Every time I close my eyes, I can still see that severed pig head in the box with its black eyes wide open. Dead pigs were the last thing I ever dreamed of seeing in Israel. However, pig farming is allowed in Israel as long as you are not a Jew. If you're a Jew, it's illegal. If you're a Christian or not born of a Jewish mother you can raise and slaughter pigs to your heart's content.
The myths are:
Israelis don't stand in line, they push and shove to be first
Most Israeli's speak English
You won't find toilet paper in public restrooms
You can barter for better prices
And you receive a gas mask when arrive/there's a bomb shelter in every building
Our experience has been Israelis stand in line like everyone else at least at the grocery store and on the bus. At the post office and bank you get numbers and wait, which is kind of nice, because you can sit down rather than stand in line. We are not sure if the take-a-number thing is a result of Israelis not being willing to queue up or for some other reason.
We were told most Israelis speak English and they learn it in school. So far, most of the Israelis we have met do speak some English. The operative word here is "some." They speak about as much English as we speak Hebrew -- we've had twenty 30-minute Pimsleur Hebrew CD lessons; they supposedly had several years of English in school.
Whew! So far, there has been plenty of toilet paper in the restrooms. It's a good thing, because I'm funny about those things and would probably hold it until I busted before having to air-dry. The other good thing is Israeli women don't have this phobia of not sitting on top of the toilet seat. A lot of American women, rather than sit, will squat over the toilet without touching anything and pee leaving urine drops for the poor unwitting person following them to sit and feel that unwanted dampness on the back of their thighs. What does seem to be scarce is restrooms are paper towels. I cannot count the number of times I've washed my hands only to find the electric hand dryer does not work and both paper towel dispensers are empty.
We haven't purchased much yet so bartering may still be something people do here. However, we have watched people in front of us in the grocery store and they pay the price the cashier asks for. There was no bartering at Office Depot either, nor at the place where we purchased the alarm clock.
You would think we could barter for laundry prices, but in our comparison shopping they all charge 12 shekels a kilo. Even though it's expensive, I prefer having someone else do my laundry. It comes back all folded, smelling kind of soapy, and cleaner than when I do it myself. Since dryers aren't used widely here, David hasn't had the pleasure of hanging clothes out on the line -- oh wait, I guess that would be my job.
I have heard that if shopkeepers know you're American -- and they can tell by our accent even if we say, "How much does it cost?" in Hebrew -- they will raise the price by a few shekels since all Americans are rich and can afford it. Somebody told me a shopkeeper insisted she had to pay 60 more shekels because she was American and could afford it. I guess she paid the higher price. I would have walked away. And David would have been really mean and before walking away tell them something like: "You not only lost my business, I'm going to tell every olim I know what you did and you're going to lose that business too."
I have heard there is bartering for the rent and negotiation of the lease. That doesn't really seem to be the case either. Or, maybe they can tell we're "rich" Americans and simply refuse to barter. We are still looking for a permanent place and we'll see how that goes.
Totally false: new immigrants do NOT receive a gas mask when you arrive in Israel -- unless we didn't get ours. There is not a bomb shelter in every building and no one has instructed us on where to go if sirens start going off. Maybe the thinking is Hezbollah and Hamas missiles are too erratic and no more dangerous than getting hit by a bus or a driver who doesn't see you in the crosswalk and comes to a screeching halt too late. Maybe the Israeli government feels the only bombs citizens have to worry about is the big one Iran may be lobbing over around the 21st of December 2012 -- aka the end of the world according to the Mayan calendar -- and no bomb shelter or gas mask is going to protect you from that one.
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