Mail time!

During our break.... which surprisingly actually did happen today.... usually there is no stopping from 6am to 8pm... but anyway, during our (Elena and my) break we decided to go to the post office. Pretty exciting, I know. But hey, everything is more exciting when you don't know the language and don't know exactly where you are going.
We headed down the main street and actually made it to the post office pretty easily. We went through security as we entered... yes, you have to go through a body scan and have your bag checked before you can mail a letter. We cleared without any problems, big surprise there. Then we headed for the "automatic mailing machine". This thing was cool. And confusing, even though we got it to give us directions in English. You select the country you are mailing to, weigh the parcel, and then put in cash. Then is spits out a stamp and you take it to another box to mail it. Sounds simple? Well, it was after we did the whole process three times! However, we learned the hard way that this machine does not give change! You need exact cash. So there goes half a shekel (about 15 cents).
Then we had to go check the mailbox. We found them towards the back, used our super special key, opened the door, and found two sheets of paper with lots of writing on them... none of it in English. But we were warned this might mean we had a registered package. So we walked up to the desk and hand the papers to the man behind the counter. He took one and walked away. Alrighty.... we waited. And waited. Then he reappeared with a package for me from my mother! Isn't she so sweet! I used our special Shevet Stamp, signed my name, and we were good to go! Except there was still that other sheet of paper from the mailbox... we held it up and motioned "what do we do with this." "Over there," the man said, pointing towards a different desk. So we walked over to another desk and received another package for one of our coworkers. I still have no idea why those were not together... but hey, it's not like I could ask and find out! There are some things that will always be a mystery here...