Where Else in the World

I have now been in Israel for 6 days and have been in two total stranger’s cars. I’ll explain.

In Israel, hitchhiking is a part of life. Although its popularity has declined, partially as a result of hitchhiker abductions by terrorists and a ban by the army restricting soldiers from “Tremping” (hitchhiking), people, especially young people hitchhike all over the place.

(1) On Saturday night, my sister, brother in law and I had to go to the central bus station to catch a bus to Ramat Gan, the city where they live and also where my office is (opposite sides of town). We decided to go to the city bus stop and wait for a bus and see if we could get a tremp before the bus came. Sure enough in less than a minute, the fourth or fifth car to pass us pulled over and took us to the bus station. On the way, I got to speaking to our driver, a 19 year old who was from St. Louis and moved to Israel with his family. He is now in the army and was off for the weekend. We happened to know a lot of people in common and he was friends with some of my St. Louis friend’s younger siblings… small world/country/community.

(2) Today, I was walking back from Emek Refaim, a popular street with restaurants and cafes. I made a wrong turn and found myself a bit lost. I approached a girl as she was getting in her car and asked her how to get to my street. She told me to hop in and she drove me home!

Where else does this stuff happen? I love it!!!