Random observations

I have been keeping a journal and occasionally noting some, let's say, odd things about Israeli culture, and some wonderful things about this unique country and area.

-Taxis honk to let you know they're open, and of course people honk at other drivers :)
-Milk is sold in plastic bags and then people put them in a plastic pitcher for serving.
-There is trash everywhere, which saddens me greatly, and it doesn't seem to be against the law or anything. Very strange, considering this is the holy land...
-Toilets have two flush buttons- one for liquids and one for solids. They are very aware of water conservation here, which I hope catches on more in the US.
-There are solar water heaters everywhere but recycling is limited to plastic bottles.
-Stray cats are everywhere. Its quite depressing actually. Some people think they're still cute but I can't handle seeing cats going through garbage...
-An important Hebrew word to know when things aren't quite making sense or are just plain screwed up- balagan or a mess.
-Israelis love crocs!
-Religious men perm their peyes or side curls so that they look more kept than hair just hanging. I had always wondered how they stayed so perfectly curled :)
-Jewish homes are built with red shingled roofs, a tradition brought over by Europeans long ago.
-All types of people smoke cigarettes- secular and religious.
-After you shower you sponja the floor, which is like a big squeegee that gathers all the water and dirt off the stone floors.
-The light at sunset is a magical rose, peach and lavender mixture, especially in Jerusalem, where it reflects on the beautiful limestone buildings.
-To name just a few of the trees and plants I love here: cypress, olive, date palm, pomegranate, lemon, orange, fig, and rosemary, jasmine, bougainvillea, honeysuckle, passion flower. And of course fields of sunflowers, which at this point in the season, are largely dead or dying... but still a beautiful sight. And many, many vineyards.
-All public signs are in Hebrew, English and Arabic. Street signs even have the vowels on the Hebrew words so I can read them properly...
-At restaurants you tip 10%. Shocking to those in the industry :)
-You can bargain for almost everything, including your taxi fare, and you don't tip taxi drivers!
-Traffic lights turn yellow before turning green. Crossing the street sometimes feels like risking your life, even at a crosswalk... pedestrians do not appear to have the right of way here.
-There are signs on the highway that say, "dangerous curves" and "beware of camels" so funny!
-When you go into a mall or a train station, and lots of other public places, your purse is checked and you often go through a metal detector. If there is no metal detector and they have the hand held kind, they only check the men- I think out of respect for women. Interesting indeed.
-Another interesting phenomenon is hitch-hiking or "tremping" as my younger cousins tell me its called in Hebrew. When I first arrived in Efrat where they live I was shocked to see people standing at bus stops and on the side of the road with their finger point to the ground... Rina explained to me that they were hitch-hiking and I immediately thought- What?! In Israel?? But then she reminded me that we had just gone through a security gate... still strange to me but very common here.

There are lots more I'm sure, but these are the highlights, hope you enjoyed!