I Spy in My Little Eye a New iPhone

I have been avoiding getting a smart phone for a long time. First, you must understand that I hate the phone and go out of my way to avoid using and answering them. Second, I spend so much of my time in front of a computer indoors that I see no need to spend more time with them outdoors. Plus, there is the matter of the learning curve, of which one quickly tires with new technology gizmos.

Nevertheless, our arrival in Israel did coincide with he introduction of the iPhone here, and after all, I did need a new Israeli cell phone anyway. So I caved and got a new 16GB iPhone.

We went to the Cellcom store in the "Big" (that's its name!) shopping center in Be'er Sheva to get our phones. This has to be the busiest cell phone store I have ever been in in my life. We came here with my daughter in the summer when she needed to replace a lost phone. It took two hours just to get our number called and then another hour to complete her business. That summer day, the heat and crowd of people overcame the air conditioning's ability to keep up. Cellcom staff were walking around handing out free jello shots to help cool things down. There is also a free coffee dispenser that produces everything from Turkish Coffees to Capuchinos. Quite delicious.

Fortunately, we were seen after just a few minutes of waiting, but it still took over an hour to complete our business. I hope we don't have to go back there anytime soon.

Cellcom store in Be'er Sheva

On the way into town, we did run into a bit of trouble. The central bus station was closed down during mid-day because of a terrorist scare. Nothing came of it, and the station re-opened, but there was quite a pile of buses outside waiting to get in. I was glad we didn't take the bus that day.