Pro's and Con's of Israeli Living After 3 Months

So I decided it was time to lists some of the Pro's and Con's that I have discovered during my short time here in Israel. As it usually goes, there some of both for each topic I will bring up.

Grocery Shopping

Store we go to

+ There are food stores everywhere within walking distance or short bus ride from the house. While the larger stores have a greater selection, if you need something small, like a spice or bread, most of the stores will have it.

- Prices are quite a shock if you are not prepared. Protein for example, like chicken/beef is quite expensive. Same for prepared foods.

Medical

+ Medical care is cheap and readily available. Same for prescriptions. The system is very transparent and finding out all of the medical information is easy to do online. Very easy to make an appointment with your primary care physician

- Getting information in English is difficult. There is a number to call for English support but after a few minutes the recording starts to ask you if you want to wait or speak to someone in Hebrew!

Getting some of the prescriptions that were used in the US may not be possible. Get ready to look for substitutes. Making appointments for specialty care is possible but be prepared to wait a few months.

Transportation

+ Combination of buses and light rail make it very easy to get around Jerusalem. Well integrated with Google Maps and you can easily see where the next bus is. Uses a ID card system and you can also just use the phone to charge rides. Cost of a monthly pass (unlimited rides) is around $60.

- Not much. Drivers tend to take off at around 100 MPH, which makes it interesting to find a seat.

HUH?

Technology

+ Country is much more advanced at the use of technology then the US. Almost all services can be reached via the internet, and in any given day, I will be scheduling an appointment or purchasing something online.

- Difficulty in translation makes it hard to reply to some requests. I know, its my problem, but even if they do not want to translate, they could test the language in a translation app to see what it looks like.

Shopping

+ Much easier then I thought it would be to purchase some of the things I feared would be tough. However, Amazon brought back free shipping on most smaller orders, which was very nice. Some companies like KSP, offer easy pickup options.

- Delivery services suck, for the most part. I have gotten notices asking me whether the item can be dropped off and then they refuse to do it. There are at least two orders where I have been waiting for delivery for over a month and I cannot figure out how to track them dow,.

Government Services

+ Easy to interact via technology. Lots of information on-line. Good translation of services. Fairly prompt reponses to questions

- Not as easy as I would like to find simple answers. I have moved- Do I need to change my address, and how?

Customer Service

+ Nothing

- Almost all customer service and support is horrible. It is so bad, that we purchased some chairs from one business and what pushed us over the edge was that the salesperson was nice. We have had salespeople ignore us when we have been the only people in the store for 10 minutes, salespeople scream at us because we did not want what they were trying to sell us, and plenty of other stories. Did we have bad customer service in the US? Of course, but never as consistenly as bad as here.