Stuff About Israel

As you avid FailBlog readers know, I recently went to Israel. I got back to America this past Wednesday. Yes, I'm alive. However, I can only count to nine on my fingers now (jk lol). The expirience was really amazing. Definitely a worthwhile trip. Everywhere we were, it was hard to believe that there was a war being fought less than 100 miles away. I'd type up my whole expirience, but that would be pages and pages of work I don't want to do. Also, if you came here expecting to read about political opinions about Israel, stop sniffing glue and go somewhere else. I'm sure there are pleanty of blogs you could read on that issue. FailBlog will not be one of them. Why you'd think FailBlog would be one of them is a mystery in itself.

That said, I present to you *ahem*

Five Random Observations About Israel

• Napkins: This was probably my biggest gripe about Israel. In America, we're used to getting large napkins and having an abundance of them. In Israel, for whatever reason, they decided to make their napkins really, really small. I've had receipts larger than the napkins you get in Israel. What's worse is that, when you order your food, they'll only give you one napkin and if they even have a napkin dispenser, it will only be on one or two of the tables. So, if you're sitting at one of the tables that doesn't have it, you get to go on a mighty quest to find it. It's not that I'm an overly messy eater or anything, but most of the food in Israel is covered in sauces and wrapped in a pita or something. You need a napkin for this.

• Israelis: While I'm not trying to make a ridiculous blanket claim about all Israelis, in fact, the ones who were with us on our trip were pretty awesome people, but I found that most Israelis are sort of... well... aggressive. They won't say excuse me when they bump into you, nor if you're in the way and they're trying to get around you. They'll just push you out of the way and continue on their business. If they're trying to sell you something or are asking for money, the only way to get away is to run away. I don't know if you've seen those "Dead Sea Cosmetics" sellers in malls and stuff, but if you have, you know how aggressive they can be. Now, imagine an entire mall or street like that. That's Israel.

• El-Al Airline Food: If you travel on El-Al Airlines to Israel. Try not to eat anything. ESPECIALLY the beef dinner. I was on the toilet for two days. I didn't order the beef on the way back, but still ran to the toilet in Newark once we landed. It's not a bad airline otherwise, but god damn. And this sort of leads into my next point...
  

• Public Restrooms: This is the only thing on this list so far which I liked. A little odd, really. But yeah, the coolest thing about public restrooms in Israel is that usually, instead of stalls like we have in America. They have separate fucking rooms to do your business in. Seriously. You'll have your sinks, the urinals, then instead of stalls, the toilets are each in their own room. Separated by walls. We need this in the US. It's probably just me, but I hate when you can hear the guy in the stall next to you doing his number two.
  

• Burgers Bar: This was one of the best fast food burger places that I've had, not only in Israel, but ever. We only had a chance to eat here once, but I'm glad I did. They grill you a burger when you order it, and you have a variety of sauces and veggies they can put on from there. For about 45 Sheckles (about $10) you get a burger, fries and a drink. Not a bad deal.
  

So there you have it, five observations about Israel. Even though three of the five were things I didn't like, again, I had an absolute blast there. It's just easier for me to bitch about things.

Oh yeah, the picture on this post was a picture I took at the beach of our hotel on the Dead Sea.

Going back to Albany tomorrow. See ya next time.