October 1st: My Internship Begins

Today was the start of the next four months of my life, and the reason why I came to Tel Aviv: My internship with a renewable energy company was to begin today.

Like many first days, it was a short day—It started at 10AM and ended at 2:30PM.  It was an informative one, though.  I went to the office that I toured two days earlier.  I arrived to find Andrei having a conference call in Russian.  The two Ukrainian interns were in Inna’s office, working on their laptops at the small round table with padded seats.

After he got off the phone, Andrei told me that he planned on taking me to Yafo to see the prototype.  First, however, I was introduced to the interns: Victor and Maxim.  Victor is an electrical engineer with a deep tan and short, dark hair.  Maxim is a civil engineer with pale skin and shaggy, blonde hair.  They seemed like pleasant folks who I estimated were in their early-to-mid-twenties.  Andrei told me that Victor speaks some English, and Maxim almost none.  After exchanging pleasantries, they and Andrei had a short meeting in Russian while I waited around.  I couldn’t help but think that my three weeks of Hebrew class were not going to be utilized as much as I would have liked.

During their meeting, Roy came into the office and greeted me and the others before being absorbed by work at his desk.  I noticed he brought a battery pack with him, which he plugged into a wall before sitting down.  He must own one of the many electric bikes I’ve seen whizzing around Tel Aviv, and which I find pretty cool.  They look just like a normal bicycle, except that they’re retrofitted with a motor and detachable battery pack.  They’re a great way to get around the city while avoiding traffic and costly fuel (and their costlier emissions).

After Andrei’s meeting wrapped, he and I embarked for Yafo.  A short bus ride and 20 minute walk later (Andrei says the bus route changed since he last took it), we arrived exactly where I was back on the 23^rd: At the unique map of the Mediterranean Sea.  I had no idea the prototype was so nearby!

One of the cargo containers at Yafo belonging to my company

We walked a little ways down the boardwalk and entered a restricted area behind a chain-link fence.  About 50 feet ahead was an 8-foot tall concrete wall that stretched for about 200 feet in either direction.  Between the chain-link fence and the wall lay a bunch of a dry-docked boats that were being worked on and fishing equipment that was being repaired.  Among the activity and against the concrete wall sat two unassuming half-length cargo containers stacked on top of each other, each bearing a sign with the company name along with some images and renderings of their products.  A metal staircase wrapped around the side of the containers.

The lower container contained spare parts, a ladder, and tools.  The upper container was where the magic happened: Inside was a steel structure, small enough to walk around, with various mechanical parts mounted to it.  Hydraulic lines snaked from the device out of the cargo container and through a hole in the 8-foot concrete wall, (towards the floaters on the sea which harness the wave energy).  I immediately kicked into engineer mode and started to visually dissect the creature in front of me, identifying various components and guessing their likely purpose: hydraulic lines, an accumulator, a pump, a couple inverters, a generator, valves, etc.  (I learned later that all of my assumptions about each item’s purpose was correct.  I guess seven years of engineering has brought me some wisdom!)

One of my company’s prototypes on the Mediterranean Sea.

After talking about the equipment, I asked if it would be possible to see the actual floaters on the Mediterranean.  Andrei grabbed the ladder from the first floor and hoisted it against the sea wall behind the cargo containers.  I climbed up, and before me were two prototypes.  They looked just like the ones I saw on the website, though far more rusted.  Andrey explained that when they were built, they hadn’t yet determined what kind of polymer coating would best protect them from the corrosive salt water.  However, it didn’t really matter.  The device was a proof-of-concept; a functional prototype.  It didn’t have to look pretty or last a long time.  (Still, I was concerned that its physical appearance could detract from investment.  I learned later that investors did see this thing a couple of years ago before it rusted, and that it’s only still around for testing purposes.)

Andrei then walked me through how the device works, though his English somewhat limited his ability to give me a thorough walkthrough.  I requested an hydraulic schematic to help me understand things.  Andrei booted up his laptop, only to find that he had just seven minutes of battery life remaining!  I asked him not to waste his battery life, and that I could look at the schematic back at the office.  We headed there shortly thereafter.

On our way back, we had a pleasant conversation about our backgrounds, the differences between Ukrainian, Israeli, and American work cultures, and the backgrounds of others in the company.  It turns out, Roy and Inna are the only native Israelis in the company.  (It’s hard to tell with Roy: He barely has an accent!)  I also learned that there is another engineer in the company named Valeri.  He’s based out of Ukraine, and doesn’t speak any English.  He and Inna are the progenitors of this device and company.  I also learned that Andrei has only been with the company for about six months; Victor and Maxim: a month.  I think he said Roy has been with the company for a year and a half.  Yep, this is definitely a start-up!

I’m sure in the weeks ahead, I’ll make comparisons (conscious and subconscious) between this place and Caztek Engineering—the small start-up based out of St. Paul that worked for three years.  (See my post for September 29th.)

Sunset on the Mediterranean on October 1st, 2014.

After work, I came back to my apartment.  I was the first one home, since my day was so short.  I worked on this blog a bit before heading back to our ulpan building to take care of something I’m going to have to do once a month: Recharge, and then be reimbursed for, my bus pass.  Destination Israel provides each of us with a bus pass that’s good for one month, but then has to be ‘refilled’ for the next month.  It’s a little odd that we have to handle cash to recharge the thing–you’d think it could all be done online–but I’m not going to complain.  I’m pleased that the program provides it to us at all!

Following reimbursement  (I recharged the thing earlier that day on the bus on the way to Yafo with some help from Andrei), and some chatting with others who also showed up that day for reimbursement, I noticed one hell of a sunset over the Mediterranean.  There was a storm coming in, and it made for a dramatic photo!  I took a few shots, then headed back home for the night.

After I got back, I heard a little bit of thunder!  Not much happened in terms of rain, but it was still a pleasant surprise.  I like storms, and didn’t expect to see that kind of weather here.  I’m looking forward to more.

Not a bad first day of work!

The boardwalk in front of the ulpan building in Tel Aviv.

September 30th: Final Day of Ulpan (For Two Weeks)

Today was our final day of ulpan for the next two weeks.  For some reason, we had another two days scheduled for October 13th and 14th.  It’s odd but I’ve enjoyed the class, so I won’t mind another couple of days.

Today, however, one of my nine classmates didn’t show up, and another three had to leave early to go home and pack their clothing in plastic bags in preparation for fumigation–Levinsky had a bed bug infestation.

A church in Yafo built by Spanish Templars

Thus, for our trip today, there were only six of us.  We went back to Yafo, this time exploring an older part of the city which has a very colorful and complicated history.  (Though I suppose that describes most of Israel, doesn’t it?)  The area was initially settled by Americans, but after the first clusterfuck of an attempt at settlement–most of the settlers died of cholera, and the rest were swindled by a greedy rabbi–the area was abandoned.  Later, Spanish Templars took up residence there.  I don’t recall the details of settlement following that, but just know that the area has some very pleasant architecture.

A very, very old tree in Yafo

Anyway, we had our first activity under a tremendous tree that currently occupies a place in the courtyard of a hostel, though it was planted as part of some rich guy’s private zoo.  (Did I say this place has a complicated history?)  We practiced asking each other about our families, as we had just learned words like grandma and uncle in the classroom that day.

A street sweeper in Yafo. Notice how filthy the sidewalk (and uncleaned street) is.

Next, we walked to our teacher’s favorite building in Tel Aviv: a four or five-story stucco apartment building with long, curving balconies and a contoured corner that hugs a bend in the road.  I agreed that it was a beautiful building; definitely one of my favorite non-high-rises.  We were about to proceed with our second activity of the day when we were interrupted by a loud street sweeper, thoroughly disrupting the quiet atmosphere.  I didn’t care much, though.  I was more surprised to see a street sweeper at all!  The lack of rain in Tel Aviv during the summer allows the sidewalks here to become very dirty.  I figured the streets would be the same way.  Without walking on them regularly, I didn’t realize until now that they were actually slightly cleaner than the sidewalk, thanks in part to these street sweepers.

Anyway, once the street sweeper passed, we were given our assignment: accost another few Israelis with questions and record their answers.  This time, there were so few of us that our groups were determined by where we wanted to go:  There was a coffee shop across the street that our teacher said was excellent.  Yasmin and Ingrid–one of two women on this trip from France–went there.  The second destination was a place that sold a dish called k’nah-fay.  Only Sarah Stewart had heard of it, and her gasp and smile at hearing that it was offered nearby sold the rest of us on going to it.  It was just around the corner from the coffee shop.

The restaurant that sells k’nah-fay in Yafo

Another ulpan group was already in the restaurant interrogating one of the employees when we entered.  While we waited our turn, we decided to order the “classic” version of the dish, and split it among the four of us.

Our dish was served to us by the same person who answered the other group’s questions.  He was kind enough to volunteer to answer ours, as well!  So while eating, we asked him the quirky  questions on our sheet (which used words we had learned that day).  “Are there a lot of cats in Yafo?”  “Is Yafo big or small?”  “Is your grandmother an immigrant to Israel?”  All of us, including the server, were amused by how random the questions were.

K’nah-fay is delicious, by the way.  It’s a small, doughy cake about the size of a small dish plate, with something on top of it with the consistently of dry grass, but far tastier.  It was very sweet!  It’s an Arabic dish, and the server told us that they actually made it less sweet than the Arabs do.  I found it hard to imagine the dish being any sweeter!

After answering our questions, we thanked the man and proceeded to our final activity of the day.  Our teacher gave us some questions on slips of paper, and we asked them to one another and answered in Hebrew.  Our day ended around 5:30PM.

I took a bus back to my apartment.  Oliver and I went to the gym in Dizengoff shortly thereafter.  Despite being around 6:30PM, it was actually less busy than I’ve seen it before–something I found odd, but pleasant.  I finished the day working on this blog, while others went to a little shindig at Motskin.

I went to bed early, as tomorrow was the first day of my internship!

September 28th and 29th: Ulpan and a Tour of My Office

September 28th:

Our ulpan field trip today was to Rothschild, the nice boulevard near where I live.  On the way there I had a nice conversation with one of the teachers—in Hebrew!  It was a basic conversation, and I’m sure he made an effort to only use words that we already knew, but nonetheless, it was a gratifying experience for me.  This class really works!

Our first activity was in front of the building in which Israel declared itself a state.  We sat on the steps of a monument in front of the building and asked each other questions using the words we’d learned that day.

Following that, we formed pairs and once again harassed Israelis with questions and recorded their answers.  This time I was paired with Garrett, one of the Levinsky folks.  We happened across a very friendly couple, both of whom spoke perfect English, despite one being a local and the other being from China.  The woman from China spoke almost no Hebrew.  Nonetheless, we recorded both of their answers to our queries.  Garrett and I had a nice conversation while looking around for our final victim.

Following “Israeli Q&A”, our final activity for the day was a bingo-like game.  We were split into two teams.  Each team was given a card with answers to various questions in Hebrew, laid out in a grid.  Each person was then given a strip of paper with a question in Hebrew.  We were then called on to ask our question, and if we had the right answer, we marked it on our paper.  My team won.  (Suck it, other team!)

 

September 29th:

Today was an exciting day for me.  I left ulpan early for a tour of my work (the name of which rhymes with “Bleco Blave Plower–for search engine purposes, I’ve removed the actual name from my blog posts), the company with which I’m interning!  I was to meet Andrei–one of the employed at the company–at Habima, a theater near where I live.  After waiting under a tree for about 5 minutes, a man no taller than me with short blonde hair and a slightly stocky build approached wearing a blue plaid shirt.  With a Russian accent, he introduced himself as Andrei.  We had a nice conversation as we walked to the office, which I learned was only about a 10 minute walk from my apartment.  (Lucky me!  Some people have their internships clear on the opposite side of the city from where they live.)  Andrei is from Ukraine, and came to Israel a few years ago.  He has an engineering background and only starting working with the company about six months ago.

That fact surprised me at first.  Then I remembered my time with Caztek Engineering, a small engineering firm in St. Paul where I worked for three years when I first got out of college.  During my time there, the size of the company fluctuated between 2 and 5 people.  Thus, turnaround in small businesses can be very high.  After I remembered this, I understood how Andrei could be so new to the company and yet be the one showing me around.

We arrived at a six-story office building along a busy street.  My office was on the top floor, in a suite with other small businesses (which is another similarity between this company and Caztek).  After a quick elevator ride, we came to a frosted glass door labeled with a couple company logos, including that of my company.  Andrei showed me the door code and we entered.  In front of us was a clean, well-lit, triangular room with wooden linoleum floors.  It was a nice space!  On my immediate left was a glass wall housing a couple of very noisy Israelis.  A little farther down was a room that housed a small kitchen.  On my immediate right was a closed door.  Beyond that was a series of small, sun-lit offices.  In the far corner was a large triangular meeting space with a couple of afghans on the floor, a bookcase filling one wall, and windows on the other.  A long, glass meeting table filled the right side of the room, near the windows.  I learned that the meeting room and kitchen were common spaces, and the other rooms were other small businesses.  We entered the closed door on my immediate right.  Inside was my office’s dedicated space.

A two-room suite was on the other side of the door.  The room I was in was crammed with four desks–two taken, two empty–and a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the busy street.  I was told I could take either empty desk.  Sitting at the desk across from the door was Roy, a tall man with dark hair and dark eyes whom I’d spoken with over the phone before coming to Israel.  He promptly got up from his chair and shook my hand and introduced himself with an unusual charisma.  I learned later that he was marketing department for the company.  It’s a good fit for the man.

A door to my right led to another triangular room.  On the left was another floor-to-ceiling window along with a small circular meeting table and padded seats.  In the far corner was a desk, bookshelf, and white board with various notes scribbled in English.  This was the office of Inna, the president of the company.

The office was a nice setup!   A little cramped, but clean and comfortable.

Andrei and Roy told me that Inna was out of the country at the moment, doing something in the U.S.  (I don’t recall what.)  I was also told that there were two other interns that worked here, who, like Andrei, were also from Ukraine.  One was a civil engineer, and the other was an electrical engineer.  (They weren’t in the office at the moment.)

After additional pleasantries were exchanged, I was told that it would be best for me to show up around 10AM on Wednesday.  My tour would also have included going to Yafo to see the prototype wave energy machine up close, but I had to attend a mandatory Yom Kippur “enrichment event” that evening through my program, so we postponed that portion of the tour until my first day.

Andrei offered to walk me back to Habima, but I declined, telling him that I could find my way back and that I didn’t want to keep him from his work, since I was sure he was plenty busy.  (When I sent him and Roy a ‘Thank You’ email later that day, I made sure to point out that was why I declined, since for all I knew, there might have been a cultural difference between the US and Israel or Ukraine, and didn’t want to insult him!)

After leaving, I came back to Lunz for a little while, sent the ‘Thank You’ email, and then caught a bus with Oliver to the Yom Kippur enrichment activity at Levinsky.

The view from Levinsky

Oliver and I arrived about 45 minutes early, so we went up to the Levinksy apartment and relaxed with them for a while.  When it was finally time to go downstairs for the event, we ended up sitting in a room waiting 15 minutes for the speaker to show up.  (Sonya and Carmel, two of the Destination Israel coordinators, did their best to the fill the time.)  Finally, a very tall man with a long, well-groomed beard and Harry Potter-like glasses entered.  I believe he said he was from New Jersey, and made aliyah some time ago.  He had a charisma and vocal cadence very similar to other American rabbis I know: a calm and peaceful demeanor that can quickly put you at ease.

He embarked on a discussion of the meaning of Yom Kippur.  He started with what I found to be a very interesting talk about how the purpose of Yom Kippur is to atone for past transgressions by making adjustments in your behavior in the new year.  While I knew most of the facts, the way he presented it gave me a new perspective on Judaism.  Namely, it’s emphasis on making oneself better, and of finding peace through acts of loving-kindness.

Then he started dancing around an issue that I could tell he knew would make us uncomfortable: A god.  He started going on a philosophical rant about how something cannot be made from nothing, and thus the something must come from outside of the universe, and that something must be infinite.  He liked to use the term “The Infinite” instead of God in order to avoid offending our rational sensibilities.  He failed.  Many people in the group started challenging his flawed religion-logic about a god.  One person even brought up a book by Lawrence Krauss, a famous astrophysicist, called “A Universe from Nothing”, which directly challenged the man’s philosophical argument using science–something which gave me a tremendous feeling of satisfaction.  (I turned around in my chair and silently expressed my agreement with him and satisfaction at his mentioning the book.)

Others in the group were clearly disgruntled about this event being mandatory, and unfortunately for the speaker, they were misdirecting their feelings towards him.  Fortunately, he maintained his calm and peaceful demeanor, and respectful responses (something which I wish I was able to do as easily in response to such abrasive challenges).  However, his body language betrayed his discomfort.  He started his talk a couple feet in front of the wall behind him, using hand gestures and with his head on a swivel in order to make eye contact with all of us.  By now, however, he had retreated to the wall, hands in his pockets, and barely any head-swiveling.  I felt a little bad for him.  He was clearly uncomfortable at being challenged about the existence of a god.  Nonetheless, it was reassuring to me to be among such rational company.  And as I said, his responses remained respectful.

The event ended courteously, and I went back to my place for the evening.