"Lo Anglit, This Is Israel!"

Hey folks,

Just thought I would update you on a bizarre scenario that occurred yesterday, one which you most definitely would not encounter in Vancouver, or anywhere in Canada for that matter. It was a "melange etrange" of humour, tension, and just plain wrong place at the wrong time.
While heading to Mekif Vav, the school where we go once a week for an enrichment program (lecture on a pertinent issue in Israel), we came across a large crowd of people milling about near the stairwell down to the entrance of the school. There were cops frantically motioning people to move into the adjacent elementary school and one of them started shouting at my roommate David to walk briskly inside the building. Another girl from our group, frantic and obviously alarmed by the commotion, walked up to a stressed-out teacher who was directing people, and started shouting "Anglit? Anglit? Anglit?" to see if he could explain what was going on in English. He responded frigidly, "No Anglit, this is Israel!" and turned away from her rolling his eyes. I had to stifle a laugh because this situation perfectly exemplifies the personas of two nations: Americans, who expect that everyone must know English and be able to help them even though we are in a city where English is not even the 4th most popular language, and Israelis, who lack the patience and politeness to help a frightened girl in need during a crisis.
We were then ushered into the school and told to stay up against the wall, away from the windows, and the doors were all locked and bolted. With my minimal Hebrew, I managed to decipher by eavesdropping that someone had left a backpack in the middle of the street a few hundred metres down the road, and it was believed to be a potential bomb threat. Looking out the window, we could see several police cars and lots of flashing lights and then, suddenly and very loudly, we heard the explosion of the backpack and witnessed a cloud of smoke rise up into the air, remnants of a rucksack falling to the ground. This also seemed odd and comical to me. Why would you blow up what you believed to be a potential bomb? Is that not the opposite tactical maneuver?
Anyway, it seemed to be a false alarm, and after about 10 minutes we were released from our stuffy primary school prison. Despite this being my first time dealing with this type of situation, it really did not make me anxious or nervous, a sign of my adaptation to my surroundings and acceptance of the day-to-day reality of living in a country where you're surrounded by enemies. Nevertheless, I wouldn't say that I embrace the idea of going through minor threats like this daily. Just another day in Ashdod

Ciao for now,

Max