Blog/October 2007/October 12th

October 12th 2007

Hey there!

This has been a bit of a slow week, as we were winding down from the holidays and ramping up to "real life" again.

Esther found out her doula classes begin next week, so she's pretty excited about that. Sarah started her classes again after a long hiatus due to the holidays; she wasn't too happy about that, but she seems to be having a better time than she was before.

We had to go to Jerusalem to get to a driving instructor for Esther - she's only been driving for 18 years, so she might need a pointer or two, you know? Anyway, the process is that she has to have one driving lesson, after which she can take the driving test (practical, not theory). That's what we thought, anyway. In fact, the process is:

1. Shlep to Jerusalem to meet the instructor. This is at least a one-hour trip for us. The instructor will "drive by" where we are when we get there.
2. Hand over the official paperwork we got from the gov't agency, to the instructor. He promises to make an appointment for the actual lesson and test, in "a few weeks".
3. Shlep back to Maale Adummim (total: 2 hrs trip for 1 min work)
4. Come back in several weeks, hand over a bunch of money for the lesson. Take the lesson.
5. Take papers to the post office, to pay the fee for the official exam.
6. Go take the exam, using the instructor's car (for which we also have to pay)
7. Assuming one passes the exam, take the paperwork to the post office again, and pay the license fee.

I think I didn't miss any steps...

Now, you might think that I would be put-out about having to take a two-hour excursion for a one minute transaction. Well, you'd be correct as it turns out, but that's not the point. The point I was going to make is that riding the bus - and especially the bus to or withing Jerusalem - is a fascinating "people-watching" experience. Unlike the States, everyone takes the bus here. Even people who do have cars, will take the bus - especially to Jerusalem since parking there is so painful. So one gets to see all kinds of people, from every stratum of society.

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