A little joke between Suzanne and I, we always blame silly things on each other in jest. So the long pause between blogs is her fault! We don't have a staff of monkeys yet...
This week is Passover and I have 7 work days off, plus weekends. It doesn't make up completely, but the benefits make up some for the low pay. In general, salaries are lower in Israel, but depending where you work, many benefits apply. There is a company called 10bis.co.il, which connects employers and restaurants. Many companies pay for their employees lunch everyday. Other perks include cars and gas cards. I received several hundred shekels in gift certificates to a wide variety of places for Passover and I get the vacation with less than half charged to my vacation time. The office is literaly closed, locked, empty....just the dust collecting. Could you imagine a KPMG office in the US with the doors closed for over a week - not even between Christmas and New Years.
On another note, has anyone in the US not experienced some sort of Proslytization? We went shopping for a Bar and Bat mitzvah gift on Ben Yehuda street last Saturday night. It was acually me following Suzanne walking into the stores with almost the same stuff in each and you could here my moaning and groaning all the way. While in one of the stores somehow it was discovered we were from Dallas and another couple was too. The conversation was nice....until we learned they were Messianic, which in and of it self does not make them bad people. They started talking about their love for Israel, then eventually the bible...as we were trying to get one foot out the door, I saw the woman reach in her bag...uh oh! Before she could get out the pamphlet, my hand went up and I politely said, "No thank you." We were gone in 30 seconds. Later that evening we saw them and I did my best not to make eye contact.
One last quick story - Suzanne and I went salsa dancing this past Thursday. 
No, this story is not about going to the hospital after we stepped on each others toes! As you may know, we don't have a car, so we take the bus, walk and on occasion taxis. The bus driver's vary in quality, which is a nice way to say they are mostly crazy! Driving through narrow streets, dodging cars, dogs, people and on occasion leaving the doors open while they drive. So Thursday, while the bus was manuevering around a curve, a car was double parked with just a passenger left inside. He did the typical Israeli thing and held the horn down for a good minute - nothing. So he got out, yes leaving the bus, said something to the passenger and proceeded to move the car himself. Stepped back into our bus and went on. Nothing will stand in the way of Egged bus drivers.
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