Interregnum STOPS 3 and 4 | Me dealing with Israelis :)

I already knew from Avi that Israelis can be pretty bad-ass, and for once I was happy, as I found their style similar to Italians...BUT, the last few days were pretty intense, I had the feeling I had to use 400 eyes around me to be able to get things done. Hopefully people can get some irony of this post, which is dedicated to the BadAsses of the World.

Taxi Drivers

Basically, I got ripped-off three times. Once landing, when going to Mt. of Olives and one departing. But 2 out of 3 times, I used the Gett app (thanks technology!), so I got in touch with the customer service and was able to get my money back (total of USD 35). This is not the best way to deal with people visiting your country. Both taxi drivers got disciplinary action from the company since they did not use the meter. Well, I believe this is pretty similar in Italy, if not worse.

Taking the train

I took the train from the Dig to Tel-Aviv. The train was literally full of people (mostly military): many of them sitting on the floor as there was no space, and many seats occupied by the luggage of other people, since they did not want to leave them on the floor apparently.

Taking the train from Messina to Catania in Sicily during rush hours would have offered the same scenario, however people did not even blink when I entered the train, neither made any efforts to make room for me to walk: I had to literally walk on people's bodies and luggage to get on the train, and I felt uncomfortable - but they were calm, without even looking at me. They were also seated on the stairs and did not even move to allow me to go up or to leave the train. Probably I spent too little time in Sicily to get used to this. It was just weird to me. ☺

I can spend 3-4 hours to tell the story about my departure, but I will focus only on the most important things. The gist of the matter is the following: I reached the airport at 23:09 and I was about to miss my 5:30 flight 😐.

Covid-19 Bureaucracy

First action for me was to take a PCR test. I had already paid for it so it was pretty straight-forward despite the fact that the taxi driver left me at the wrong door (I had told him multiple times). Anyhow, I did the test at 23:15 and then I seated on a chair waiting (ETA was 4h). I kept writing my blog posts and I also took some naps, during the wait. However the 4h were about to expire and still not results yet: it was already 02:45. So I decided to go to the Test facility and asked.

• The lady told me: "Oh yes we are having a delay and test results will need a couple of hours more".
• WTF, I have my flight departing at 05:30.
• "Oh sorry, one machine broke and we are having delays". 
• What should I do, I cannot miss my flight.
• "I am sorry". Then looking at my Sicilian face, as I was probably about to heat up, she said: "Show me your confirmation number, I can try to ask my supervisor".
• Eventually she told me it would take 1h more or less. It was 03:00 already - I was screwed - assuming buffer time for security operations. The supervisor tried o speed up the test result for me (I had already one other "negative" result, done with an amazing machine I got from my company, but without passport number it does not work).

• The lady suggested me to take a break and come back in 30mins. My Sabbatical motto is #takelifeasitcomes, so I did not want to stress out, but I did not have creativity to keep writing the blog at that moment. I looked at Instagram a bit (US friends were awake and active), I then used the restroom and was back at the lady's station.
• She checked again by going inside and all of a sudden I got the result on the website. It was 03:30. I still do not know if it was a true or faked result as I got it right when I went asking for it, anyhow I had already tested negative in the morning so I was relieved.

Travel Bureaucracy

The queue was pretty intense, only 2-3 officers doing passport control before allowing you to go to the airline counters. And 40-50 people queueing. It took about 30mins queueing probably, and then, there was the INTERVIEW. I call it interview as it took me about 20mins and the Officer asked me everything. In her defense, I believe that a couple of things for me may be weird:

• My beard...it's intense, a friend of mine just told me I look like a drug/arms dealer, by looking at my face 😖
• My movie-style/Moroccan-style last name, which may help socially, but never helps at Customs
• Me living in the US, coming from Ecuador, with double European citizenship.

Anyhow I got asked a lot a lot a lot a lot of questions, including but not limited to:

• Why a Sabbatical now: aren't you having issues traveling?
• Why an Irish passport?
• How long was the Dig and where was it?
• Where did you sleep during the Dig?
• Which university and which professor?
• What's the first name of your dad and the names/last names of his parents?
• Do you know someone in Israel?
• What Israeli people not living in Israel - maybe in the US - you know?
• Do you have any Moroccan origins?
• Do you study Archaeology?
• Why here in Israel?
• [...]

After this, which was intense, I was able to leave my backpack at the counter, which they decided it was a special size luggage, so needed to do additional checks. 😠

Eventually there was the carry-on security check (next time I visit Israel, I will wear only underwear for security control): 20 mins to check all the electronic equipment, computer, kindle, canon camera, gopro, cables, covid machine. TWENTY MINUTES...

Fun facts:

• At the boarding gate they asked me again when I was planning to come back to Israel (I do not know!).
• On the bus from gate to the aircraft they asked me again when I was planning to come back to Israel (I still do not know!).

I boarded the plane at about 5:20AM I believe. No time to enjoy the TLV Lounge.

But I absolutely understand the necessity of the strict measures in this time. So I would advise everyone to dedicate ample time for security operations.