David, who’s studying computer science, and Ori, an army programmer, provided much needed company the day before the conference. Everyone in Israel needs to go the army (at around the age of 18). And that’s why Ori’s there. There’s also this “scheme” where one can finish graduation first, and then join the army; in this case, you have to serve in the army for six years, but the state sponsors your education. David chose that option. Like David said: “At least I can’t get fired for six years.”
Ori’s mom drove the three of us to the conference everyday. We went in quite early the first day, to help with some organizational stuff. The conference was quite nice. I especially enjoyed all of Larry Wall’s talks. (Awesome guy, he is; more in a later post, I think.) My after-conference hours were mostly spent with Mark, who moved here recently from London. Interesting, knowledgeable guy. I learned a lot about Judaism, Israeli politics, etc. We even went to a local political debate in Netanya. Mark took notes of all the stuff that the politicians said.
Interesting thing that happened in Netanya: Mark and I went to a pub at around 22:00. The place was empty, and we were wondering if they’d serve us any beer. The nice lady at the bar told us the place would open around 22:30. How’d that for Bangalore?
Last day of the conference, after most talks were over, I buggered off to Tel Aviv. It’s like any modern city. Has an awesome night life, and all that stuff.
I feel like kicking myself for not staying an extra day so I could visit Jerusalem.
Security at Ben Gurion airport is amazing. I didn’t have much problems while entering—I got my visa stamped in a few minutes. While exiting Israel, I was questioned for about an hour or so. It was difficult explaining what the conference was about. When I tried to tell them about the free software philosophy, they couldn’t believe me; they thought it was some illegal stuff. I also had to show them my presentation material. Really! Anyway, in the end it was all good.
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