So I’ve been living in Israel since the start of November after a whirlwind of defending my PhD, moving out of Santa Cruz forever and suddenly moving to another continent for a postdoc. I’ve been working on clams, taking samples, using an SEM and planning a new manuscript, but I have also been learning a lot about living in a country that is at once strangely familiar and completely foreign. I’m coming back to California tomorrow for a Holiday break, so I took an hour to reflect on what I’ve learned about this country so far. Here are some random things I’ve learned about Israel during my time here.

Israel is small

Israel is a tiny country by my Californian standards. You can take a bus along the entire length of it in less than seven hours. I am in Haifa on the farthest northern part of the Mediterranean coast, but in 2016, I lived down in Eilat for two months. Despite its small size, Israel has a variable climate depending on where you are. Up in Haifa, they have have a classic Mediterranean climate which reminds me of California in a lot of ways (think chaparral and coastal dunes, though a little more humid than I’m used to and with more thunderstorms). The Negev desert is in the South, which is intensely dry, hot and sometimes completely devoid of vegetation.

Happy naturalists!

For birders, I’ve noticed the North is dominated by hooded crows from Europe while the South is dominated by house crows, an Asian species. In general, because they’re at the nexus between Europe, Asia and Africa and the gradient between those ecoregions, Israel and the Middle East overall are very biodiverse. As a result, there is a vibrant culture of naturalists in this country who want to know about every aspect of every species. When I post something to my iNaturalist, within a few hours someone who is an expert on that taxon confirms or corrects me, without fail.

Delicious food+drink

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Living here, I have been subsisting of a diet based largely on hummus, falafel, shawerma, tahini (try the dark kind!) and pita, with plenty of veggies thrown in. In fact, there are restaurants where they just serve you a bowl of hummus with pita and you have at it. Be prepared for the food coma. For beers, I guess Danish beer companies got a big foothold here early on because the defaults are Carlsberg, Tuborg, Heineken etc. The biggest native Israeli brewery is Gold Star, and they’re not bad! And there are a growing number of Israeli craft breweries. Overall I approve, though they sometimes experiment a bit too much and taste odd, and a lot of them don’t really seem to know what an IPA is.

Cultural diversity

Israel, as you may or may not have heard, is indeed a very complicated place. There is no doubt that the tensions are high between Israelis and Palestinians and Hezbollah and Iran, which is often in the news. But day to day on the ground, Israel is a very safe place and safer than what I’m used to in the States. The crime rate is much lower than almost everywhere in the US, and I can walk around Haifa at night without ever feeling at risk. That is more than I can say for Santa Cruz and many parts of LA.

Haifa is a special place. It is a uniquely diverse city with a significant Arab population. The student body at the University of Haifa is over 30% Arab in descent and I can walk through hearing four languages in one hallway. The main temple of the Baha’i faith is here in Haifa.

There are Israeli Jews of all sorts of backgrounds, including Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Yemeni, Ethiopian and more. There are secular Jews, Conservative Jews, Orthodox Jews and the Haredim (Ultra-Orthodox), along with myriad others I haven’t learned about yet. There also is a huge population throughout Israel of Russian Jews who came here following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian is spoken heavily here and is on the street signs. Like America, Israel is a hugely diverse place and I believe could be a great strength for their future growth and prosperity.

Language and cultural challenges

As a secular American, there were some parts of Israel that have proved challenging to adapt to. The biggest challenge for me by far is that Israel’s national language is Hebrew, which is a very challenging language to learn. I now know the numbers, some letters and some words, but there’s no way I’m going to be able to pick up conversational Hebrew during my time here. And as all foreigners know, not being able to read and write makes literally everything about “adulting” more difficult. I have had to learn never to assume that English is understood here. I speak slowly and use hand gestures. I do everything in person, never over the phone. Trying to do something logistical over the phone has not once worked. Seriously, don’t even entertain the notion of trying to do stuff in English over the phone here.

Instead, I recommend going to the place you need to go, ask the person for help with a dumb blank smile on your face, and people will try to help you do what you need to do, whether that is opening a bank account, getting your bus card, or signing a lease for your apartment. People here are generally very direct and no-nonsense in everyday business dealings, but they also have proven very generous and willing to help me, which is not something I can say about service in America. However, on the rare occasions when I’ve found someone who speaks English, is available, and is exactly the person who can help me with the task at hand, I feel as though I should drop to my knees and thank the God of Abraham for his mercy. Day to day life here is tough for a non-Hebrew speaker.

If there was one aspect of life in Israel which I will openly complain about, it is Shabbat (from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday). In most of the Western world, we take for granted that Saturday and Sunday are the days of rest. But here in Israel, it is Friday and Saturday, and Israel is very hardcore about their days of rest. On Shabbat, any eating establishment that wants to be Kosher has to be closed. Almost all public transport is shut down.

There are a small number of more secular, diverse cities, luckily including Haifa, where a couple buses stay running Friday night and Saturday. But on Saturday, if I realize I need groceries, my choice is to splurge on a cab or walk 25 minutes down to the nearest 24/7 market (basically a convenience store). There is a reason Shabbat is a big deal in Israel and I get it. There is no other country on Earth where Jews of all creeds and colors can know that they will get to observe Shabbat in the way it was practiced by their ancestors. But for me as a secular person without a car, it presents a lot of logistical challenges.

Miscellaneous

Here is a list of other things I found notable and unexpected about life in Israel

• They really like malls. There are new malls opening everywhere and they are always full of people. As an American, I think of malls as very last century, but they’re still the main social place here for many people.
• They don’t really use mops. Instead, they use giant squeegees to clean their floors. I still don’t get how to use one.
• When you sign a lease, many landlords want twelve pre-signed checks. I thought this was very strange (where do they keep them?!) and then noticed an option in the ATM to save checks for “safe-keeping.” Weird.
• Israel is a cell phone paradise. I can get an unlocked SIM card with 30 gb of data, unlimited voice and text for $21.50. This is absolutely insane. How is this possible?
• In Israel, they charge tenants a bimonthly property tax. That is annoying!
• People say Israel is super expensive and yes, prices on food and basics are somewhat high by standards of some US States. But coming from California, I have been so relieved. I now can afford to live in my own apartment and pay <25% of my income on rent rather than 50%. I can once again stay under $10-15 a day on food which wasn’t possible for me in California for the last couple years. So I have more discretionary income for fun stuff which has been refreshing.
• As I’ve noticed in Europe as well, it’s fun paying with coins! They have 10, 5, 2, and 1 shekel coins and I find myself actually using them, unlike the useless pocket change in the states that I just save to trade in later. There are around 3.7 shekels to the dollar.
• They have an excellent bus system (except Friday or Saturday 😉 ). Buses come by frequently in all parts of Haifa, are clean, and cost about $1.50 per ride (1/3 less than that if you set up your student access card). The bus card allows you to connect for free within a certain time period as well.
• Most locks in Israel use keys on the inside and outside. I’m not sure if this is an Israel-specific thing, or just something the rest of the world has that the US doesn’t, but it was surprising to see that I’d have to use my key to lock my front door from inside.
• They have smarter crosswalks in Haifa that generally bridge over a median, with two separate pedestrian lights. You may have to stop in the middle but it means less risk of someone doing a turn and hitting you, and that is good urban planning in my book. Eilat has done away with streetlights altogether, completely converting to roundabouts. I frickin love roundabouts.
• Israel has a semi private system of healthcare, but with generally very high quality care and low cost.
• In Israel, life is completely transformed by their mandatory military service. While I have been out of college for a few years, many Israelis are only just starting college as they enter their late 20s after being discharged. So the student body trends older at Israeli universities.
• I thought I’d stick out as an American goy being here, but apparently I don’t. People keep asking me for directions in Hebrew and Russian and I just say “sorry, English only”, and they look at me with disappointment. I guess I can say I look Jewish!

In conclusion, I have enjoyed my time in Israel so far, and I have found myself just watching life going on around me with great curiosity, because it is a very interesting place full of constant unexpected moments. Let me know if any of you visit anytime soon 🙂