Part of my international geek travel guide is to rent a mobile phone that works in Israel. Last year, I went with Travel Cell and I was very happy. This year, I am going with Amigo.
Why Amigo? Well, this year, unlike last year, I am going with a bunch of family. The Amigo phones have this annoying "Push to Talk" feature (like the Nextel Walkie Talkie feature). So we can easily talk for free to each other via the PTT feature, instead of using minutes. We all got the Amigo phones so that we can do this. We all picked up the phones last night from an authorized dealer.
Last night, I began programming in the phone numbers of our other family members so that I have quick access to the PTT information when needed. I soon realized the phone is in Hebrew. I am sure I could switch it to English, but why not leave it in Hebrew.
I then added my wife, ישע, then my name to her phone, ברי which is pronounced Barry, as opposed to ברוך, my Hebrew Jewish name. Then my mom, אמא and dad, אבא. Then my sister, גק', and brother-in-law דו. I am sure I spelled the English versions of their name wrong. Well, for my mother, no way am I going to try to spell אדרין or for my dad, ליון. Of course, I could of used their Jewish Hebrew names, but this was a bit more fun.
I am without a phone that checks email over a cell connection when in Israel. I will have my iPhone which will connect to wifi networks and I have my laptop which does that as well. My hotel will have Internet, it will be slow. The blackberry like services in Israel, I hear, are a fortune.
This is the January 30th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the 
