hebrew, Arabic and English (thank God!).

 

Although, there is English, there are words like Ra' anana, Gan Hashlosha, Kokhav Hayarden, and Enot Tsukim. Um, yea. By the time I have VERY POORLY tried to sound out what a sign says, there is a new sign, with new words to stumble over!  My "comfort zone" doesn't exist here. Get this, the Israeli's don't even wait for the traffic light to turn green, they actually go before it changes. And, if you don't go before it's green, they honk at you. They honk at other drivers all the time, for just about anything. It is not like America. People are honking all the time. And if the honk doesn't work, they'll just drive around you, on the other side of the road or up on the sidewalk. I'm not kidding.  They fly over speed bumps and humps like they don't even exist, testing the shocks of their cars every time. If they need to stop at a store on the side of the road, they'll just stop; on the road, highway, freeway.....like they're the only ones driving. Again, I'm not kidding.

 

There is an interesting thing that has happened to me. I realize I have gone into "self-protect" mode.  I don't need a therapist or anything. It's the natural thing to do when the next step or moment of an experience is unknown.  Every moment is new and sometimes shocking.  It is a shock to the system to learn a new country and its culture. Here is an example, this is what the "white, cold" product section of the store looks like:

  Go ahead, put your cursor (or, most likely) or finger on the picture and tap it. Then zoom in and scan the labels. First of all, there is no English. Secondly, there are no pictures to help. And, lastly, everything is white. Is it cream cheese, white and salty cream cheese-ish spread, yogurt, sour cream, surprise white stuff, cream-ish oily cheese in water, white and chunky spreadable mystery or none of the above? Hmmm? Oh, wait, sorry, there is a picture. It is of a house. House yogurt?? Cheese spread from old house siding? It really is a mystery. The milk, cream, and half & half section are just as fun. White, liquid mysteries galore.

 

When I say that it is natural to go into "self-protect" mode it is because the culture here is so radically different. It is not like America. Not at all.  Israel, as a country, is at war with itself. There are many groups/type of people that live here that hate each other.  There are Jewish communities and Arab communities. It is not safe for the Jewish people to go into the Arab communities. And it is not like those areas are far, far away. It's just an hour drive or so in any random direction. Israel is at a constant state of awareness and preparedness for war.  All citizens of this country enter into the Israel Defense Forces (or IDF, as it's called here) when they turn 18, male and female. There is a military training base about three miles from where I live. Once they enter the IDF, (at some point, I am not sure when), they are issued a weapon. Outfitted in the IDF uniform, the carry their assault rifles on their person at all times. In the grocery store, in the mall, at a bus stop, or standing beside you at a cross walk, they are everywhere, ready for battle at any moment. This is normal for the people of the land. Notice all the others in this picture, they are un-phased .

 

These are just a few of the observances that I have chosen to write about. I have two weeks worth of adventures and stories that could bore or excite. I even struggle to know what to share, it is all so new! I did have an exciting and electrocuting experience when I blew all the fuses! I placed a surge protector (please note irony) in one of the Israeli outlets and it SHOT across the room about 10 feet, following it was an unmistakable plume of electrical, pungent, black smoke, with sparks of electrical fireworks to boot. The surge of electricity was tangible in the air, in my nostrils, and through my fingertips, all the way down to my toes. Surge protector, you item of irony, you.

 

I have been to Joppa, Nazareth, Jerusalem and Megiddo (Armageddon), just to name a few. All have brought a delight and expanded my supposed knowledge on the history of Israel and Biblical truths. My brain is on overload as it is trying to compute all there is to take in and catalogue. While I embrace all the cultural differences before me, I am thankful for simple comforts, like a morning cup of coffee with (white-mystery, may-or-may-not-be) milk.