I don't have a car in Israel (which is probably a good thing, as I am not a very good driver and neither are most Israelis.) It is rarely a problem, because public bus and train transportation is very comprehensive in Israel. I can easily get from one end of the country to the other (buses depart from Eilat, the southernmost city, and Kiryat Shmona, almost the northernmost city every hour if not more frequently) and traveling by public transportation is very cheap. However, moving without a car presents a challenge.
I chose to move in two trips, as I had the three suitcases I came to Israel with, bedding, a bag of kitchen stuff, a bag of books, and a basil plant. I took the train from Lod to Ashkelon (it's about 45 minutes) and then a taxi from the train station to Kalanit (about 15 minutes). The first trip was horrible. It was very hot outside, and I walked about a half an hour with four bags before I got to the train station. I was hot, sweaty, and not in a very good mood. I had left time for security to go through my bags, but I had assumed that they would just glance at them, and not bother going through all four of them. I was wrong. After being asked to produce a Teudat Zehut (Israeli identity card) and producing my Massachusetts Driver's License, they asked me for a Darkon (passport.) When I produced that, all three of the guards took turns staring at it (probably because none of them could read English fluently.) After asking me multiple questions about my visa (which is rather self-explanatory "Hi, I'm on MASA, which means I'm between ages 18-28 and I'm Jewish"), they finally started to go through my bags. By this time the chance of making my train was very little, which meant I was going to be late for moving into Kalanit, I was really hot, and I was also very much stressing about moving to somewhere I had never been before.
When security finally let me through, I ran to the elevator, and arrived at my platform just in time to see my once-an-hour train pulling away. I promptly sat down (on my bags) and started sobbing. I'm sure I scared the two little kids drinking shoko b'sakit next me to- I was definitely a sight to behold. At that moment I hated Israel, I hated Israelis who wouldn't hold the train for me, I hated the weather, I hated public transportation, and I definitely hated security guards.
But! It wasn't my train! I had gotten the times wrong, and 10 minutes later a train pulled up and announced "Ha'rekevet leRehovot, Yavne, Ashdod v'Ashkelon al mishpar shalosh." That was my train! I jumped up, all thoughts of hating Israel aside, and got onto the splendid air-conditioned train with padded seats and views of the gorgeous countryside. And I ate a bar of chocolate.
The second trip was actually quite lovely. I moved after it was already dark outside, so I didn't get all hot and sweaty. But the biggest difference was the security guards. One stopped me outside the station, and when he asked for my Teudat Zehut and received my Driver's License, his only reaction was to switch to English. However, because I was in a much better mood, I wanted to use my Hebrew. As soon as he learned that I was carrying all this stuff because I was moving from Ramla to the Ashkelon Mercaz Klita, he was nothing but smiles. He helped me carry my stuff to the ticket booth, and then had another guy carry it to my platform. When I asked if they wanted to search my bags, they just smiled. That trip, I felt like all of Israel was smiling with me.
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