I got the day after my birthday off from the army (that was nice of them), so I decided to use my free day to renew my soon-to-expire (Israeli) passport. I wasn't looking forward to doing this, as trips to the interior ministry typically involve lots of numbers being taken, very little progress being made, and waits long enough to meet someone, fall in love, get married, and conceive your first child before you actually finish the task at hand. Luckily for me, the complete efficiency with which they took care of everything left me in such a state of shock (and awe) that it made question just about everything (and everyone) I have ever known.

Here is the rundown:

9:47am - I arrive at "the missile" (more on that in a bit)
9:49am - I enter the interior ministry and take a number
9:50am - one of the women who work there notices which form I'm filling out and tells me that she can help me right this moment, seeing as how my transaction will take no more than 5 minutes and there are only 6 people ahead of me
9:52am - I'm back outside the building (slack jawed) trying to process how on earth that only took 5 minutes

After this, I remembered I brought my camera, so I took a few pics...


This is the main building in the section of Haifa that is called "The Government Village." Most of the national government offices that Israelis have to deal with on a regular basis are located here (including the interior ministry and the ministry of immigrant absorption). Everyone calls it "The Missile" because it looks like, well, a missile. I tend to think it looks bloated and/or pregnant. Either way, it's the most recognizable building in the Haifa skyline (not that there is much of a skyline)


This walkway that leads up to "the missile" is noteworthy for having several maps of Haifa at various stages in history. The pillars on either side of the maps explain what period in history the maps are from. Seems like a nice touch, so I decided to take a picture of it. Funny how everyone politely avoids actually walking on the maps. I mean, they are on the ground...so it's ok if you do, right?


This is a close-up view of one of the maps. I think they all should have had a "you are here" arrow on them. History be damned.

As a final note, I'll say that I got my new passport delivered to my door at 10:00am the next day! I don't know what happened to the Israel that I know, but I think I like this new version better.