TO: Dr Rice FROM: Prateek Khamesra DATE: Jan 29, 2015 SUBJECT: Israel Journal

Day 1 8th Jan 2015: TRAVELING

We boarded the bus at 5 pm and reached Washington Dulles airport at around 7.30 pm. It took us a lot of time due to too much traffic, but it was good as I got to know my team better. While in the bus, everyone talked about their hometown & how it was to grow up in a particular area. For instance, Abby was born and brought up in NY, Raymond, born in Guam and his father served in the navy, so he stayed in many places & now his family has settled in Maryland. Sam grew up in Pittsburgh and every summer her family goes to their Lake house in South Carolina for family bonding. Katheline is also from NY but now her family is settled in Florida. She told us about her recent trip to Florida. The interaction gave me a deeper insight of the culture and values of each team member.

(Group picture at Dulles Airport before boarding)

Our flight was delayed by 20 minutes, but surprisingly, we reach Frankfurt 40 minutes early. In Frankfurt, we had a layover for 6 hours. Sadly, I had to stay at the airport due to Visa issues, but my teammates went to Frankfurt. I saw the pictures, they were amazing. Most amazing part of the Frankfurt airport was its beds, yes, you heard it right. They had sleeping beds lined up in series. After 8 hours of sitting in one place in flight with your body in a state of complete discomfort, nothing can beat the joy of stretching your legs and sleeping for 3 hours. I had the best sleep.

(Above is a pic from Frankfurt, where Mercedes is ordering hot dogs)

At the airport, I met a Canadian girl who was also traveling to Israel. She has a brain tumor since the age of 15 due to which her right hand was paralyzed. Her story made me realize that how blessed we are and how diminutive my problems are. She inspired me.

Before boarding the flight, I went through one of the toughest security checks, they were literally frisking everyone. I boarded the plane at 6 PM and reached Tel Aviv at 11 pm. It was a comfortable journey unlike the previous one. Lufthansa airline food was good, especially the dessert.

In Tel Aviv, the lady at the airport asked me the purpose of my visit along with few relevant documents. Tel Aviv airport is very modern and has lots of modern architectural design with important historical pictures on the wall. You see those pictures everywhere that depicts Israel is very proud of its history and wants everyone visiting the country to know about it.

(Tel Aviv Airport)

Outside the airport, we were received by our cab driver who drove us to Haifa. It took us an hour to reach there, but the roads were smooth, with instructions at regular interval in English & Hebrew. The weather was similar to Baltimore. We reached our hotel, Hotel Marom at 1 pm. It was freezing outside as well as inside the room. We turned on the heater but I couldn't sleep due to the jet lag and woke up early.

DAY 2 – 9th Jan 2015 "Shabbat Shalom", Haifa.

I woke up at 7.30 am and got ready for breakfast. Here, people actually believe in the philosophy of eating breakfast like a King. Typical Israeli breakfast comprises of eggs, cheese and different variety of breads. Raymond and I befriended the waiter (see the picture below) who told us that the jams were homemade and told us to try them & they were delicious indeed. He also made Omelette for us when we told him that we like eggs. We learnt Hebrew word for 'Thank You" - "Toda" from him. Interacting with him was a good experience.

We went to our room and slept like a pig. We were a lot sleep deprived due to the jet lag. We woke up at around 12.30 PM for lunch. We both didn't want to wake up, but we didn't want the team to wait for us so we got ready quickly. We went to the Burger place nearby, which I observed to be completely empty at 12.45 PM. The waitresses were really sweet to us, initially they brought a menu in Hebrew, but later gave us an English version. The best thing about Israel is that most of the people

speak English. Luckily we didn't have to use hand gesture anywhere. We ordered burgers, the veg burger was awful, but the non-veg burger was good as per my team. I observed that by the time we were leaving the place, it got full that indicates that Israelis prefer to eat their lunch late, around 1.45 PM.

At 2PM, we met our student guide, Alex, who was an architecture student at the Technion University. Funny, intellectual and friendly are the words that come to my mind when I think about him. He took us to Carmel centre Metro station. The subway was inclined 45°. The subway network was unique as it had only 7 stops since Haifa is a topological place in a hilly region. It took lots of effort to build that metro. It is definitely an engineering marvel, building a train track at 45 degree inclination can't be easy. As he was telling us the story, a person came and told him in Hebrew that it's closing time. Alex told us about the Jewish tradition of 'Shabbat' where everything closes early on Friday evening till Saturday. Hence, Israel weekends on Friday and Saturday.

(Carmel Metro Station – 45* inclination)

Then he took us to the highest point of Haifa, providing a view of the Mediterranean Sea. It was one of the most blissful views, I have ever seen. Different shades of blue reflecting the sun rays. He also told us about the British blunder of making a port, which blocked the water front line. Then, he pointed out a different part of Haifa such as German colony and ministry area. Then he showed us mountains across which we could see Syria and Lebanon. This made us realize how closely Israel shares its borders with its neighbours. In terms of demography, Israel is about the same size as that of New Jersey.

(Mediterranean Sea in the background)

While we were walking towards the Baha’i Garden, he showed us many war memorials & told us story about different wars such as the War of Liberation 1948, 1967, Lebanese war 1 and 2. He gave us lots of cultural introspection, told us about their land schemes, compulsory military training, different architectural style and history of Israel.

We reached Bahai garden. We couldn't go inside as it was closed due to rain & slippery stairs. He told us stories of the Baha'i religion, its founder Bob (that means gate) and his son who spread the faith after his death. The garden is one of the most well maintained gardens in the world and offered a spectacular view. We got to know about different ideas and views of the Bohemian religion.

(Baha’i Garden)

Then we went to Carmel church, Mercedes told us the Biblical significance of each symbol on the gate of the church. It was 5.30 PM and it was getting dark outside plus it was really cold outside so we decided to go for a coffee, but instead we ended up in a bar where we tasted wine from Golan Height (see pic below) region in Israel. The region has volcanic soil and high bauxite content. As Alex joked "we are drinking gunpowder" & I would say it was one of the most tasty gun powder drink, I ever drank. After enjoying our drink, we got to know Alex better through his personal stories. He told us about how he proposed his wife near a freezing lake in Chicago, the different countries, he travelled, his views & travel experiences.

He told us an interesting fact that Israelis love hiking & most of them after their military duty take a year off for hiking. He went to Chile for hiking after his training. We really bonded with him over the drinks.

Then at 7, we left for dinner at Asian fusion restaurant 'Giraffe' where we met the Head of Technion International Affair, Arial, an amazing person and an avid traveller. He said he has travelled almost

all the continents in the world and more than 51 countries. On Monday, he would be traveling to China. He gave us quite an insight into the Chinese culture, his INSEAD experiences, hiking experiences in Nepal, India, and Latin America. The sushi and noodles we had for dinner were amazing. We had a great time there. At 9.00 pm, we left for our hotel.

(At the restaurant called Giraffe with Alex and Arial)

After we reach our hotel, we played "card against humanity". This game helped me know the funny and quirky side of my teammates. It was fun. Now it’s 12.45 AM, time to go to bed.

Day 3, 10th Jan 2015: North Israel

We had the typical Israeli breakfast of cheese, bread and omelette around 8 AM. At 9 AM, we met

our tour guide, Yacob. He came to Israel from Poland in 1957. He told us about the plan of covering

the north of Israel and told us a lot of biblical stories over the day. He had a unique way of telling a

story, he used to ask us questions. For instance, he asks us capital of Israel (FYI -its Jerusalem, not Tel

Aviv); story of David vs Goliath and other questions about Christianity.

Our first stop was the Basilica of Annunciation, Nazareth. This church is built on the cave where

Angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her that she will give birth to King of all Men, Jesus. This

Church is one of the largest in the Middle east and had cave replica made inside the church. Around

the periphery of the church, there were paintings from all over the world depicting Jesus and Mary

(it shows how different part of world view Jesus and Mary). At the gate (see pic below) of the

church, there were carvings that depicted stories from The Old and The New Testament. There was a

mosaic work art on the first floor of the church. It was a beautiful painting depicting Mary as queen

in the background, Jesus and Peter where Jesus is shown taller than Peter. It was a wonderful

experience. I learnt a lot of things about Christianity. While walking inside the church, my knowledge

about Christianity was limited, but when I walked out of the church, I knew a lot more. Thanks to

Yacob.

(Gate depicting stories of Old and New Testament)

(Outside the church)

Our second stop was the Greek orthodox church of Annunciation, the only church of the crusader

era alive today. Yacob told us the story of how it was saved during the crusader war when one of

the Christian pretended to be the crusader who was given the responsibility to look after the church.

This way, he was able to save the church. It is a tiny church where you have to go down the stairs to

the cave. There was a small stream flowing below the cave, whose water is considered to be holy

water.

Our third stop was the Church of Heptapegon, venerated a large rock where Jesus is said to have

laid the bread and fish before he fed 5000 people. It has been destroyed several times and has been

restored several times too. It had huge palm trees at the entrance and mosaic work on the floor of

the church. There was a peacock drawn that indicates eternity in Christianity. It was a small church

with lot of mosaic work on the ground from AD era. Then we drove to our next stop with a view of

the Sea of Galilee as our background.

Our fourth stop was Capharnuam, the town of Jesus. Here Jesus performed most of his miracles. It

is the next to the Sea of Galilee where Jesus walked on the water. It is actually a lake, but in old time

if people couldn't see the end of a lake, they would call it a sea, hence it is known as the sea. We also

saw Peter's caves where Jesus stayed. Above the Jesus cave, a church is made with a transparent

artifacts material, you can go inside and see the cave from the top. There were lots of found by the

archaeologist in the extraction of the area that were kept outside for display. There was a huge

bronze statue of Peter. The view of the Sea of Galilee was beautiful with light blue colour water

reflecting different shades of light.

(Sea of Galilee in the background)

(Bronze statue of Peter)

Our fifth stop was Kibbutz where we had our lunch. It is a huge place that can accommodate 1000

people at a time. It is also situated on the bank of the Sea of Galilee. Every one ordered fresh fish,

they told me that 'it was one of the best fish they ever had'. I ordered pasta, sometimes being a

vegetarian sucks. Anyways, it was one of the tastiest lunch of our trip, none of us could finish it.

Yacob said that hobbies of Israelis is eating, now I understood what he meant.

After our heavy lunch, he drove us to Golan Heights and told about the war, which was fought

between Israel and Syria for this area and which lasted 6 days. He showed us the Jordan border that

had electric fencing along the road side.

Then we went to the Jordan River where Baptism takes place. Jesus was baptized in Jordan but since

many people can't go to Jordan, they commercialized this place for Baptism. Honestly, I felt this

place was one of those places where you make money on the name of religion as they were charging

heavily for baptism in the holy water of Jordan. I just felt that the entire establishment was

expensive and commercializing on the name of Baptism.

(Jordan River)

We reached our hotel in the evening and everyone when in their room and slept till 8 pm after

which we were supposed to meet Alex, our student guide.

Alex took us to a bar where there was a band playing live music, we ate pizza and drank Israeli beer.

We talked mostly about our experience of the day. We reached our hotel around 10 pm, watched

live Raven's match and around 12.30 AM, we went to sleep.

DAY 4, 11th Jan 2015: Yokneam

We got ready by around 8 am, had our typical Israeli breakfast. At 8.45 AM, we left for Yokneam

where we had to meet representatives from Alon Medtech. We reached Alon Medtech where we

were introduced to the team. Professor Aronhime and his wife were also present there. Judith, CEO

of Alon Medtech started the presentation. She talked about the incubator of Alon Medtech which is

a 8 year old private medical device and technology incubator that handles logistic, administration,

marketing, future strategy, market connections, strategic consulting, business development of the

companies in its portfolio. Its founder and chairman is Dr Shimon Eckhouse who is a leader in

medical technology companies with companies such as Syneron (NASDAQ listed, $150M company),

Lumenis (NASDAQ), and Given Imaging under his portfolio. Then she talked about their Incubator

model in Israel that is very successful. Israel has the world's third largest no of start-ups per capita.

Here, Office of Chief Scientist (OCS) provides 85% of the funding in a non-recourse loan that is

returned from the future earnings. For instance, Alon Medtech has $800K of funding per medical

device company in which 85% is provided by government. The model believes in converting a

research into a successful model and its main principle is leveraging government money for early

stage venture capital investment. Alon Medtech receives up to 50% of equity in the start-up.

Then she talked about OCS Return on Investment model, mechanism to return the money. After an

incubator period (2 years) is over, companies either goes for an IPO/ or stay private/ or M&A with

foreign entities. The loan has to be returned to the government in one payment with varying interest

rate. For instance, if the government gave you loan of say $3 Million and you are able to sell to the

company for say $100 Million than the government will take more share (may be up to 6 times, it all

depends on the contract sign). If in case, the venture fails than government bears the loss. To avoid

the loss, incubator policy was converted from non-profit organization to private.

A typical Incubator cycle varies as below

Stage 1 - Funding/ or seed stage (85% government + 15% Alon Medtech)

Stage 2 - After 24 months, end of Incubator period.

Stage 3 - After 36 months, Reality check where it invests with lead 3rd party

Stage 4 - After 60 months, lucrative exists (M&A or exit)

Note: Cycle can vary according to the project.

Alon Medtech has a very strict criteria and selects only 10% of the ideas submitted to it. This is how

they typically manage a company -

Stage 1 - Selecting right companies. Over 200 applicants per year. They select on the basis of

Technology innovation, entrepreneurial track record, legal and finance in the medical device sector.

Next, they have an internal investment committee that examines the worthiness of the project. The

Committee includes leading professionals and experts (including Doctors).

Stage 2 - Providing added value to the start-up. Here they provide coaching, legal service, admin

backing, strategic consulting, business development, financial banking, market exposure and

connection to relevant players.

Stage 3 - Opening to the Market either IPO/ or M&A with foreign/ or sold to 3rd party.

Then the next presentation was given by Idan Geva, CEO of the Butterfly devices, one of the start-up

firms. They have made a min invasive solution for BPH (Benign Prostrate). The market size of BPH is

$4 Billion (50% men suffer up to the age of 50 years & greater than 70% of men at age of 70 years).

Existing solution exists, but has down side. The device fits into the prostate, made up of Nitinol (no

calcification), and delivered via a flexible cystoscopy (hence office based). It has no side effect, i.e. no

migration, min irritation, no bleeding as no incisions, in office based therapy (biggest advantage). Its

trial begins from Q3 of 2015. Then he talked about the advantages and disadvantages of existing

treatment such as TURP, Laser, Stents and Uro Lift.

Then the third presentation was by Eva Visual CEO, Vardit Eckhouse. They make a 3D scanner for

aesthetic planning.

Problem - No plan, simulate and document for aesthetic treatment

Product - 3 D scanner for face, body and organs

Clients - Dermatologist, plastic surgeon and practitioners.

The basic idea is that they don't want patients to come back and say you didn't do anything. Hence

the scanner creates your actual before and after 3D image where customers can see his/her result

after the operation. The device is in beta stage and they showed us a demo by composing a 3D scan

of a hand. It gives a high resolution image, device is portable and software is easy to use. They use

real time image processing, advanced computer vision technology, and special algorithm. Their

device is patented. They also talked about the existing products in the market by Visia, Vectra and

Miravex and their benefits, drawbacks and how their product is different.

After the presentation, they took us to a nearby Italian restaurant Pastio. I ate soup and pesto pasta.

Here professor Aronhime told the success history of incubator model in Israel. In brief, high tech

culture & entrepreneurship culture in Israel was brought by Russians Engineers and scientist who

immigrated to Israel after USSR fall in 1989. Hence there was a boom in high tech culture in 1990's.

Also he asked me a lots of questions about India. I gave him lots of insight into the history and

culture of India.

(At pastio)

After lunch, we went to Syneron where we were given a presentation on the history and description

of the different medical devices created by them. After the presentation, we went to their research

lab where we got to see a live demo of Ultra shape (device to burn fat cells). Then their research

head showed us the testing lab and how they test their new products based on the specification, he

showed us skin membrane cell using a microscopic image on the computer and how the device

worked. Then we met the 3D image processing head who showed us the image scanning basics and

how it worked using an example. Our session ended at 5pm.

Then we went to eat Falafel. We met our new student guide, Gill, 3rd year, Civil engineering, born

and bought up in South Africa. He told us stories about growing up in SA, his combat soldier

experience (3 year military service) and his recent Australia trip. The falafel was amazing. I had it for

the first time and it was delicious.

(We are waiting for Falafel)

Then we went to Sushi restaurant. We spent time there and then everyone wanted to drink so Gill

took us to a pub with a view of North Haifa. I drank espresso, rest everyone had an Israeli beer. From

the window of the pub, we could see the lights of North Haifa, it was spectacular. We chit chatted

about different topics, varying from religion and their relationship stories. Gill saw Ganesh visarjan

(Hindu festival) in Australia, so he asked me about it, I explained to him the importance of the

festival. We called it night at 10 PM and reached our hotel at 10.30. Its 12.30 pm, time to sleep as

there will be lots of work to do tomorrow. Raymond and I will be working with Eva visual. We will

spend time with them, understand their model in depth and make a business plan for entering into

the US market.

Day 5, 12th Jan 2015:

Woke up around 7.30 AM, got ready and had typical Israeli breakfast that comprises of egg and

bread.

We left around 9 AM and reached Alon Medtech where we met Asaaf who took us for a tour to

another start up Rapid Medical. The company is owned by Renon Echouse, son of Dr Shimon

Eckhouse. He was friendly and enthusiastic. He gave us a presentation about his company. It

develops effective neurovascular medical device called COMANECI that has a compliant neck bridge

and makes neurovascular operation effective. He gave us a demo of the device as well as took us

through a tour of the in-house production house.

(Outside Rapid Medical with Renon and Idan)

We went back to Alon Medtech to visit our team. We met Vardit, CEO Eva Visual, who explain us the

functioning of the 3D scanner, significance of the LED lights and concept behind image processing.

She gave us a demo of the device. We also got to play with the device. David, optical engineer, told

us the technical details of the device. We spent around 2 hours working with them.

Judith and Idan drove us for lunch to Norah’s Kitchen, an oriental kibbutz in Druze colony. Along

with the fantastic food, the speciality of the kibbutz is that it’s run by ladies only. They keep on

serving the food, i.e. we finish one dish, they will bring another. The hostess of the kibbutz was

warm and friendly. Once we finished our lunch, they brought us authentic Turkish tea. It was superb.

We wrote a thank you note for the kibbutz.

(At Noorah’s Kitchen)

After lunch, we went back and spent more time with our respective teams. Vardit kept on explaining

more things about the device, their competitors, and how their device is different from them. We

got to know the various features of the device such as measurement of melanin and haemoglobin.

Also, we can zoom to see the quantitative measure of the wrinkle. We spent almost 2 hours

discussing their product. In the evening, we met Gill, our student guide who gave us a tour of

Technion University. He showed us the campus and took us for dinner at the Technion Campus Bar.

It was a good place with a good music. I had a large Veg burger. After dinner, we went to the hotel

and started working on our research for the next day.

(At Technion Bar)

Day 6 – 13th Jan 2015:

I had the usual Israeli breakfast. We left from the hotel at 9AM. There was a huge traffic jam, so it

took us an hour to reach the office.

As soon as we reached the office, Asaaf took us for another start up tour of Real View Imaging

(http://www.realviewimaging.com/). They develop world’s first 3D holographic display and interface

system, projecting medical real-time holograms, with various “in air” interaction capabilities. Aviad

Kaufman, CEO of the company told us the story of the company and gave us valuable tips from his

entrepreneurial experience such as ‘keep on reiterating the product’, ‘putting your soul behind the

idea’, ‘keep asking yourself one question – is it building value?’, ‘people forgive flaw when it’s a

prototype but not when it’s a product hence always aim for perfection’ and my favourite ‘make

your mom proud’.

He shared with us a lot of personal entrepreneurship stories. I really liked him, he talked about the

importance of having a good investor (according to him it’s like a catholic marriage, you can divorce

your wife but not your investor). It was a very good experience to meet him and learn from his

experience.

After spending time at Real View, we went to Alon Medtech where we spent time with our

respective teams. Today, we discussed the objective of the business plan with Vardit and her

expectation. We spent almost 2 hours discussing different aspects.

Then we had salad and fresh humus for lunch, it was tasty.

At 2 PM, we had an appointment to tour another company called ReWalk that makes wearable

robotic exoskeleton that provides powered hip and knee motion to enable individuals with Spinal

Cord Injury (SCI) to stand upright. Itai Levinson, Director of Business Development, gave us a

presentation about the company and showed us the pictures of Obama taking a demonstration of

the device. After the presentation, we saw the live demo of the ReWalk where a person suffering

from SCI could walk using ReWalk. It was truly a mind blowing experience where technology is

helping people. After ReWalk, we went back and continued our discussion with Vardit about our

business plan. We talked about various aspects, mainly on the future of the company and its

product.

(At ReWalk)

In the evening, we went to Sassoon for dinner. Here, we met other International staff from the

Technion University. One of the staff recently visited India. We talked a lot about the history of India

and next year, she was planning a family vacation to India so I suggested a few must see places. After

dinner, we went to a nearby pub ‘Brown to drink’, had a few cocktails and around 9PM, left for the

hotel. At the hotel, we played ‘cards against humanity’ till 12PM. It was fun.

Day 7, 14th Jan 2015 –

Woke up around 7.30 am, got ready and went for breakfast around 8 am. As soon as I enter the

cafeteria, the waiter ask me ‘Do you want an omelette?’ I said ‘yes’. He quickly went inside and

made one for me. I was amazed by his hospitality and kindness. We left around 9 am for Technion

University. Orna had arranged a conference room for us. As soon as we reached Technion, we met

Gill, who took us to the conference room. Sadly, there wasn’t a WiFi connectivity in the room, hence

we requested Orna to arrange another conference room for us. Within a few minutes, she arranged

a room for us near her office. Professor Aronhime also came to meet us in the Technion, we

discussed the scope of Eva with him and he provided valuable suggestions. Raymond and I started

doing research about aesthetic market and other market. We spent almost 4 hours working on the

research. Around 1 pm, we went to the cafeteria for lunch where we ate humus. After lunch, we saw

Iron dome, mobile all-weather air defence system developed by Rafael. We learn about the

functioning of the Iron Dome.

(Our conference room)

(Iron Dome)

After lunch, we went to the conference room to continue work on the research. In the evening,

there was a mixer event kept for us to meet other international students. We had a good time there.

Around 9.30 pm, we left from the campus.

Day 8, 15th Jan 2015 -

It was our last day in Haifa. We got ready, had our breakfast and left for the Technion University at 9

am. We worked on the presentation due on the last day of the trip that outlines future tasks for USA.

We also continued working on our research and created a database of dermatologist and aesthetic

surgeon from Johns Hopkins Medical Institute. Orna introduce us to a girl who was from Baltimore

and studying in the UMB. She had come to Israel to study for a month at Technion University.

Professor Aronhime also came to visit us, he gave suggestions on the business plan. For lunch, we

went to the Technion cafeteria and had noodles. There I also ate yogurt ice-cream, it was tasty. We

left from Technion University around 6pm for German Colony. We roam around the German colony,

it was raining so we quickly decided to go to an amazing restaurant. We tried Hookah as it is very

famous in Israel. We left from the German colony around 10 pm.

(Our conference room)

(Israel’s famous Hookah)

(View of Baha’i garden from the German colony)

Day 9, 16th Jan 2015–

We check out from Hotel in Haifa and drove to Tel Aviv. It was an hour long drive along the

Mediterranean ocean. We reached the Embassy hotel that is located opposite to the USA Embassy.

We check in, kept our bags in the store room and went to explore Tel Aviv.

We did stop at the coffee shop where I drank Turkish coffee. What a delicious coffee to start my day.

We went to Carmel Market. It has Narrow Street and lots of shops. At the market, everyone bought

souvenir, candies and olive oil. After we finished shopping, we stop to eat Falafel at a small place. At

the shop, we met a guy who told us that it was the best falafel place in Tel Aviv. I couldn't agree less.

(Carmel Market)

Suddenly, it started pouring heavily & we were stuck at a place called “Beer Bazaar”, open beer shop

in the middle of Carmel market. We tasted different samples of draught beer. It was fun to drink

beer while watching the water trickle down from the roof. When it stops raining, we went to the Tel

Aviv beach (opposite to our hotel) and spent some time relaxing there. In the evening, we went back

to the Hotel. For dinner, we went to a sushi restaurant called 'Moon'. It was one of the best

restaurants in Tel Aviv, the food was tasty and I tried Japanese beer ‘Ichiban’. They had a wide

variety of vegetarian sushi, which delighted me. I ate veg sushi plate, it was yummy. The night ended

early as we had to wake up early for the big day.

(Chilling at beer bazaar)

(At Tel Aviv beach)

Day 10, 17th Jan 2015 - Jerusalem

This was the most awaited part of the trip as we were going to Jerusalem. We got ready early as

Yacob, our tour guide was waiting for us at 8 am. While we were driving out of Tel Aviv, I saw

everyone running on the road. Yacob told us that fitness is a priority and running is a trend in Israel.

He told us that ‘Tel Aviv' means different layers of spring and Jerusalem is situated on 7 hills with a

population of 800,000 in which 500,000 are Jews and 300,000 comprises of Muslim & Christians. It is

the largest city of Israel.

When we were driving to Jerusalem, we passed through the ‘Forest of Martyr’ where 6 Million trees

were planted, i.e. 4.5 Million Pine tree and 1.5 Million Cyprus tree represent Adults and Children

respectively who died in the Holocaust. Also, we came upon ‘Road of Heroism’ where almost 600

people sacrificed their lives to ensure convoy reached Jerusalem in War of Liberation, 1948. When

we cross the Road of Heroism, he showed us the memorial where 2500 pieces from Ground Zero

(9/11) were kept as a symbol of Israel’s support to curb terrorism. When we entered Jerusalem,

Yacob told us that after the British left Israel in 1948, half of the Jerusalem was controlled by Jordan.

In 1967 Six day war, Israel captured entire Jerusalem.

We reached the top of Mount of Olives that has an entire view of Jerusalem. We could see The

Tomb of Rock and the city walls. It was a perfect view. At The Tomb of Rock, God, to test human,

asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac & Mohammad flew from Mecca to Jerusalem to go to

heaven. Hence The Tomb of Rock is the great symbol of reverence for Jews, Muslims and

Christians.

(View of Jerusalem at Mt. of Olives)

Yacob told us about the story of the old church which was destroyed, the only remain of that church

is 2000 year old Western Wall/ Wailing Wall. It is the most holy place for Jews.

(Behind - Tomb of Rock)

We walked from the top of Mt of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane. On the way, we stopped at

the Church of Mary Magdalene, a Russian Orthodox Church located on the Mount of Olives. It

looked like Kremlin with a golden plate. We also went to Church ‘Dominus Flevit’ that was designed

and constructed by the Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi. 'Dominus Flevit', which translates from

Latin as "The Lord Wept", was fashioned in the shape of a teardrop to symbolize the tears of Christ.

(Russian Orthodox Church)

We reached Gethsemane, which is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives, renown as the place

where Jesus prayed and his disciples slept the night before Jesus' crucifixion. As per carbon dating,

Olive trees present in the garden are 1000 years old. Next to Gethsemane, there is the Church of All

Nations that enshrines a section of bedrock where Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest.

(Church of All Nations)

We went to the old city where we first visited The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is the holiest

church of Christians since the site is venerated as Calvary (Golgotha), where Jesus was crucified, and

also contains the place where Jesus is said to have been buried. The church is shared between

several Christian churches and secular entities in complicated arrangements, essentially unchanged

for centuries. For instance, one ladder hasn’t been moved from past 400 years old. Yacob told us if

anything moves in the church, there will be war between different segments of Churches. We went

inside the church, it had a beautiful mosaic painting of Jesus. After church, we went through the old

market towards western wall.

(Church of the Holy Sepulchre. You can also see 400 years old ‘Ladder’ in the background)

Yacob told us to write our message or wish on a piece of paper and put in the wall. It is the cheapest

way to make your wish come true. Western Wall was a true wonder, 2000 year old structure

standing in its marvel. After spending time at the wall, we went to the old market where everyone

did shopping for an hour.

(Western Wall)

At 1pm, we left or Dead Sea. We passed through the famous Judean Desert which is a desert in

Israel and the West Bank that lies east of Jerusalem and descends to the Dead Sea. After half an

hour, we reached the kalia beach (Dead Sea). Its surface and shores are 429 metres below sea level,

lowest elevation on land. It is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean. We had lunch at the resort next to the

Dead Sea.

After lunch, Raymond and I changed our clothes and went to dive into the sea. Before entering,

instructions were given that we should not drink, nor let water touch our eyes. We just have to sit on

our butt & we will float. When we enter Dead Sea, the bottom was muddy and slippery hence we

carefully walk a few steps. Thank god, there were rocks to hold and walk. As instructed, I sat on my

butt & my body automatically started floating. It was a wonderful feeling that I can’t describe, it

needs to be experienced. I told myself ‘wow, I won’t drown ever in it’. I just floated around, kept

looking at the clouds and beautiful scenery without worrying about drowning. An hour felt like a

minute & soon we had to leave. I took a shower & suddenly I realized that my skin was soft and

glowing (now I understood why my sister ask to get Dead Sea mineral products for her). It was a

truly lifelong cherishing moment.

(Floating in the Dead Sea)

We reached our hotel around 5pm, we were so tired that we just crashed on the bed. We went for

dinner at Orna and Ella, the food was tasty. After dinner, we went to ‘PortSaid’ bar. The DJ was

amazing as he was playing jazz & rock from 70’s and 80’s. We had to wait for an hour to get a table.

We had a good time there. We laughed and drank, talked about our experience & got to know more

about Israel. We went back to the hotel and slept as we had to wake up early the next day.

Day 11, 18 Jan 2015-

I got ready around 8 am, went to the cafeteria, and ate yogurt and bread for breakfast. Then we left

for Technion University, Sarona, Tel Aviv. It was a 20 minute ride, there wasn’t traffic on the way.

(Technion University, Sarona)

Sarona had lots of restaurant and garden. Technion University has two buildings for official purpose,

we went to the workshop room and started working on our presentation for the next day. After an

hour, Professor Aronhime came, we started discussing the scope of the project. Around 1 pm, we

finish our work and decided to go to Jaffa for lunch. We took a cab to the old city, Jaffa. We reached

Jaffa Street and started walking towards highest point where you get to see the entire Tel Aviv city.

While we were walking we had Mediterranean Sea and Tel Aviv coastline in the background. It was a

bright sunny weather around 12*C and we were happy due to the weather.

(At Jaffa)

As we were walking, we saw a restaurant, Karma Jaffa Café and decided to have lunch there. It

wasn’t a good decision as the service was slow with horrible food. It took them more than an hour to

make salad and when the food came, it wasn’t tasty. After lunch, we went to the Flea Market, it was

a small market with traditional Israeli items. Sam and Katherine did a lot of bargaining and shopping.

It was fun to bargain.

(View of Mediterranean Sea)

After shopping, we decided to eat gelato. There were so many varieties, we kept on trying samples.

The problem with options is that they confuse you. I wasn’t able to decide which one to choose as I

liked all the flavours. I asked the attendant for her recommendation. She gave me a sample of mix

grapefruit flavour, instantly I chose that flavour along with strawberry. As she was preparing my ice

cream cone, she told me that as a kid all she wanted to do was to eat ice cream, but now she is

working in the store, she has lost interest in the ice cream.

(Gelato)

After we ate our ice cream, Raymond, Sam and Katherine decided to go to the Caramel Market while

the rest of us decided to go to the Hotel. It was a good decision as we walk from Jaffa to Tel Aviv.

There was a running pavement with the Mediterranean Sea in the background. The weather was

beautiful, I click lots of pictures of the sea. I constantly saw people running around. After 30 minutes

of walking, we reached the hotel.

As soon as I reached my room, I put on my running clothes and went to beach to run. I ran from one

end to the other for half an hour. I could hear the sound of the waves, the sunset in the background

and the sea breeze blowing away my hair. It was the best run of my life.

(View of the beach during the run)

Around 7.00 pm, I return to our hotel and got ready to go out for dinner. For dinner, we went to a

nearby place where I ate incredibly tasty falafel. At the hotel, Raymond and I discuss business

strategy for Eva Visual and did lots of research for next day presentation. We slept around 12.30 AM.

Day 12, 19th Jan 2015 -

This was the last day in Israel. I got ready and started packing after finishing my breakfast. We check

out from the Hotel and left for Technion, Sarona Campus where we started preparing for the

presentation due in the afternoon to Alon Medtech staff. Professor Aronhime came around 11 am,

we discussed our presentation with him. We went to nearby café ‘CafeNeto’ for lunch. Due to

shortage of time, we got our lunch parcel. Around 1 PM, Vardit, Ivan and Arial came & we gave them

a presentation about our plan of action and strategy for Eva Visual. After the presentation we sat

outside with Vardit and went through the details of our project. Vardit was very happy with our

presentation and said ‘good job’.

(During the presentation)

Around 3 PM, all the presentations got over, we took few group photographs and walk towards

Azrieli center. It’s a 3 skyscraper building with a mall in the centre. We went inside the mall towards

the observatory with Professor Aronhime and took the elevator to the 49th floor. When we reached

the 49th floor, we could see the entire Tel Aviv, the view was breath taking. Professor Aronhime

showed us different part of the city and told us how drastically Tel Aviv changed in the last couple of

years. After spending half an hour at the observatory, we went to the mall where we just roam

around to spend our time.

(View from 49th floor)

Around 6pm, we left for our hotel and collected our luggage. At 7 pm, airport cab came and we

reached the airport in an hour. At the airport, we were asked a couple of questions by the security

about our trip. We got our boarding passes without any hassle, everyone shopped at duty free shop.

We boarded the flight at 10.30 pm and left Israel at 11.15 pm. We landed at Newark Airport next

morning.

It was a lifelong cherishing experience.

Thank you.