WE — MY SPOUSE AND I recently spent 11-plus hours in a Boeing 787-9 tube traveling between MIA and TLV. Due to the Chinese virus, the plane was about 1/3 empty.
We HAD been ticketed on five (!) earlier flights, all of which were canceled two days before the plane was to depart. Canceled by ? Not sure if El Al canceled the flights or the Israeli government.
AT MIA check-in, even with having to prove we underwent a Covid PCR test and had been fully vaccinated, , we quickly went through check-in.
Since I am handicapped and old (78), even the TSA check with efficient.
The first “snag” was when I arrived at the plane’s door on a mobility scooter.
The woman guarding the portal insisted that I take the scooter’s batteries on board. I explained that the scooter’s batteries were FAA-approved sealed lead acid and not the lithium batteries that the FAA won’t allow in the baggage holds.
My error: I should have brought the FAA statement that the scooter’s batteries were OK for the hold.
I had help getting to my seat and someone brought the batteries.
Fire the chef
All food on all El Al flights is kosher.
Unfortunately, “kosher” does not equate to “palatable.”
El Al’s food out of Miami was barely edible. (The key words, I think, are “out of Miami.” I HAVE had excellent kosher meals on flights from other airports.)
The flight was otherwise, thankfully, uneventful.
The cabin crew was efficient, albeit I think for the most part out of sight, out of mind.
When we arrived at TLV (Lod) several passengers with disabilities exited the plane onto an elevator platform. My scooter was waiting for me and the batteries were installed.
Express line
Because of my mobility issues, my Spouse and I were escorted through passport control, then to a post-flight virus test — never mind that we had been vaccinated with Pfizer’s best in the U.S. AND we submitted to expensive PCR tests just to board the plane. I guess Israel’s government suspects there is cheating — no surprise.
Our family — daughter, son-in-law, and three grands, waited more or less patiently while we were documented and tested (again). We finally were allowed to meet with our family, BUT we were ordered sequestered for 14 days. At least we were with family and not stuck in a “corona hotel.”
It’s the government
In the U.S. a Social Security number is key identifier. It was not supposed to be so (look at the original act) but it is so.
In Israel it’s a person’s national ID number, זחות; the drivers’ license size card is the תודעת (document).
Every Israeli has a number, and every Israeli must have an ID card — it replaced a small book some years ago.
My wife’s “small book” was unacceptable, so she must get a new one. Fair enough; she no longer looks like the girl I married three kids ago.
My booklet got lost over the course of numerous moves. My (Israeli) passport has the number, but that does not satisfy the government’s clerks. As with the tiny island off Europe’s coast, Israel is a nation of clerks. Right hand, left hand.
We need new ID cards, but since we are sequestered . . .
We also need to open bank accounts; impossible sans the ID number.
Likewise we need to sign up for national insurance; Israel is, after all a semi-socialist state, but then both the Spouse and I benefit from Medicare and Social Security.
Israel’s national insurance, as does Medicare in the U.S., comes with a price tag. Unlike Medicare, into which I’ve been contributing since LBJ introduced it — and still paying into it — I have not been contributing to a health care program in Israel since I left in 1979. I am not complaining, at least not yet.
Sans a bank account, we cannot buy a condo. OK, since we cannot legally leave our kid’s apartment, we cannot even legally shop for one except online.
Yet we need to establish a residence. Our “stuff” already is somewhere on the high seas.
And get phone service, Internet, etc. and et al, but again we’re “stuck” in quarantine.
To be fair,, all the clerks to whom we (OK, my Spouse and daughter) have spoken via phone have been helpful and personable. As a newcomer in 1975, I NEVER had a problem with government clerks, bank personnel, supermarket check-out ladies, or landlords, but the stories I heard about such people today . . .
Think small
We sold a 3/2 in a highly desirable area. The smallest bedroom, my “office,” was 9*10 feet. That is “large” by Israeli (and probably European) standards.
Note to North Americans planning a move to Israel: Abandon your furniture. It won’t fit in most Israeli residences.
The 3/2 we sold, with yard and two-car garage, won’t come close to paying for a 3/2 condo in Israel.
A modest 3/2 in a nice neighborhood will cost in excess of one million shekels. Check the exchange rate and “do the math.”
Most cars are compacts, but small “suv”s are popular. Problem is that gasoline, sold by the litre, is expensive.
There are 3.78541178 liters in a U.S. gallon. (There are 4.54609 liters in an “Imperial” gallon — and fifth pint.)
U.S. gas prices, even at their highest, are “cheap” in comparison. Since Israelis often are terrible drivers, insurance prices also are high. On the other hand, public transportation is affordable. Trains are comfortable and clean; inter-city buses are convenient, and there are ride services.
Sticker shock
Much of what Israels buy is imported. It’s not just snob appeal; it‘ s reality.
Home grown products generally are affordable, but ‘dollar stores” are few and far between. I miss them.
There is a secondhand market that can furnish the small rooms.
Buying a condo? It probably will have central A/C, but a cook top, an oven, and a fridge are up to the buyer.
A quick word about “rooms.”
Condos in Israel are not sold by number of bedrooms. A “5-room” apartment has four bedrooms, including the safety room (mak’mod), and a living room/dining nook/kitchen combo. “Open architecture.”
What I miss are electrical outlets.
Electrical outlets in the U.S. are no more than 10 feet apart and come in pairs. Not so in Israel. Not only are the outlets fewer and farther between, but they are SINGLE outlets, so 1-to-2, 1 -to-3 converters, and power strips are almost a necessity. Israel, as so most nations, has 220 +/- 10% VAC, so a prized appliance from America either won’t work or will require a tran$former. (cq)
Minute clinic
I am about as graceful as a wounded bull elephant.
I managed to trip over my own feet and ended up with a swollen ankle.
Go to a minute clinic, I was told — again and again and …
We got to the clinic a little after 7 p.m. when (a) the membership health centers close and (b) the minute clinics open.
We got back shortly after 10 p.m. — “minute clinic” is a misnomer! — having had my vitals checked and my ankle x-rayed — and found whole.
Cost? A bit less than US$200, including tax.
(OK, I got a new “ace” bandage in the bargain.)
Will my Humana Gold Medicare reimburse me for all or some of the minute clinic charge?
I tried to contact Humana by internet. Can’t access the (Humana) server from Israel.
Tried to contact Humana by phone, but there is an eight (8) hour time difference between Israel and Humana’s HQ.
Humana is, IMO, famously UNresponsive, so I expect to absorb the bill. Compared to what a U.S. minute clinic would charge, I won't complain.
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