About work and moving
I arrived in Astana in Mid-September of the 2018 and started working as the Israeli Ambassador to Kazakhstan and non-resident Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan.
I worked in the UN Department after graduation, then two and a half years as an adviser, then I received the first post in Latvia. I also worked in the Czech Republic for five years in the department responsible for Africa.
In one of the departments, I worked as an adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and dealt with Eurasia. At that moment I got acquainted with the possibilities of your country. Political and economic cooperation interested me, and I had an image of Kazakhstan in my head.
My government settled me to this responsible position. I am glad and proud I was given the opportunity to develop relations between Kazakhstan and Israel. There are a lot of possibilities. I am glad and proud I was given the opportunity to develop relations between Kazakhstan and Israel.
Kazakhstan is the first country where I arrived as an Ambassador, so I will remember it for a long time. I love my job, I go there with pleasure. I plan to live here for three or four years. I am interested in collecting experience in different countries.
About the city
I liked Astana. Astana is a large and modern city. I'm not for so long in Kazakhstan, but I have already visited Almaty and Borovoe. I am going to visit Almaty and Karaganda soon.
My family likes the weather in Astana. At home and in the car is warm, so you do not feel cold and frost. If you dress warmly possible to go outside. But my colleagues from Israel think it is almost the end of the world if the temperature is below -5℃. I worked as a Deputy Ambassador in Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic, where weather is also cold. Therefore, I am familiar with snowy winter.
I prefer to drive or walk around the city. The city has good and clean roads, well-developed infrastructure. The closed stops surprised me that is how people are in warmth while they are waiting for transport. The original decorations impress me of the city. For example, I saw an unusual stop in the form of a soccer ball with chairs, as in the stadium.
I like to walk along the embankment and the capital park. We loved «Demalys» Cafe in this park. This is a cosy family place with a playground, delicious variety of local and international dishes. I do not like to go with children to shopping centres, they run away there. But we went to the indoor pools. In Astana a lot of entertainments for children.
About food
From the dishes I tried in Kazakhstan, I liked a samosa, pilaf and chuck-chuck. Kazakhstan is a multinational country, therefore, there is a wide variety of dishes. I'm not religious, but I do not eat horse meat or kosher food, so I have not tried beshbarmak. Maybe I will try beshbarmak from beef.
About purchasing
I prefer to shop online because it takes less time and there is no queue. Sometimes my family and I go to shopping centres with well-known, favourite brands, so we do not need to get used to the new sizes. We buy products near the house or also on the Internet.
About the people
Kazakhstan and Israel have a similar mentality — the same family values, people are warm, open and hospitable.
I have been to many official events in my previous positions. Some of them were quite cold and had no emotional contact. Here I am met everywhere with warmth and openness.
My first impression of the country and the people formed when we were on the plane. I have three children and during a long flight, the younger ones begin to act up. I often fly with children and usually, people are getting angry. But this time the situation was different. When my children started to cry the passengers in the neighbourhood were so kind and offered them a banana, a toy and a candy. They were from Kazakhstan. I was pleased.
I like Kazakhstan. The people of Kazakhstan are kind and hospitable, and we want to be friends with your country.
