Being blond and American has its' advantages...

So while at the mall (before Beth came), I found a young guy working at Tower Records (he was probably about 17...) who was sooo bored that he kept asking and asking if he could help me. So I thought about it, cause I knew I could give him SOMETHING out of my work to keep him busy, (sneaky, right?) So, one of the items on my survey is getting car prices from a magazine. This particular magazine was completely in Hebrew, so unlike some of the European languages, I wasn't able to guess what kind of car was listed, and what price it was listed for. So, gladly I asked him if he wanted to do this for me, and he obliged, so I checked in on my worker every now and again and wallllllllllllah! That part of my work was done before I left the mall. (To all of you who may feel bad that I took advantage of a poor 17 year old who was just CAPTIVATED that a blond American was talking to him, no worries - I paid him 30 USD before I left because, well, I can and of course, I appreciated his very hard work :)

Also, while in the mall there was a pharmacist who was very interested in what I was doing, we chatted here and there in between customers. He was a very nice guy, seemed a little shy, but very nice. He was staying in Tel Aviv with his parents that night and offered to drive me there since that was where I was staying as well (at the time I was in Herzilya, a suburb of Tel Aviv).

As a side note, YES, I am careful of who I get in a car with, who I walk alone with, etc. etc., but in a job like this when you are always by yourself, everything is risky - even getting into cabs alone, so you need to use your best judgement. Many solo travellors hitchhike, stay in hostels with numerous people at a time, no - I couldn't do that, but if hitching a ride with a stranger who I have proof is established is an option, hell - at least I've had a 10 minute conversation with him first, versus the taxi I would have gotten into otherwise!

So, I got a free ride home. We had a nice conversation, and made possible plans to get together for coffee or drinks sometime that week which never panned out. He never called me, versus some other guys I gave my number to (and that, I will admit, I should have been more careful about here) - I had a couple call me NONSTOP, including a guy I met from one of the grocery stores who couldn't speak a word of english but wanted to take me out for coffee. ?? Your guess is as good as mine.