and the big star is: The Rocket Lab!

Who hasn't done at least one little joke about building a rocket in Israel?...

I've met some of the people who actually work on it at the Technion. And I've seen them at work!I can tell you that even I would become a pyromaniac if I worked there. It's absolutely amazing and thrilling.

Here's a small record of a static experiment with a solid propellant (a kind of wax). This propellant is very strong but the problem is that a part of it melts instead of burning. They are now trying to figure out ways of reducing the amount of melting propellant and they have to try it over and over again.

A burning rocket produces a deafening noise and a flame of approximately 3000K (equivalent to 2730°C). Remember that at the surface of the Sun the temperature is around 5780K, equivalent to 5510°C.
The burning takes only about 10 seconds, but watching it gives you an adrenaline burst. Please watch the movie, it's worth it.

Movie by Sebastian, all rights reserved ;)
(If you can't see the movie, please leave me a comment and I'll send it to you.)

The Turbo & Jet Engine Lab

Despite what you may think, we work here. I don't work as much as in Portugal - far from it, thank whoever - but I get up at 8 every morning to go to work. Actually, some of the other students are really working hard. For them there's no going to the beach after work and no posting in blogs during it.

Until now, I've only worked at the computer, but there are engines and airplanes (big toy airplanes...).

You can find some of the airplanes in these pictures.

The orange engine is the 10m one. Maybe you can't notice it here, but it's huge.

This engine doesn't work. It's just a model to show students how it is inside.

Here's a control platform for tests. Each big engine has one of these platforms. I've seen two. I never saw any of them working, but I can imagine that everything else must stop when these little boys are running.

And yes, they are old and expensive. Prof Yeshayahou [Eshaiao] told me that they are planning to renew them.

Of course my job has nothing to do with these toys. What I do is only computer simulation: I have to program some precise equations for the thermodynamic cycle of an engine. Kyriaki, the girl who works here too, is handling the general design of the engine with a comercial software.

Apart from our simulation jobs, we may also take part in small practical experiments.

The example of this morning was not the case: today we only watched.

One of the guys who works here is a PhD student called Yladi. At the moment, he and his partner are watching an action movie in the computer.
But during the morning he did an experiment with the engine he's working on. The aim was to measure the combustion gases under various conditions trying to find out what are the best conditions for that specific engine.

Believe me, being in there with the combustion gases at a temperature of 1200 degrees and all the noise is an exciting experience.

There's more to say about the surrounding labs and other experiments, but I guess I already bored you enough for today.
Hope now you believe that I also work.

First impressions

Summarizing:

So, one waits 10 hours in Barcelona airport before entering the flight to Tel Aviv - Ben Gurion. This is what i do in an airport... Take stupid pictures of myself sleeping.

Ben Gurion is a nice airport.
Getting a train to Haifa is the easiest thing on Earth. Everyone is very nice and speaks perfect English. After having been among Spanish people for an entire day, I really feel comfortable here. And they are also beautiful.

All Israeli people do military service: at least 2 years for girls and 3 years for boys. Also, they wear their uniforms all the time. I've been told it gives them free bus rides and other advantages. So, all around in the trains you see very young people in uniform, but relaxed as if they wear it since they were born.

Some of them also carry their guns.
(But they really don't look aggressive. Really.)

In the train I hadn't realized yet how hot this country is. It's HOT, the humidity is terrible. Here we are anxious for colder days. You know: 2 or 3 showers a day...

Train -> Bus Station -> Technion

The campus is amazing. It's huge, trees all over, it's beautiful. One can really live here: there are supermarkets, restaurants, bus, etc inside the campus.

As for the religions, there are the Orthodox, the Muslins, the Jewish and the ones that don't really take very seriously.

Attending to the fact that most of people are Jewish, I still feel like one of the girls who really hide their skin and I'm comfortable with it.

The MAKAK - our meeting place - is part of the Canada Dorms, where the students in IAESTE internships live.

The girl on the left is Kyriaki (Sunday in Greek) and we are like soulmates here: we arrived on the same day, work in the same lab and live in the same apartment. Briefly: we're together all the time.

Oh, people here only drink beer and vodka. If you want, you can put beer in your vodka, but never put juice in it, juice ruins every drink.

Haifa is an interesting place where many different people "live happily ever after", in the words of Prof. Yeshayahou Levy (should be read: Eechaiao Levy). The landscape is very irregular, which makes every bus ride very very long.

Here are two stores in the center of the city. First is a falafel and shawarma place. You pay for the meet and then fill and refill your pita with as much vegetables and sauces you want.

This is a candy store.
Oh sweet candy, it's great.

There's no chocolate neither the usual cakes and it's oh so sweet.

Yesterday the Ramadan started, so now the muslims only eat at night.

We went to the Muslim neighborhood at sunset and everyone was sitting in the balconies waiting for the sun to go, so they can start eating.

This is us sitting on the entrance of the neighborhood playing silly.

They are really nice guys.