Tuesday, December 9, 2008

My Israel trip

Just was wondering what i should put as the title. Then I thought I should stick to the customary default title as it was my maiden trip outside India. To be quiet frank, I was not very overwhelmed by the fact that I was going abroad. Infact I surprised myself, as I did not get excited. I took it as just another trip. It quiet did not dawn into me, I mean the significance of this tour.

I packed my bag; just like another trip. Went around picking things and carefully noting everything, so that I dont miss anything. I do it meticulously every time. This time was no different. Even after all this meticulous crap, I forgot to bring my USB cables to transfer photos for my digital camera.

After all this, let me tell you that it was an official trip. So there was work and inbetween fun and not fun and inbetween work. The flight like all the international flights, was early in the morning. Had to get up early and get to the airport well in advance for the vital checks. Carrying a passport for the first time; thinking about how the journey would be. Will there be lot of checking, how will the new country would be. Its a nice feeling, which struck me somewhere when I was on the plane.

First stop was Istanbul airport. The stopover was 2 hours and then the next flight to Tel Aviv. The Alaturk Airport of Istanbul; was huge and with its duty free supermarket was splendid and cool. They only accepted Euro there, which was a little heavy on the pocket. Istanbul airport is very near to the sea. Awesome skyline, marvellous build and very cool interiors. Finally people, the girls were very stylish. I did not see one girl without a stylish dress. Sometimes it was the hair; sometimes it was the shoes.

A totally different culture as compared to Indian dressing I should say. Even the taxi guy wore denim jacket with a cool goggles. The office was not far off from our hotel. Stayed at Ramat Gan, office was in Tel aviv. Amazing roads and awesome road discpline, very knowlegable pedestrains crossing. If there are no traffic lights for pesdestrians, (zebra crossing everywhere) pesdestrains get the first preference to cross roads. The motorists stop for them, it is an amazing site to watch.

Then the food, even if you are veg or non-veg, you have a lot to choose. But the diet here; if you dont stick to vegetables, will result in obesity. Lot of pizzas, loads of cheese and all fatty foods. Exercising is a must, no wonder people here have bicycles to travel. I must add that the roads here are not completely flat, they are very steep at some places and going up in a bicycle is not easy.

It has just been a first few days here in Israel, it has already proved to be a majestic experience to see the other world. So far, the work has kept me busy. I will make time to go out and see the beautiful landsides and places of Israel. I would have loved to add some photos, but for the transfer wire. I will try to get some snaps from somewhere. Till my next blog......
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