nun bet

I know that there is a lot of complaining (almost bashing) that goes on in the English (Anglo?!) blogosphere here in Israel about the infuriating bureaucracy and the culture differences we (anglos?!) face coming from a “Yes, Ma’am/Sir, how may I help you?” kind of place to the rough and tumble Middle East. Well, that generalization simply isn’t true.

See, about six months or so ago I bought some lovely baskets made from safety pins and sparkly beads from eBay. I collect them. Love them! I had them shipped to my mother and then she shipped them to me. Y and I moved to Tel Aviv before they arrived and we hoped that we’d see them at some point. We left word with the new tenants to contact us should we get a package slip and we’d come to pick it up. Long story short - there was some delay in the communication and my baskets sat at the Chopin Street branch of the Jerusalem Post Office for a month. I finally got the slip from the new tenants and Y went to the post office to pick up the package. The post office here is so efficient that they had waited exactly the correct amount of time (one month) before returning the package to the sender.

Now this is the nice part of the proof pudding…

Last Friday the neighbor came up before Shabbat to say that the pipe that drains my kitchen was leaking into her apartment. She said that it’s been that way for a while but she was reminded because she went to get something from her cabinet and it was damp. (Jeepers!) I apologized and called my landlord (who is 91 years old and amazing) right away. No answer. I left a message explaining that there was a problem with the water in the kitchen. (I didn’t know the Hebrew for “drain pipe” or “leak” but I do now!) Anyway, I didn’t hear from her all Shabbat - not unusual because it is Shabbat. Anyway, that evening she called me back almost short of breath and said that she just got in from a trip to Germany and that she’d send someone tomorrow morning. The handyperson came the next morning and fixed the pipe. Done! This kind of response from a landlord is almost unheard of in Israel and I am really appreciative to have such a great landlady. I think that’s how you get to be 91 and still healthy and independent - be nice!

There’s more…

Those of you regular readers may remember that I don’t have access to the state health care system in Israel yet. So, I buy private “tourist” insurance through a company called Harel in case I need to see the doctor. Well, in the two years I have been in Israel, I haven’t been sick until now. I had a sore throat that wasn’t going away and decided that it was time to see a doctor. At 6am the other day, I called the 24 hour service line on the card and got great service (The guy even said, “I hope you feel better.”!) and two numbers for doctors in Tel Aviv. I waited until 8am to call the doctors. One of the doctors made an appointment with me for 12:30 the same day and that was a relief. I showed up, he checked me out, and gave me a prescription. In the meeting, the doctor mentioned that he was going out of town for a few days. Turns out that he’s the physician to the Macabee Tel Aviv basketball team. I called Harel again to find out where to get the prescription. This time another guy was super friendly and helpful. He gave me the address for a pharmacy across the street from where I work. I picked up the prescription without waiting at all. All of this was free by the way. I didn’t pay for anything at anytime. My tourist insurance isn’t all that great in terms of coverage for long term health issues. But for accidents and minor issues, I am very happy with Harel. It’s not too expensive either - about $1 a day. Well, I guess you could say that I spent at least $730 to see the doctor since I haven’t used my insurance in the two years I’ve had it.

Anyway, with my experiences and Noorster’s too, I guess we really aren’t entirely doomed.