That's all folks

My semester in Israel has come to an end. It is a bitter sweet ending. I will miss my roommate terribly, and the freedom that goes with studying abroad. It will be culture shock in the Fall at Penn when I can't negotiate class and test times, and when suggesting a weekend hike or beach trip would be a joke.

Of course there are positive and negatives to every experience. But I want to remember the happy stuff when I look back on this. It is hard to remember what I found different about Israel at the beginning, because I am so used to it now. But I will try to end this segment of life with little tidbits about Israel.

1) Cats are Israel's equivalent to squirrels in the US
2) Your bag will be checked whenever you enter a building
3) Soldiers with guns are everywhere
4) All toilets have a half flush and a full flush - way to conserve water!
5) Sheruts - shared taxis
6) Should negotiate a price before you get in a cab
7) Speaking Hebrew at the shuk will get you lower prices
8) Marzipan rugula is the best ooey gooey pastry ever
9) Jerusalem lives to pray
10) Tel Aviv lives to play
11) You can easily barter down to 1/2 and less of the asking price at the Arab shuk
12) Lines don't exist
13) Pushing is perfectly acceptable
14) The dollar declining in value makes Israel pretty expensive

and finally:

15) Toilet paper comes in bulk - and is used for everything


Next stop for me: a month in Greece! I leave tomorrow!