Getting Around Israel

Screenshot of Moovit

I get to and from work every day on the bus ... well almost every day. The bus stops one block from my apartment and takes me straight to Netanya, stopping just across the street from my office building. It's perfect, especially for me since I don't know Hebrew to navigate multiple transfers or taxis. And like most major cities, there is an app (Moovit) that tells me when the bus is arriving at my stop so I don't have to stand outside in the heat for longer than necessary. Again, perfect since I'm not necessarily a fan of the heat.

While this works for the most part, I've learned that I must always take the information provided with a huge grain of salt. Case in point. A week ago Thursday, Jesse and I stayed in the office late to join a staff meeting and get to a stopping point at work. It was nearly nine by the time we were packed up and ready to head out. After checking the app, we decided we had time to play one round of foosball (I won) before heading to the bus stop and starting the weekend. The timing was going to work out perfect except for one minor detail ... the buses decided to stop running to Tel Aviv. We were standing at the stop for at least 20 minutes, listening to a blaring building alarm, and starving since it was well past dinner time. After watching numerous other buses stop, Jesse asked a driver about our bus only to be told that buses and trains to Tel Aviv had stopped for the night. We ended up taking a (not inexpensive) cab ride home. So lesson learned, make sure you're not trying to take the last bus because it may just decided not to show up.

A few other observations about finding my way around public transportation in Tel Aviv.

• Moovit is great except all the stops are listed in Hebrew. Thank goodness the map has the street names in English and each bus stop has an ID number so I can make sure I'm at the right place. Also, some of the stops have a beacon that communicates with the bus so the time is more accurate. Others just estimate based on the schedule and not where the bus actually is. Another challenge of the app.

• There is no public transportation Friday around sunset through Saturday after sunset because of Shabbat. The city is designed for this however, with grocery stores and restaurants every few blocks. Businesses and stores are closed on Saturdays though. So I'm limited on where to go based on how far I'm willing to walk in the heat. 

• There is a system here similar to SmarTrip in DC called rav kav. It's not quite as easy as SmarTrip though. First I had to bring my passport to a specific office to get the card. They put my information into a database and take a picture. Then they hand me a card with my picture on it. I can't use it yet. Next I have to go to the central bus station or hop on any bus to put money on the card. Once I do that I can finally use it. 

This is my rav kav card - pictures are great after a 30 minute walk in the heat. 

First Thoughts on Tel Aviv

I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting for my first week living in Tel Aviv, but this wasn't quite it. Tel Aviv is definitely a metropolitan city, full of expats and everything I would expect to find in any major city in the U.S. In theory I knew this, but it still came as a bit of a shock to me. I guess since my previous experiences living in a foreign country (Mauritania, India, and China) were in less developed locations I thought I was prepared. This is going to be a much different experience. TheThere is one similarity between Tel Aviv and those other places, I have no hope of reading the language. YouTube has become my friend as I start trying to make sense of Hebrew.

Overall, I am definitely going to enjoy living here. The work week is Sunday to Thursday and in my office most people show up between 9am and 10am and leave by 7pm. It may seem like a late end to the work day but when I get home the streets are still busy with people getting dinner at restaurants or going for a walk with their family so it doesn't feel so late.

The weekend is Friday and Saturday with many places closing late afternoon Friday only to reopen Saturday night at the earliest. My first weekend in Tel Aviv was a perfect lazy weekend. On Friday, I slept in then went to the beach for a couple hours before grabbing some ice cream with friends. Then on Saturday, another lazy morning with some ultimate frisbee in the afternoon. I think I'm going to enjoy my weekends if that is what they will consist of this summer.

I'm hoping to sneak in a few weekend trips out of Tel Aviv. I've got a long list of place of places to visit (Athens, Istanbul, Amman, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Eilat, etc.) so I don't know if I'll make them all in this trip, but I'm hoping for future trips to Tel Aviv with SpotAd.

A New Adventure Is Starting

Tonight I start a new adventure. I am heading to Tel Aviv to spend 11 weeks training and working at SpotAd Headquarters. I just spent the week working in the New York City office (soon to be my home office) and it was great fun. The team was amazing, very welcoming, and willing to take the time to answer my questions despite it being a chaotic time. So what am I going to be doing? That is a good question and one that I am still figuring out. SpotAd works in the adtech industry using predictive algorithms to collect and analyze data before bidding on mobile advertising placements. These bids occur thousands of times a second with the goal of having users click on the bid and install the application. They make placements in countries around the world on all kinds of devices. I am excited to enter this new world. It is going to feed my tech addiction and my love of working in fast-paced, ever changing environments.

Some of you may be asking what happened to Washington, DC? I'm still there. After my summer in Tel Aviv I will be returning to DC for the fall to complete my Masters in Public Policy. I have one semester left before I graduate. Yay! After graduation I will be moving up to New York to work full time with SpotAd. I haven't taken a linear path to where I am heading now, but it has been quite an adventure the last two and a half years from political campaigns to nonprofit management to school. Time for the next adventure.