OK all, I have sufficiently recovered the memories of
my Israel trip and think this should complete my list
of observations...

1. How could I have forgotten?! All Israelis have cell
phones. They talk on them all the time, wherever they
are. They answer them at seemingly inappropriate
times, but no one seems to find this rude. Oh, and no
one has a normal ring. They all have those annoying
little tunes, the point of which is to have a distinct
ring and know whose phone is ringing. This, of course,
is useless when every Israeli over the age of 10 has a
cell phone; there are always 3 phones ringing with the
same tune at any given moment!

2. It seems like all Israelis also smoke. A cigarette
in one hand and a cell in the other.

3. Are washcloths just an American thing? We stayed in
3 hotels for a total of 9 nights and only saw ONE
washcloth one time, for a 2-person room. Hmmm...I just
did without.

4. The majority of Israelis either speak English so
well that they just sound American, or they have such
a thick accent that you think they're speaking Hebrew!

5. Israel is as hilly as San Francisco! There are
hills everywhere, so you certainly get exercise when
you walk.

6. One of my favorite observations, the art of Israeli
parking! No rules apply here. If there is no parking
space, they make their own. There are cars pulled up
onto the sidewalks everywhere. Some are completely on
the sidewalk, while others are half on, half off. This
way you get to interfere with the pedestrians and
possibly also the street traffic. And if there are
cars that you will be blocking in by parking in this
manner? So what? They're Israeli drivers, too; they'll
be creative enough to find a way out!

7. And a thing that may help along the insane
driving...You've gotta love this: you know how a
traffic light turns yellow to warn you to slow down
for the red light that's coming?? In Israel, the light
turns yellow BEFORE THE LIGHT TURNS GREEN, too!!!! Is
it just me, or is this a bad idea? I wondered for the
first few days why cars would start moving when we
were still crossing the street and I knew the other
light was still green. Then I looked one time and saw
this wonderful Israeli phenomenon; the light goes from
red to yellow to green! This way, in addition to
running red lights, you get people...uh, running GREEN
lights? I don't know, but they start gunning their
engines and are taking off before it's even turned
green. Very interesting.

I think that is everything now. A very interesting
country and people! I loved it.

Leslie