The Exuberant Jerusalem

SGC Delegates with legedary Jim Burke

The Space Generation Congress was about to start in a week when I was informed that I had won the SSPI scholarship to attend the Congress at Jerusalem! The sudden news made me anxious and excited at the same time. I had almost lost hopes by now and this late information only meant I had a very short time to arrange for my visa and travel. I had to immediately book my flights and rush to Brussels for my visa applications. To my dismay, it was a week full of Jewish holidays. So practically there were only two working days for the Israeli consulate to process my application. Fortunately, they processed it on time and I received my visa the day before my departure.

As soon as I landed in Tel Aviv, I could feel the different atmosphere and people around. The Asian chaos and warm weather made me almost feel like home. We went to visit the sacred Old City and tried out some local cuisines. The confluence of multiple religions gives the Old City its own charm. Each of the quarters- Armenian, Christian, Jewish and Muslim- were unique and distinct in their architecture. The Temple Mount and the Western Wall were the main attractions. The beautiful tunnels and stoned streets gave an exhilarating feeling of walking through history. The small markets were beeming with colours selling beautiful souvenirs and artifacts.

The Western Wall and Temple Mount

The middle-east can spoil you with its variety of food choices. Israelis are obsessed about falafel and humus; and I understood the reason very well as soon as I took a bite on a mouth watering kebab filled with falafel, veggies and humus. They also have a talent of preparing any kind of dishes possible using the brinjal or aubergine.

Israelis love to eat, at all times of the day! All five days of my stay at Jerusalem was marked by unusually heavy breakfasts, amazing lunch and top-class dinner. It was always difficult for me to decide what to eat from the bevy of food items.

Delicious Israeli delicacies

The work week started with a workshop and understanding how effectively we can finish the Congress task in the limited time of four days. I was one of the rapporteurs of the Earth Observation Working Group of the SGAC. My group consisted of delegates from around the world and from different disciplines. We had to work vigorously for the next few days to produce a good team report. We attended a number of talks by eminent space people working in different fields of the space industry. I interacted with many young professionals and students who shared the same passion for space.
An international night was organized where all of us presented our food and culture to everyone present. We tapped our feet to Armenian, Ethiopian, Chinese, Latin and Indian Bollywood music. Each of the presentations were very entertaining and we all bonded very well with each other.

The final day concluded successfully with team presentations and grand reception. Each of the teams had something productive and creative to present. The evening gala dinner was graced by the presence of the head of many space agencies such as NASA, ESA, DLR, etc among many more stalwarts of the industry. I had a wonderful time interacting with them.

On my final day at Jerusalem, I visited the Dead Sea. The lowest point on Earth at 397m below sea level and 33% salinity, was one the remarkable experiences. I almost panicked while floating on it and was lucky to be saved by a friend, who made sure that I do not worsen the situation by taking a dip in the salty water or rub my eyes with it. We spent the rest of the afternoon mud-bathing in the Dead Sea minerals.   

Dead Sea Mud

In the evening I left for Luxembourg and reached Istanbul the next morning where I had a transit for few hours. I  utilized this time by spending some time seeing around the city and having the best Doner kebabs ever!

The period of my visit was marked by tension and attacks. The city was under seize and we had to be extremely cautious whenever we went out. It was a strange sight to see normal people walking around with weapons for their self-defense. However, I really enjoyed my brief stay there, my experiences are worth to be cherished and I shall be glad to visit Israel again.

I was impressed by the Israeli's sense of humour!