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| Of accidents and incidents |
| Friday, May 30, 2008 |
Its been a month since I landed here, and I have already seen many accidents and been in two small ones. The first one was when we were driving from Rosh Hanikra back to Tel Aviv. It was a bumper to bumper on a small two lane road, and one guy did not concentrate on keeping his foot on the brakes. He went and hit the other car in the front. Since the traffic was slow moving, no injuries to personnel, only to the car. We actually heard the sound of the bumping. Second one was on the way back to work. Police was diverting traffic, and tending to a person, on a local road. I saw fresh blood stain on the road, it was enough to nauseate me. Third was when I was trying get some gas in my car for the first time. I missed the entrance to gas station by work, and missed some roads and got lost, and was worried about the drooping fuel guage, when I reached the gas station. Here people are there in most stations to help you fill gas. I finished that and was trying to get out of the complex on to the road. Peak hours, impatient drivers, a girl kissed my car from behind. I stopped and got her licesne information. My first time to do this. Car had really minor scratches. I didnt bother to call up Hertz and let them know.
Altoid was asking me if I missed Indian food. Honestly I didnt. I liked the salads and soups I had at the hotel for dinner, and the food at office Cafe is very good, with good variety. But after I saw the picture of Aloo Puri on her blog, all my hidden/pent up desire for Indian food surfaced up. I soo missed beans curry and sambhar and curd rice. So this Monday, I asked some colleagues for some good Indian restaurents and they named a few places in Tel Aviv. As I left work, my desire to have Indian food, masked the fear of driving in regular evening traffic in Tel Aviv. I took the exit and got caught in amazing traffic. People drive so crazy. And expect everyone to drive like that as well. Honking at every single opportunity. Bikers in the middle snaking through the traffic, making my heart stop everytime someone drives really close to me. I take the same route to Church on Saturdays. BUT, the difference being Saturday is Sabbath and many of them are couped up at home, hence lesser traffic. This was new to me. Of course in this traffic I gave up trying to look for the Indian Restaurent, and decided to head back to the hotel, a good solid hour wasted, which I should have spent at the gym.
I was almost close to the hotel, when another impatient driver of a van, hit my car while I was making a right turn! He came all smiles, while I was sitting pretty shook up in the car. This time I was not very nice to him and I showed him that I was upset and irritated. He gave me his information and he got mine. Another problem I have is I dont remember my cell phone number! :--( Only my colleague and DH knows it. Pathetic situation. I told him I dont have a number as I am here only for a couple of months. He was smiling a lot, and said ' bbye have a nice day dont worry' !! and left! I went to the Hotel and cribbed to the guy at the parking entrance, who have become my friends now. I parked and took a good look at the damage, front of the car near the headlights was dented with lot of paint scrubbed. What followed was the most boring. Call up Hertz, fax papers, fill out damage report. Touch wood I have driven in US for four years without any such incidents, I am here for one month and two incidents already! I hope to get a different car soon.
The next accident I saw only yesterday was a big one. A colleague, Israeli, was getting a ride with me to the City. Erm, I was already tensed, to have another life in my hands. When I told him driving is crazy here he said, I heard in India it is worse. There are people from Bangalore site and US sites visiting here at work. And me being Indian I am thought to be from Bangalore. I told him, the only time I have driven a car in India was to get a license, and that too we know how it works. I do hear Bangalore folks saying that traffic in Israel is very ordered, and people are very nice! How perceptions differ! So immediately after taking the ramp the traffic jam started. I had a meeting in the evening with the US team, which I was doubtful if I will make it to. The accident looked terrible. It was bumper to bumper on either side, it being week end, and I guess the ambulance was getting delayed. The car was overturned. The injured lady was on the side of the road being tended to. ;--( It scares me to death to see such incidents. Any image I see stays with me for long. I was extra careful driving.
So apart from road accidents, I have my share tiny losses in accidents in the room as well. Bcos of the stupid convertor I got from Best Buy. Thankfully my laptop is surviving the convertor. The rice cooker I got with me, in case I got these Indian food cravings, died a sorry death only after providing me with one decent meal of puliogare. My hair straightner, :--((, it was an expensive one bought at the Hair Salon, and it sputtered, and sparkled and died with a whimper, the moment I used the adaptor I got which said use for heating appliances. My battery charger, :--(, also served me once, and died a silent death in the night. I realized it was dead only today morning when I tried to charge my other batteries.
This whole week I have been eating Indian dinner. I borrowed a rice cooker from the Indian friend, who has an apartment here and never cooks. I had Maggi, Top Ramen, Rice puliogare, and one day I put Rice, Dhal, turmeric powder, chilli powder, sambhar powder and salt and let it cook, to make Samabhar rice. I had it with garlic pickle. I did see heaven! But still my Puri wish isnt fullfilled yet. Tch tch! Anyone willing to cater to this poor soul yearning for some Indian food, let me know I can send you the address to parcel it to.
Apart from that, work is going fine, getting busier and busier, I feel like I have worked a lot here than I have done in the past six months back home. I am collecting the gems of emails which will provide for good humor sometime.The English is funny. I like the work culture here. Very open. Things get resolved very fast, unlike back home, where you have to set up a meeting for every single thing. People dont waste time in formalities which I kinda like. The amount of work they get done is amazing. No wonder they get all the good projects.
Did someone complain about how they feel when their friends talk in a language they dont understand? Well, thats routine for me now. Unless these people think, I need to understand something, they wont talk in English. They will talk in Hebrew all the time and I just stand there, feeling foolish and clueless. I have learnt a few words, but others are difficult to remember. Did you know Hebrew is the only Classical language still spoken? Its as old as Latin and Sanskrit.
Our Amru colleague landed here last week. He is shocked to see how things work here, and since we are supposed to be his predecessors having been here a month, it was fun to watch him observe and complain and be surprised. And it was soo nice to see a familiar face in a foreign country!! Hopefully, I will get to see another familiar face soon, still keeping fingers crossed.
Ok thats all the ramblings for now. More later. |
posted by SK @ 1:01 AM  |
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| 10 Comments: |
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So many accidents?! Wishing you an accident-free stay ahead :)
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Strange but your experience on road reminds me of India :) Hope you have a safe stay there.
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you be careful lady and drive safely.
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Someone did complain! Hehe, quite frustrating no?
Yeah, be careful when driving. But, it's true! If you've driven in Bangalore, you can drive just about anywhere. Safely!
Puliyogare is awesome! Better than Maggi anyday!
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whoa..looks like you gotta be extra careful on those roads.drive safe! :) puliyogare plus chips(jalapeno flavored)is best!
oh, Tamil has attained the classic status as well, infact preceding Sanskrit by a year! way to go Tamil! ;) :D
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Touchwood, i havent been in or seen a real accident till now...it scares me all the time!
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"a girl kissed my car from behind."
Oooooo.. SK naught dirty girl.
In any case what's up with your electronics? You seem to be having a lot of problems.
And straightening your hair. I was just telling somebody yesterday females think they look really pretty with their hair straight. But the truth is they don't.
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You can go quite far with a rice cooker :) Everything from bisibele bath to vegetable pulao to pongal comes to mind. No puris though :(
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Aparna, Thanks :--)
A-kay, yeah! Israel is between US and India. Roads like US, but drivers like in India, its a scary combo!
Booboosmamma, yes I am!
Gradwolf,
:--)hehe thats what I hear.
Yes, anything Indian is awesome, I havent eaten dinner from outside, for the past two weeks!
WT, exactly what I had recently!! :--))) Oh yeah TamilNadu has its own grand history. Need to spread the word some more! :--)
Preeti,
:--(( Yes. In Chennai, I lived by the railway line, used to hear such horrible stories :--(
Okie boy,
hehehe straightners help manage hair better! and looks good most of the times I think :--) electronics, yes, rusty with age ;--P
Lekhni, yes yes! :--) I want to do some more experiments when I get a free weeekend.
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So many accidents?! Wishing you an accident-free stay ahead :)