Saturday, December 13, 2008

Israel Part 4

A few interesting things I have learned (so far) about Israel.

1. Arab hotels have floors numbered -1, 0, 1, 2, 3 , etc. Floor zero is the lobby.

2. Israeli's have "compelled service" in the military. They are required to give 3 years of service to the military (2 for the girls). After that they may choose to join officially. If they don't, they still must serve one month each year until they are 42 years old (or 28 for girls - so they can raise a family).


3. Any open space on the side of the road is considered parking.


4. The car horn (or bus horn) is a completely over used method of communication. It means, "get the HELL out of my way" and "I'm coming through and not stopping for you".


5. The call to prayer from the Dome of the Rock is really cool to hear, unless it happens at 5am every morning.


6. Elderly people will complain about almost everything!


7. Hotel card keys in America at super cool and is so much more convenient than carrying around a room key on the end of a 5lb hunk of metal.


8.You should NEVER, NEVER pass up an opportunity to send your kid to the BYU Jerusalem Center for a term!


9. Pomegranates are delicious! And eating tomatoes and cucumbers for breakfast every morning is actually tasty.


10. Not all people enjoy ice cold water. Some enjoy it warm or lukewarm for drinking. I am not one of those people. Getting cold water here is unheard of - not that they don't have it, they just don't like it.



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2 comments:

kellieanne said...

I had several friends while I was at BYU who attend the Jerusalem Center and not one ever regretted it. They all thought it was a life changing experience.

What's wrong with drinking luke warm water? I can only handle ice cold water in the summer. I haven't been able to trace my Dad's heritage back on his fathers side. He must have middle eastern blood in him.

Jacquie said...

Amen, to #8 what a blessing to understand and love such wonderful people that live in the middle east, they are entirely misunderstood! I am so excited to see you tomorrow and hear all about it! Enjoy the flight!