breathalyzer and more misrad hapnim

On Friday night I had dinner with a bunch of friends in Hadera. As I was driving back to Ramat Gan, I got flagged down by another police officer for no reason. He made me take a breathalyzer test, my first ever, which I of course passed. The police officer told me that a foreign drivers license is only good for a month and a half, and that I was therefore driving illegally, despite a clear statement to the contrary on this government website.

In Israel, it is a custom to argue with police officers. I let the other people in the car with me fulfill this obligation, and we went on our way.

I went back to the Interior Ministry this week to change my visa type. I now have a multiple entry worker visa good through July. Cost: 160 NIS. New rule: any day that you get what you want from misrad hapnim in less than 2 hours is a good day. (Tip: always bring extra passport sized photos with you.)

When I boarded a sherut from Herzliya to Afula this week, there was only one empty seat, next to a young religious woman who refused to allow me to sit, presumably because it is her custom not to touch men. It was an awkward situation until another woman switched seats with her so I could sit.

yair dalal

Today Yair Dalal, an Israeli musician of Iraqi Jewish descent, played at Kibbutz Ein Dor for the workshoppers/shnatties as a part of Boneh. It is pretty amazing that he came to play just for us. He plays traditional Iraqi music on an ancient instrument called an "oud," which he described as the grandmother of the guitar.

One thing he said that stood out to me is that western singers like to be backed up by chords when they sing, whereas middle eastern singers like to be backed up by an instrument playing the melody. He attributed this to the absence of harmony in traditional middle eastern music and the fact that the scale used is something between the classically defined major scale and minor scale.

driving

An American license is good for driving in Israel for a certain amount of time, so I've been driving a car rented by Habonim Dror occasionally. This morning I was driving from Kibbutz Ein Dor to Hadera and got flagged down by a police officer. He asked for my license, wrote down the number and sent me on my way. Apparently it is not terribly unusual to be pulled over for no reason at all.