On the Phone...with the Department of Transportation

Oh, today was fun.  My husband was in a minor car accident (he is OK, thank God).

This meant that I had to call the insurance company, deal with the police, etc., all in Hebrew.

Yay for my daughters, is all I can say.  They, in true daughter fashion, ran to our sides and were incredibly helpful as we talked to the police, then helped me negotiate the ins and outs of the insurance company and find out what to do next.  The whole time my husband was at Shaarei Zedek hospital getting checked out.

So here I was:
1. Unsure what Hebrew words to use
2. Never been to Shaarei Zedek before
3. Without a car
4. With less than stellar Hebrew (did I mention that yet?)
5. But [yay] with two amazing daughters

Well, the police asked for the insurance card.  It was in the car!  Yay!  It was also expired!  Not yay!  We finally get that straightened out (yes, I had paid, and no they had not sent a new card to us).

Then when we got home, I realized that although I had paid the car registration for this year, we never received a new car registration card with the new date.  And I had to take this to the police station the next day, so that they can release the car to the garage.

So I had to call the Ministry of Transportation.  Can you imagine my excitement at this prospect?  Something akin to how you feel on your way to a root canal.  But worse.

I find the number.  I dial it.  Then, of course, there is a menu of choices.  After about 4 attempts at listening to the menu, I understood it.  This, by the way, is par for the course.  We even did "listening to phone menus" in Ulpan, because it's a huge problem for olim.

The menu offers help in Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian.  Hmmmmm, definitely Hebrew.  Then finally I get to what I THINK is the right menu and the next option is, I think, whether you have a manual or automatic car.  I think to myself, "How strange!  Why would that make a difference?"

But, you are probably already laughing at me.  It wasn't "manual or automatic" car, the option was "do you want to speak to a person or use the automatic phone system."  I figure that out after hanging up several times and then thinking about it.

And yay!!!! I get a person!  Who speaks English!  I tell the person my story, they look up my record and say yes you did pay.  I said, but I never received a new certificate.  And tell her about the accident, and how I need a new certificate....immediately.  She says, "No problem, you can go to [listen to this people, I am not making this up] the Super Pharm [pharmacy] in Modiin and use the machine there to get a new certificate!"

Yes, the pharmacy has a Department of Transportation machine.  It is true.  I was wondering if you can get a prescription filled at a local garage, but I digress.

So, Gila and I (and Nadav, who was an unwilling but cheerful participant since he had hopes of receiving a treat at some point), trek on over to the Super Pharm.  And we find the machine!  It is there! 

And it is not working.

Of course.

So the pharmacy man says that they will call the tech person to get it fixed and they will call me when it is fixed.

Hahahahahaha!!!  Riiiiiiiight.

So I will go to the police station tomorrow to have them release my car to the garage and I will show them my expired registration and hope for the best.

Pray for me.