So the trip to Barcelona ran smoothly and was actually kinda fun. I said goodbye to my Tel Aviv roomies :( and grabbed a cab around 2am Thursday morning. I got to the train station about 30 minutes early so I sat next to the only guy there and chatted with him for a while. He was traveling from Eilat (the southernmost point of Israel) all the way to the north which was taking him over 12 hours. While I was sitting in my Gator football shirt, someone walking by yelled GO GATORS. Love it.
At the airport, I was interrogated and all of my luggage was searched numerous times... either because I don't have a Jewish last name or because I have an Egyptian visa in my passport. It took over 90 minutes to get through security but luckily the duty free store was giving out free samples of vodka for my 4am fix. I talked to my parents on the phone and of course my mom had some great traveling advice - Don't catch babies! Apparently a friend of ours was pick-pocketted when someone asked her to hold her baby. My mom misinterpreted the story, saying I'm going to have babies thrown at me and whatever I do, don't catch them. We were cracking up for 10 minutes. But I was the first person on the plane and passed out right away. At 11am, I finally landed in BCN!
Somehow I found my way to the hostel which required a 15 minute walk down Las Ramblas, a super touristy street which had me cracking up. Every few feet was a new person in costume making weird noises and posing for pictures.
At the hostel, my room had 10 bunks and 1 bathroom. I dropped my bags off in a locker and walked around the city alone. I tried to get out of the tourist zone, grabbed a salad and gelato, and shopped for a bit. The market down the street had fresh fruit and juices, chocolates galore, and wayyyy too much raw meat. Another person yelled GO GATORS. Turns out she just graduated from UCF and her bf goes to UF. She's working on a cruise ship for 7 months but only while it's at sea, so she gets to visit all over Europe!
I went back and took a nap for 2 hours then took my netbook downstairs to write the mamasita an email. I ended up talking to 2 guys in the common room, Michael and Harold. Michael is from Canada at the tail end of a 3 month trip and Harold is just beginning his. Small world... Harold lives right next to the Altamonte Mall!
Michael, Harold, and I walked around trying to find authentic tapas and ended up at a pretty fancy local restaurant. Sometimes being a vegetarian is rough... like when you can't read the menu. After dinner, we searched for a bar and ended up at a place called Obama. Every inch of the inside was decorated with an African theme from safari to slavery pictures - extremely politically incorrect. We all tried a 13% alcohol content beer but it was pretty gross. Around 1am we were on our computers in the common room again and met a nice/crazy older lady on her way to NY who poured us all a glass of wine and a french guy, Remi, who I tried to communicate with but needed Michael to translate. I'm pretty sure everything he was saying was just vulgarity.
The 10-bunk dorm is not the easiest to sleep in so I woke up at 9, grabbed breakfast, took a nap after all the roomies left, and was kicked out by the maid. The weather was awful (55 degrees and raining) so I just hung around the hostel and took a pretty bad shower with a hand towel I had to buy down the street. Oh, how I miss luxury.
I expected the first group - Lindsey, Skye, and Andy - to get in around 12-12:30 so I waited anxiously downstairs until I ran into Michael and Harold again. By 1:30, I figured I'd go walk around with the guys for a bit and come back to everyone checking in so the 3 of us headed toward Ramblas. As soon as we got to the intersection, I saw Lindsey, Skye, Andy, Joe, and Alex across the street. I almost ran through traffic to get to them.
We checked in to our own cramped 6-bunk room and headed out for lunch and site seeing. There was a delicious local pizza/empanada place where I got a spinach empanada and veggie lasagna with Skye. We stopped back at the hostel to get directions and I grabbed Michael to join us. We took the metro to La Sagrada Familia, a beautiful cathedral, and took pics and walked around for a bit. Another subway ride took us to the bottom of a huge hill that held Park Güell. The architecture was amazing! Michael, Skye, and I lost everyone else so we just took some more pics until we all met up and headed back. Another drink at Obama and a tapas dinner ended the night early.
This morning (Saturday), Lynn and I took a stroll to the opening market and got some fresh fruit then found a bakery where we sampled coffee and pastries. Checkout is 11am and the cruise sets sail at 4pm! Can't wait for the upgraded room with a window, comfortable beds, clean floors, real shower, and GOURMET FOOD! Check FB for pics :)
Friday, May 14, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Random May Update
I haven't blogged in forever, but here's what is new in my life...
My manager, Beni, invited me to watch his 16 yr old daughter play volleyball and the CEO came, too. The whole company is like a big family, it's adorable. After the game, we all went to dinner then I went to his home in Haifa which is a beautiful city on the Mediterranean shaped like a peninsula but it's all a mountain... hills everywhere. So I met his family and crazy dog, we jammed in his semi-music studio and created a song, drove to an amazing view point and looked at the city from above while walking around with a beer, I slept over, and we went on a short hike in the morning.
Then yesterday I met up with a guy at Haifa University, Assaf... I know him through Dani. He showed me the observatory which is another view point 30 stories up in the student center and we hung out on campus before going on a super long hike and grabbing lunch.
I have to go to the government office on Sunday to check out my visa requirements, work Mon-Tues, pack Wed, and fly to Barcelona 6am Thursday! All my friends arrive Friday and we set sail for an 11-night Med cruise on Sat! I'm so excited to see everyone :)
My manager, Beni, invited me to watch his 16 yr old daughter play volleyball and the CEO came, too. The whole company is like a big family, it's adorable. After the game, we all went to dinner then I went to his home in Haifa which is a beautiful city on the Mediterranean shaped like a peninsula but it's all a mountain... hills everywhere. So I met his family and crazy dog, we jammed in his semi-music studio and created a song, drove to an amazing view point and looked at the city from above while walking around with a beer, I slept over, and we went on a short hike in the morning.
Then yesterday I met up with a guy at Haifa University, Assaf... I know him through Dani. He showed me the observatory which is another view point 30 stories up in the student center and we hung out on campus before going on a super long hike and grabbing lunch.
I have to go to the government office on Sunday to check out my visa requirements, work Mon-Tues, pack Wed, and fly to Barcelona 6am Thursday! All my friends arrive Friday and we set sail for an 11-night Med cruise on Sat! I'm so excited to see everyone :)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Better Place
Another high-tech tour offered by Career Israel was to an emerging company called Better Place. The goal of Better Place is to replace all family cars in Israel by vehicles run 100% by electricity. The Electronic Vehicles (EVs) have a lithium ion battery underneath the car which need about 1 minute of charge time for every 1 minute of drive time.
The goal is to have charging stations (1 meter poles) located in parking lots nationwide so cars can be charged while the driver is at home, the mall, even work. Because the battery will not stay charged for long trips, 100 battery switch stations will be located nationwide. In the same time it takes to pump gas, the car is driven over a robot which takes out the emptying battery and replaces it with one fully charged. A computer onboard incorporates GPS and customer service assistance. Owners will pay a monthly service fee to fund unlimited customer service and charging/switch stations.
As part of the tour, we were able to test drive an EV. They make no noise and accelerate smoothly because there is no gear switching. The ride was extremely comfortable and the technology inside was pretty cool.
The company began just 3 years ago by Shai Agassi (only 42 years old) and will release the first working cars in Fall 2011. The investment in creating a reliable network is high and full of risk, but will hopefully end in a great return. The main flaw I see in this operation is the lack of green energy to change the global impact of the billions of cars on the road. Better Place sees the potential of running cars on 100% clean energy but is not performing or funding research in that area.
The goal is to have charging stations (1 meter poles) located in parking lots nationwide so cars can be charged while the driver is at home, the mall, even work. Because the battery will not stay charged for long trips, 100 battery switch stations will be located nationwide. In the same time it takes to pump gas, the car is driven over a robot which takes out the emptying battery and replaces it with one fully charged. A computer onboard incorporates GPS and customer service assistance. Owners will pay a monthly service fee to fund unlimited customer service and charging/switch stations.
As part of the tour, we were able to test drive an EV. They make no noise and accelerate smoothly because there is no gear switching. The ride was extremely comfortable and the technology inside was pretty cool.
The company began just 3 years ago by Shai Agassi (only 42 years old) and will release the first working cars in Fall 2011. The investment in creating a reliable network is high and full of risk, but will hopefully end in a great return. The main flaw I see in this operation is the lack of green energy to change the global impact of the billions of cars on the road. Better Place sees the potential of running cars on 100% clean energy but is not performing or funding research in that area.
Given Imaging
As an optional tour, 20 people headed North past the city of Haifa to visit a company called Given Imaging on February 21st. This high-tech company sells the only pill camera worldwide. The 3 PillCam products they currently have take photographs to create videos of the esophagus, small intestines, or colon. With today’s technology, colonoscopies require the insertion of a tube with a camera on the end of it as the doctor views a video display. The main problems with this are the patient’s comfort and that there is no way to view the inside of the fragile small intestine.
The pills are no larger than vitamins and have different photo frame rates depending on the part of the body to be pictured. The product of the pill is a 15 minute video analyzed by algorithms which look for suspected places of damage or growths as well as a map of the path taken through the body. As of today the colon PillCam has not been approved by the FDA so colonoscopies through this method are not yet available in the states but hopefully will be soon.
The lecture was extremely interesting and informative. I now know exactly how every piece of food travels through my body (whether I wanted to or not). We were able to view actual photos and videos from studies conducted. In one woman, an entire fly was found, still undigested after traveling through her stomach and entering the small intestine. Another funny photo showed the view from the toilet of the patient looking at it after exiting the body. Haha
I think this technology is amazing and will save many lives by encouraging people to get colonoscopies on a regular basis and more than doubling the viewable area in the body with the addition of the small intestine.
The pills are no larger than vitamins and have different photo frame rates depending on the part of the body to be pictured. The product of the pill is a 15 minute video analyzed by algorithms which look for suspected places of damage or growths as well as a map of the path taken through the body. As of today the colon PillCam has not been approved by the FDA so colonoscopies through this method are not yet available in the states but hopefully will be soon.
The lecture was extremely interesting and informative. I now know exactly how every piece of food travels through my body (whether I wanted to or not). We were able to view actual photos and videos from studies conducted. In one woman, an entire fly was found, still undigested after traveling through her stomach and entering the small intestine. Another funny photo showed the view from the toilet of the patient looking at it after exiting the body. Haha
I think this technology is amazing and will save many lives by encouraging people to get colonoscopies on a regular basis and more than doubling the viewable area in the body with the addition of the small intestine.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
The Negev Desert
Heading South
Instead of Ulpan on Thursday morning (Feb 18), we packed a weekend bag and headed South by bus for a tour of the Negev Desert. The Negev covers 60% of Israel’s land mass yet only houses 15% of the population. The main inhabitants are Bedouins, a roaming people who live off the land in tents, or soldiers training in the IDF. The Israeli government tried to establish villages so the Bedouins can pay taxes, receive government-funded projects, and be safe of military activity.
The Bedouins refused and still roam the land as they wish.
Bedouin Village
We visited one Bedouin village in which a member of the tribe spoke with us about his lifestyle. He emphasized living off the land and the relationships within the tribe. One day he came across a wealthy pilot who offered his penthouse apartment in the middle of Tel Aviv so the Bedouin could experience Western civilization. After a month the Bedouin had to return home because he hated that people don’t even know their neighbors and walk past so many people without even acknowledging them.
Another stop along the way was a student village near the city of Sde Boker. Student villages are almost social environments built by hand and run by university students. They are similar to kibbutzim but most students have jobs in nearby cities.
CI Activities
The hotel we stayed at was on the property of a boarding school and our view outside was breath taking… only mountains and desert as far as the eye could see. We participated in a drum circle the first night. Everyone was either playing a drum or dancing around for hours. Later, we had a bonfire with delicious kosher s’mores.
Hikes
The group went on hikes, all with different terrains, 3 days in a row. Flash floods occurred in the Negev three weeks prior to my visit so the landscape was much greener than usual and streams still had small amounts of water. Some of the hikes had manmade steps/ladders while others required rock climbing on steep cliffs. My favorite hike involved first climbing straight up then along the top of the long, skinny mountain. I felt like I was in a biblical scene. The whole time I was thinking about how much my dad would enjoy these adventures. I’ll have to take him on some soon!
Instead of Ulpan on Thursday morning (Feb 18), we packed a weekend bag and headed South by bus for a tour of the Negev Desert. The Negev covers 60% of Israel’s land mass yet only houses 15% of the population. The main inhabitants are Bedouins, a roaming people who live off the land in tents, or soldiers training in the IDF. The Israeli government tried to establish villages so the Bedouins can pay taxes, receive government-funded projects, and be safe of military activity.
The Bedouins refused and still roam the land as they wish.
Bedouin Village
We visited one Bedouin village in which a member of the tribe spoke with us about his lifestyle. He emphasized living off the land and the relationships within the tribe. One day he came across a wealthy pilot who offered his penthouse apartment in the middle of Tel Aviv so the Bedouin could experience Western civilization. After a month the Bedouin had to return home because he hated that people don’t even know their neighbors and walk past so many people without even acknowledging them.
Another stop along the way was a student village near the city of Sde Boker. Student villages are almost social environments built by hand and run by university students. They are similar to kibbutzim but most students have jobs in nearby cities.
CI Activities
The hotel we stayed at was on the property of a boarding school and our view outside was breath taking… only mountains and desert as far as the eye could see. We participated in a drum circle the first night. Everyone was either playing a drum or dancing around for hours. Later, we had a bonfire with delicious kosher s’mores.
Hikes
The group went on hikes, all with different terrains, 3 days in a row. Flash floods occurred in the Negev three weeks prior to my visit so the landscape was much greener than usual and streams still had small amounts of water. Some of the hikes had manmade steps/ladders while others required rock climbing on steep cliffs. My favorite hike involved first climbing straight up then along the top of the long, skinny mountain. I felt like I was in a biblical scene. The whole time I was thinking about how much my dad would enjoy these adventures. I’ll have to take him on some soon!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Darfurian Refugees
An optional seminar was offered on Tuesday (Feb 16) in which a speaker discussed reasons to obtain refugee status and where refugees in Israel are immigrating from. One of the largest situations in Israel today involves Sudan. The Arab Africans are killing tribes of Black Africans in Darfur as well as Southern Sudan. The UN declared this genocide but has taken little action beyond that.
One area of Tel Aviv houses refugees and has a completely different atmosphere. The types of stores, languages seen/spoken, and ethnicity of the people make you feel as though you’ve left Israel. Ben, a participant in my program, said that one street looked exactly like Venezuela.
We stopped in a small store where two Darfurian refugees told their story. They hung a picture on the wall of their former tribe in Sudan, half of which has been killed off. The men managed to escape and worked as computer programmers for high-tech companies in Israel but the pay was not enough to get by. Now they’ve opened a shop in which they teach computer skills and sell accessories. They are fluent in their native language, English, and are learning Hebrew. Their families are growing up as Israelis but they are barely getting by. In addition, random raids by police checking for legal documents make them fear losing their store every day.
An optional seminar was offered on Tuesday (Feb 16) in which a speaker discussed reasons to obtain refugee status and where refugees in Israel are immigrating from. One of the largest situations in Israel today involves Sudan. The Arab Africans are killing tribes of Black Africans in Darfur as well as Southern Sudan. The UN declared this genocide but has taken little action beyond that.
One area of Tel Aviv houses refugees and has a completely different atmosphere. The types of stores, languages seen/spoken, and ethnicity of the people make you feel as though you’ve left Israel. Ben, a participant in my program, said that one street looked exactly like Venezuela.
We stopped in a small store where two Darfurian refugees told their story. They hung a picture on the wall of their former tribe in Sudan, half of which has been killed off. The men managed to escape and worked as computer programmers for high-tech companies in Israel but the pay was not enough to get by. Now they’ve opened a shop in which they teach computer skills and sell accessories. They are fluent in their native language, English, and are learning Hebrew. Their families are growing up as Israelis but they are barely getting by. In addition, random raids by police checking for legal documents make them fear losing their store every day.
Dance Party
Shopping
After Uplan on Monday (Feb 15), Talia and I went shopping down Shenken Street. The clothing options are awful here… Apparently floral leotards are in style. The few familiar brands I saw (Puma, Nike, Steve Madden, Diesel) were really expensive so I have yet to purchase clothing.
Pot Luck
Erez came over in the evening with delicious homemade vegetarian soup. My kitchen is officially the place to hang out because my roommates cook like crazy, people bring over random foods, and we may or may not have dance parties. Haha We are planning on hosting a pot luck soon but almost every night someone brings food over anyway.
After Uplan on Monday (Feb 15), Talia and I went shopping down Shenken Street. The clothing options are awful here… Apparently floral leotards are in style. The few familiar brands I saw (Puma, Nike, Steve Madden, Diesel) were really expensive so I have yet to purchase clothing.
Pot Luck
Erez came over in the evening with delicious homemade vegetarian soup. My kitchen is officially the place to hang out because my roommates cook like crazy, people bring over random foods, and we may or may not have dance parties. Haha We are planning on hosting a pot luck soon but almost every night someone brings food over anyway.
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