Tuesday-January 11--the day from hell and one I hope won’t repeat itself.

Tuesday-January 11--the day from hell and one I hope won’t repeat itself.

Today started off fine, the sun was out I was going to go a cafe to do some writing and then just hang around the town before going to dinner at Kibbutz Yagur.

Around 10:00 a.m. I walked up the hill to the main street, along the way I saw a sight I haven’t seen in a long time, someone on a pay phone. 

 Can you imagine that?  I crossed the street so I could take a photo.  Then I continued walking and made myself comfortable at Cafe In.  

I ordered a cheese sandwich, wrote for a couple of hours and then decided it was time for a walk.  I first went to the ATM of Bank Leumi that was about 50 meters from the restaurant to get some cash.  After I put my wallet away I took my phone out to check an address to pick up the Maccabi basketball game tickets.

It’s 12:30 p.m., I’m standing in the middle of the street with lots of people and out of the corner of my eye this kid comes running next to me and grabs the phone out of my hand.  I’m in shock and  start screaming, “my phone, he stole my phone” and begin chasing after the thief.  I’m carrying my computer bag over my shoulder (a bit of extra weight not that I can run that fast anyway) down the street and up a hill.

“Someone please help me, he stole my phone” I’m shouting at the top of my lungs.

There are lots of people around and it seems to me that no one is really doing anything.  Don’t they not understand me?  Of course not, I’m screaming in English.  But they see me chasing this guy.  Finally as I’m running up the hill some man starts to chase the thief but it’s too late, he gets away.  

I’m standing on the street in shock.  A young woman comes up to me and says, “let me help you, I speak pretty good English, I studied in Alabama.”

She speaks to another man in Hebrew who had given chase to the boy and they decide that she should call the police and take me to the clinic to get some water and help calm me down.

More than anything I’m angry over the violation and the impending hassle of trying to replace the phone. But I’m also glad he didn’t get my computer bag that had not only my computer but my camera as well.  Small favors.

This nice young lady, Vardit, took me to a clinic that was right behind where we were standing and asked them to give me a glass of water.  She was very concerned for me and I really appreciated it.  I was very out of breath and in complete shock.  Of all the years of traveling to many places around the world, this is the first time I have ever had such a violation.  

The police finally come and Vardit explains to me that she is going to translate everything the policewoman says and what I answer.  The police ask me to describe what happened and if I would  recognize the boy if I saw him again.

“No, I have no idea what he looks like. I think he was about 18 years old and wearing a black shirt and had black hair.  It happened so fast.” I tell them.

The police woman wrote everything I said and then gave me another piece of paper that Vardit told me was for insurance.  What American insurance company is going to read Hebrew.  Whatever, I figured I was never going to see that phone again.

I used Vardit’s phone to call Emily to tell her what happened and then walked back to the apartment.  Vardit was very kind and asked if I wanted to go for a coffee but I really just wanted to get back to the apartment and use the phone to cancel my phone.

The next two hours were spent on the phone with Verizon and the third party insurance company Asurion.   I had a phone number that I got with the Blackberry that I thought was a number to use in case of emergency.  It turns out it’s a calling card so who knows how much these phone calls will cost.  I had to call a local number which then asked for the number on the card.  At the tone I heard, thanks for using your MCI card.  Really.

After waiting on hold for what seemed like a long time I got a woman from Verizon to call me back so I wouldn’t have to be paying for the call.  She told me the deductible was $75.00 but wasn’t sure if they could ship the phone to me overseas.  She was able to stop the service on my phone and then forwarded the call to this third party Asurion company.  

When Asurion came on the line the woman told me “no, the deductible is $89.00 for that phone.  Would you like to replace it?  By the way, the Blackberry Bold with a camera is on back order so do you want to wait?”

Are you kidding me!  No, I don’t want to wait.  I guess I don’t care so much about the phone having a camera, but have seen the importance of having the Blackberry or a smart phone so I can communicate with people when I don’t have computer internet access.  When I got the phone I got a fantastic deal and only paid $29.00, and actually paid more tax than the price because they taxed me on the full price of the phone at $500.00.  Before I left I said to myself, I guess I don’t care that much if something happened to the phone because it only cost me $29.00.  How wrong I was.  It isn’t so much about the money but like I said, I have come to rely on it for instant communication.  That was gone now.

O.k. so I still have this woman from Asurion on the line and she tells me she doesn’t know if they can ship overseas.  

“Can you find someone who can get the answer please, as I am out of the country and would like to know what my options are.”

She transfers me to someone and I find out the yes they can ship it to me overseas but that office isn’t open for another 45 minutes.

“Do you think someone could call me back so I don’t have to pay for the call.”

“No, I’m sorry we can’t do that.” 

She gives me the number of the division I need to talk to about the overseas shipping.  I wait what is now 1/2 hour to call them.  When I try the number, through my calling card I’m told I cannot access that 866 number.  Great.  I call Verizon back and get them to transfer me to the overseas Asurion people.  

Can you feel my frustration!  You can’t even imagine.  To keep my concentration and cool, I have to remind myself that I am o.k. and it’s only a phone.  

In the back of my mind I keep thinking that I need to get a local phone with a SIM card for a pay as you go so at least I have something while I’m in Israel.  I figure I need to go to the mall.

There are many more details but I’ll cut to the chase.

The non-camera phone can be shipped overseas.  However, it may take up to 7 days and it might get hung up in customs and I may have to pay duty on it.  Really!  No, no, no this isn’t going to work I won’t be in Israel for another 7 days.  I’m not willing to take the chance.  I’m thinking that my friend Christina who may come to Istanbul can bring the phone to me.  

The immediate problem is that I need a phone.  It’s now 3:30 and Shelly is suppose to pick me up for dinner at 5:30.  I contact him via e-mail and he says he’ll pick me up at the mall, which is actually easier for him.

I get in a cab to the “Grand Canyon” mall, which is about 20 minutes away.  I figure there will be an “Orange” (an Israel phone company) kiosk there and I’ll be able to get a pay as you go phone.  

Oh my god this mall is more like a maze then a mall.  I see why they call it the Grand Canyon; big, deep and impossible to navigate.  I scope out where “Orange” is and see it three floors down.  How to get there.  I find the elevators and go down.  Of course the kiosk is a buzz with customers and I try to be patient and wait my turn.  When the girl is available I tell her my story and she tells me

“you need to first buy a phone either from Office Depot or ACE hardware (both in the mall) because our phones are too expensive and then we can give you access and a SIM card.”

“thank you very much”

The Office Depot was around the corner.  I find someone who speaks English, explain the situation and he shows me my options.  The cheapest GSM phone (one I can put a SIM card in) is 300 shekels (about $75.00).  He’s not 100% sure this phone will take the SIM card and tells me I should buy it and walk back to Orange and ask them.  If it doesn’t work I can bring it back.  

Lucky me, it works.

Then I wait again to get the SIM card.  I can’t even describe what it was like waiting there.  The chaos around me and it’s now 5:20.  I ask the girl to use her phone to call Shelly and make an arrangement as to where to meet him.  I get the phone and the SIM card and leave the mall at 5:45.  Now how fun of an afternoon was that!  Yep, all part of the journey.

I find the entrance Shelly told me to go to and yeah it’s the right one and he is there.  We drive to his Kibbutz.  He tells me it’s Pizza night.  

cooking pizza at Kibbutz Yagur

It’s kind of cool that every Tuesday it’s Pizza night on the Kibbutz and you order what you want and when you want it to be ready.  

A group of kids are making the pizza’s because they are trying to raise money for a trip to Europe.  I get a tour of the kitchen and watch the kids making the pizza.  

This Kibbutz is like a city compared to Lotan or Ein Gedi.  It has about 1,000 members with several factories, a gigantic market the size of Costco, and several other “privatized” items.  The market is on land that the Kibbutz sold to the grocery company.  The Kibbutz makes money from the sale of the land and the company got to build their store.  

I get the tour of Shelly’s house and am surprised that it is much bigger and nicer than I would have imagined.  The big event of my visit tonight was to reunite with Shustin, the girl I met in 1979 and was responsible for her coming to Yagur.

In 1979 I was traveling in Europe and came to Israel for a visit. My recollection and Shustin’s are a bit different about how we met and how we got to Kibbutz Yagur but no matter.  I remember meeting her at the hostel in Tel Aviv and she says we met in the airport and she was being hassled by people and I told her to come with me to the hostel.  Shustin is from Sweden not Jewish and wanted to become a volunteer on a kibbutz.  She says I took her to the volunteer office and they told her all the kibbutzim were full.  She says I said "oh that’s ridiculous, come with me I’m going to find my friend who’s on a kibbutz and we’ll get you a job as a volunteer." 

Now doesn’t that just sound like me.  So that’s what we did.  We got to the kibbutz found Shelly and he introduced her to the head of the volunteers and she stayed.  She stayed for a while, went back to Sweden for a time but then returned to the kibbutz, married, has four children and lives across the courtyard from Shelly.  How bizarre is life!  

We are sitting at Shustin's kitchen table and she brings out a photo album with a picture of me.  OMG.  

I met her husband, who thanked me for bringing her to the kibbutz and her youngest child, who is the only one still living at home.  We visited for a while and I can’t believe I didn’t take a photo of her.  

I went back to Shelly’s to have dinner with his wife Ofra and a young man from Alabama who is living at Yagur taking Ulpan (the study of hebrew).  After dinner Shelly and Ofra took me back to my apartment and gave me a quick city tour.  The views in Haifa are really amazing and probably the best part of this city.

What a day, but after all, ended quite nicely.