What Will I Miss?

As the inevitable departure date approaches, I have been thinking a lot more (and have had many conversations) about both what I am excited for when I get back to the States and what I will miss from Israel. Being here has definitely made me appreciate things about America and my community. Preparing to leave Israel has also made me more aware of the things about Israel that I love. I can only imagine what it will be like when I'm actually gone...
I've decided that I want to make a running list of what I am counting the days to return to and what I will be sad to say goodbye to (with commentary, of course).

Yay America:
- English!!!! Don't get me wrong, I love Hebrew, but it will be nice to understand someone when they ask you a question.
- Good coffee - I never want to see Nescafe again!
- Customer service - whoever said "the customer is always right" has never been to Israel
- Less bureaucracy Ok, maybe the Social Security Administration gets close to the incompetence and unnecessary red tape as pretty much anywhere in Israel, but it's so prevalent here...what did one of my friend's say? Israel is a first-world country with a third-world government or something like that.
- A number of food items including good chocolate, bagels, hard cheese, luna bars
- Lines - yes, I love order (maybe it's the German in me)
- So sad to miss both the elections and the inauguration, but thank goodness I'm coming back to Obama as president

Yay Israel:
- Friends, of course
- Some really great davening (praying)
- Shabbat - they know how to do it right here
- Remember the third-world country stuff? Well, it has some advantages. Even though the bureaucracy is infuriating, if you yell and push enough, you probably get what you want
- Fresh, cheap produce...how I love you. Produce stands on every corner, outdoor markets with amazing fruits, veggies, and bread...mmm, I'm going through withdrawal just thinking about it
- Egged - Well, I don't love egged per se, but interstate public transportation is quite impressive
A quick example of the ridiculousness of how things are run in this country: we asked the person at the ticket counter when buses to Tzfat were, and he told us we would have to ask the employee at the customer service window (who was sitting directly behind him). If he's selling the tickets, why wouldn't he know when the buses leave?
- I've gotten really good at Jewish geography
- Despite all of the complaints about kibbutz food, I loved the fact that there was a full salad bar at every meal with at least tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, peppers, and cabbage - salad with breakfast, who would've thought?
- Tahina - I can't believe I'm saying it. I used to hate tahina, but it's so good and it's a staple in this country.
- Easy access to relatively inexpensive and delicious dried fruit and nuts including exotic things such as dried pomello, dried kumquat, chinese pecans, various date varieties, etc.

There are so many more things that I will miss about each place...perhaps I'll update the list in the near future. In the meantime I'll cherish my last week here and look forward to finally drinking a decent latte...