Tel Aviv, Israel

After finishing the Hood to Coast race (previous post), I jumped on a flight Monday morning to head to Israel for a work trip. Intel has a newly built chip fabrication (fab) facility in the town of Kiryat Gat, located about 1 hour south of Tel Aviv. If you were watching the news around that time, you would know that Kiryat Gat is in the southern region that was getting hit with rockets from Gaza. Luckily, they agreed to a cease fire a few days before my departure.
So I proceeded with my scheduled trip to Israel for an internal company audit to make sure their local fab is setup correctly and running according to spec before they start running production material. Audits are more fun when you are the one on the auditor side of the equation. :) My schedule was hectic, but I did get to squeeze in a few hours of sight seeing during my week long trip.

the Mediterranean Sea near Tel Aviv

the view from my hotel room in Tel Aviv (23rd floor)

walking around Tel Aviv, you will find a mix of old and new buildings:

the city at night

While I was visiting, there was an ongoing protest against the high taxes and high cost of living. For instance, when you buy a car in Israel, you pay over 100% tax on the car. On top of that, gas costs about $8.50 per gallon. Housing prices rival those of the most expensive American cities. Many middle class citizens struggle to make ends meet, despite having well paying jobs. The locals protested by living in tents in public areas of the city.

Finally, on September 3rd, there was an organized protest in which 400,000 people participated. It was the largest protest in the history of Israel. After getting home from work in the evening, I took my camera and hit the streets to immerse myself in the action! I can honestly say that I have never observed so many people concentrated in one area. It was great to be a part of this historic event.

of course I found some drummers to hang out with

It started getting late (the protest did not start until 10PM), so my jet lagged body forced me to retire to my hotel room before seeing the end of the festivities....besides, I had to get up at 6AM for work the next day......I was working through the weekend and I had been working the previous days from 6AM to 1AM and 6AM to 3AM....it's the Intel way ;) Time for some well deserved sleep.

(more Israel blogs to follow)