I'm Starting to Miss Having a Car

Yesterday there was a fire at Ulpan! No joke.  A careless pedestrian apparently flicked a cigarette into some of the dried brush right outside the Ulpan, and a decent sized blaze sprouted up.  Now if we were in the States there would have been alarms, and at least four fire trucks within minutes, but to my surprise I heard no such alarms, and I didn't see any Israeli firefighters.  So what happened? Did the Ulpan burn down? Not at all, thanks to some quick thinking from our building's maintenance manager and some help from the cooks and some fellow students.  Itzhik, the maintenance manager, quickly hooked up some fire hoses, and with the help of some of the cooks and students put out the fire before the fire department arrived.  Only in Israel.  I just love how people acted fast and didn't wait for the firefighters to arrive.  It's interesting how people here are ready to handle things themselves and jump to action far quicker than in the States; probably due to the fact that services here can really suck forcing people to be more self sufficient.  I mean seriously 25 minutes for the fire dept to arrive? No bueno.  Here are some pics taken by a fellow student showing some of the students helping to put out the fire.

Today marked the first day where I went to Tel Aviv (Ramat Gan) to look at apartments with my future roommates.  We saw some good places, but the trip absolutely drained me.  We left Ulpan at 4 pm, and returned at 12 am.  That's right, eight hours to see two apartments in a city that's a 40-45 minute drive from here, crazy right?  I'm finally missing having a car because taking public transportation has made me realize how long it takes to accomplish everyday tasks without a car.  If we had a car we probably would have seen everything and been back on the road by 8-8:30 tops.  I can't wait until I have enough money to save up and buy a POS car that will get me from A to B without any major mechanical or safety issues.  That or maybe I'll land a good job that will give me a work car, fingers crossed.  I have my first interview tomorrow in TA, wish me luck! And here's a pic of my future POS car.  Not really, but it probably won't be too different.