Which is more dangerous a gun or a temperature?

Once out of isolation our priority was to visit all the public offices and the bank, all part of the administrative process of making Aliyah. I'm sure that whenever one moves to a new country there are a lot of forms to fill out and offices to visit, and doing it in a foreign language is going to be more stressful. We have a friend moving to Spain at the end of the month and it will be very interesting to compare our experiences. To mitigate the stress we tried to do no more than one item on our list a day but in fact we only had positive experiences. All offices have an efficient automated queuing system and Covid 19 means that you have to make an appointment anyway. We took books with to read while we waited but actually never had to wait more than 5 minutes. Almost everyone spoke good English and were pleasant and helpful. Where their English was poor they found someone to come over and check that they had understood our requests correctly.

Our first job was to get our identity cards, our Teudat Zehut, without which you cannot do anything in Israel. From the big things like opening a bank account and registering with a doctor to the small things, like operating a self service pump at a petrol station and even getting a shopping trolley at some supermarkets. It's no wonder they find it easy to keep track of the population's whereabouts. We are inordinately proud of ourselves when we successfully complete something for the first time!

Also on the list was buying a car. There is a street in the industrial part of Netanya, very similar to the street in Collindale, with all the popular car manufacturers showrooms (no Jaguar or Land Rover). Wearing a mask is de rigeuer and hand gel is available everywhere. One of our 'only in Israel' experiences was when we asked to test drive a car. Never mind photocopying our licences and making us fill out waiver forms etc the salesman didn't even ask to see our licences. Whilst Malcolm was driving at 70mph on the motorway he then decided to lean across him and show him how the buttons for the cruise control, on the far side of the car, worked. We went everywhere armed with our essential copy of What Car and at Skoda they were excited to take photos as their cars were 'best buy' in the categories we were looking at. A new first for us was signing the documents for the purchase of the car on our phones. Normally the car would come in 14 working days, but at the moment...

Many of our 'only in Israel' moments occur whilst driving and exclaiming at our fellow drivers antics. We do love seeing official street signs for doing a U turn - a very frequent maneuver here.

Another new experience was the automatic thermometers at the entrance to the supermarket which spoke to us, in English, telling us our temperature was normal.

Since we've been out of isolation cafes and restaurants have been open, albeit with restrictions. In theory, as well as wearing masks until you've ordered, socially distancing is in place. In practice, although they are very strict on masks, social distancing doesn't exist in Israel so we try to sit outside where possible. Some restaurants have got rid of menus and you have to download a q code to your phone to see the menu and, since the recent increase in cases, some now ask for contact details so that you can be traced.

Between Malcolm's work and getting our admin done we finished our isolation projects and I have been doing some painting. We have also tried to go for a walk at least a couple of times a week, although we have to go out early otherwise it is too hot. Despite the attraction of the sea front we love the urban landscape as well and have enjoyed exploring our local neighborhoods. Although a desert country the flora is vibrant and abundant and brightens up the streets. We were fascinated to see several examples of semi detached blocks of flats, in some cases a house was attached to a block of flats.

The public spaces in Netanya are very well maintained, the street furniture is often painted, all the roads have smart borders and trees growing down the central reservations in the roads. And for those who have visited Netanya over the years you will be reassured that despite a world pandemic the panda bouncy castle is still in the square every night.

Having exchanged on the sale of our flat in Sea Opera building 1 we completed on the sale on 13th July. De-cluttering was not so cathartic when doing it for the third time in two years and although we were leaving our furniture for our purchasers everything else needed to be packed up. As our shipment is not due to arrive until we have been in the house for at least a month we need to take with us all our bedding, crockery etc. Our vendor had kindly said that we could leave it all in a room at the house. The paper from the shredding machine was useful when packing the glasses and as always there was an Underground map to take with. We are renting a flat until we can move into the house but we haven't gone far, we're in Sea Opera building 2. Despite 15 happy years of holidays at the flat it was with more relief than sadness that we took our name off the door and we are looking forward to our next, and last, move to the house.

With warnings of an immanent lockdown we are prepared for the worst, although hopefully it won't happen. So far the increased restrictions haven't really affected us.

So finally the answer to the question in the title. At the entrance to every mall and every car park there is a security guard. In the past you would be required to open your boot, or on foot, your bag, so that they could check for weapons and bombs. Now they just take your temperature.

Taking Gila's temperature

Post 1 https://www.gordon68.co.uk/post/the-adventure-begins

Post 2 https://www.gordon68.co.uk/post/14-days-quarantine-%D7%91%D7%93%D7%95%D7%93