Come Dine

I have finally been to a beach in Israel! Okay, I said that in the last post, but I don't think it counted. I think the official rules say that you have to be on the sand for more than 10 minutes. Everyone from the lab gathered at a beach near Rehovot for Ruthie's leaving party (Fig 1). We had a barbecue with sausages, burgers, chicken wings and hearts, pittas, watermelon and some cakes that were never opened!!?
It was nice but I spent a lot of time hating the sand and wishing I could go in the water without worrying about the sand sticking to me afterwards. So I just paddled a little bit, even though the waves looked very alluring.

I feel like I should have more to report, given how long ago the last post was, but so little happens in my life here. Just failure after failure, trying to obtain this mutated gene for Yael. Work is no longer going really well. I should have listened to Yael when she told me never to get too happy "because it only leads to disappointment and HEARTBREAK!!"
In a couple of weeks I should be working on my own project, which I'm reeeeally looking forward to. And by the end of next week they SAY I will have the internet in my room. Score!

Last night I had a crisis moment and shaved my hair off in true Britney style.

Today I went to work but didn't do any work whatsoever. Instead I played on my Nintendo DS (which nobody in Israel appears to be familiar with), did some Hebrew (finally! but not much), and had a nap in front of an open window. The warm air was very pleasant after the air conditioning froze me to near-death.
After 'work', I went to a little dinner party at Maayan's new flat (Fig 2). I think she initially invited me because of my poor diet and then turned it into a slightly bigger event later on. Only the 'youngsters' (i.e. the slaves and everyone else not studying or in possession of a PhD) were invited. But I forget just how much younger than the others I am! I feel like a little dog who has no idea just how tiny he is compared to the other dogs. I tend to think people are at least 5 years younger than they actually are. Considering the dinner invitation, Debora feeding me up at her flat, and Yael having a dream about me being extremely hungry at her family picnic, I think people might be worrying about my eating habits. Unsurprisingly.

So we made sushi, and ate it with a stir-fry they made before Ohad and I arrived. Then we had a delicioussss cheesecake for dessert, which was actually left over from when Maayan made it for when her boyfriend's parents visited them. As the cheesecake melted in my mouth, so too did all of my worries ^_^

Everyone said they would help me find a cheap room in a shared apartment if I would like, which is great because it turns out that there is nowhere for me to move within the institute.

Now I feel all warm and fuzzy, and ready for bed.

A revelationary week

Sooo last week I finally spent some real time (although not much) in Tel Aviv. I was deep in thought on the train, and realised just how much I enjoy being looked after, and how this needs to change. I need to be more independent, etc etc. Ironically, my friend then asked me to get a public taxi to meet him, and I started to panic and wanted to cry. The first (and last) time I had taken a public taxi, it ended in tears. In the end I got to the meeting place fine, and I feel much more at ease with these taxis now.
We met at Rothschild Boulevard, which is lovely lovely and has some good looking places to eat. There is also a bar there that has a Eurovision night every week, which I had heard of before I came to Israel. It sounds fun :)
When I saw Max Brenner, the chocolate bar, we HAD to go. It specialises in chocolatey desserts, and I think the idea of just going out for dessert is pretty cool. I ate a whole chocolate pizza to myself and it was delicious but I felt like I was going to vomit by the end of it. I also had a spicy hot chocolate, which I was excited about having, but if I have one again I think I shall ask for it without pepper.

Next we walked to the beach. So FINALLY I have been to a beach in Israel!! We stood by the water's edge for a short while and then made our way back because I didn't want to miss the train home. I'm looking forward to going again WITH my camera ^_^

I feel that I learnt quite a bit of myself over the course of the week. I had a bit of a heart-to-heart with my supervisor, Yael, in which she said she had noticed that I am fragile =/
I know that when I finish this placement I will be a much stronger person.

Yael brought a book in for me yesterday about an invisible boy. It is much easier to read than the other book she brought in for me (Spiderwick) because they have put vowels in this book (it's aimed at a younger audience). So today I sat with Noa (one of the slaves) and read half of the first page to her. I sounded like a 5 year old >.<
Yael also brought me a framed poster for my room. It's one of the pictures by the guy who did all the stairs going in different directions and not making a lot of sense. I forget his name. It is black and white and every shape is some weird creature or person. I like it a lot :)

There was a lizard running around the lab last night and I managed to get some pictures of it (see below and facebook). I also got a picture of a bat in flight (see facebook), which is better than the previous one I got. I love the bats so much. I could stand and watch them forever. Maybe.
I just wish someone was here to watch them with me!

I'm starting to feel that I will never have enough time to do everything I want. And I mean daily stuff. There just isn't enough time in the day, it seems. I'm actually glad I don't have more friends because it's difficult enough to make time to see them as it is >.<

Work is going very well :)

And now I'm going to have an Earl Grey and listen to some music before I do some Hebrew or read some papers.

Naming my blog posts is getting tiring already...

I have gained a follower! I now have 2. I'm moving up in the world. My new follower is called Yvaine Weasley. So, Yvaine, whoever in the world you might be, hello.

So I just went swimming, because I realised that if I didn't then I would do pretty much nothing else. I've done some Hebrew this weekend but, of course, not enough. I'll do some more tonight.

On the way back from the recreation centre I saw a man. The man was juggling. He was juggling many balls all at the same time and I was like zomg I wish I had my camera but I didn't. I did consider getting my camera and running back but I thought that would make me look like a weirdo.

Also, that was one of the most stressful swimming experiences I have ever had. The most stressful was probably the time that I had a physical fight with another boy when I was younger, but this I think was a close second. I really think that people should learn to swim without having to splash everyone in the vicinity before they go lane swimming. People here are particularly good at splashing.

On Wednesday I went to Tel Aviv and met Nir, after waiting for him in the mall for one and a half hours. I've noticed that I'm much more open to shopping here. When I go in clothes shops here I'm like OH I LOVE THIS T SHIRT instead of wanting to leave as soon as I've walked through the door. Topman in particular really is a pile of wink.
So we walked around and didn't really do a lot. I was hungry so Nir bought me Domino's. It's rather different to in England, and I enjoyed it :)

Next time I go to Tel Aviv I want to go to the beach and find a nice place to eat that isn't a chain.

I got really angry when I was with Nir, at all the people staring at him because of his make up. I was actually surprised to find that the people were no worse than in England, but there are a lot more of the people who will stare. Then again we were in Tel Aviv, and I don't know how much more accepting of it people actually are in England because we generally try not to stare at people in such a blatant manner.

I will never understand why people find men wearing make up so offensive, and I can't be bothered to rant about it like I initially intended to.

I'm now missing pretty much everyone I've ever had a good time with. And England. We live in a wonderful country. Appreciate it :)

I got bruises on my thighs for you...

At least I'm guessing that these big yellow bruises on my thighs are the result of squeezing through Daniel's bedroom window when his mum was cleaning the floor and we weren't allowed in through the front door.

I forgot to mention that I went swimming the other day before work. It was nice, and I'm going to buy membership at the recreation centre so that I can do it every day (or at least every day that they open early enough). Now I don't know if I'll keep it up, but as membership costs about £300 for the year I think that will give me some motivation.

My new roomie has arrived. His name is Guillaume and I think he has been in Paris for the last 7 years, but was born in Senegal. He is learning Hebrew and is at a similar level to me so I have more motivation to learn now.
We went for a walk into Rehovot last night, and on the way back we decided to get some food. We stopped at a little cafe, Netanela, on the corner opposite the Weizmann. The food was nice and the waitress, Almog, was very friendly. We stayed there and chatted to Almog for quite a while, which made us rather late going to meet Leigh and Deeptanshu. They were long gone by the time we got to Leigh's building. Almog had mentioned that Netanela would be closing (for good) today and seeing as I forgot to take my camera last night, I went back today and stayed for another few hours. It seems that the cafe attracts weirdos, which probably explains how I ended up there... Today a man was pestering Almog and gave her a dollar tip, on which he had pretty much written an essay, dedicating the note to her or something.

P.S. I've just discovered you can click the images to view the full size version :)
And positioning images where I want is proving to be stupidly difficult on this thing.

My dad is a babe.

Apparently.
A lot of people will know why I'm saying this. If you don't, then you're simply not nosy enough.

I just spoke to my dad and grandma on Skype. It was lovely :)

So the other night I started cleaning my room with some cleaning products that I purchased with my own shekelim. I had sooo much to say about all of this but I'm semi-over it now and I don't want to bore you with the details. But by heck was I ready to open fire on Hanita, who is in charge of my dorms. In short, she had moved a load of my stuff and put things that don't belong to me in my personal space. So I called her from work and got ready to tell her exactly what I thought / felt...
and then I remembered she doesn't speak good enough English to understand.
Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut anyway. If I have a go at her I don't know if I'll get into a single room earlier or later =/

I have been addicted to schnitzel pittas from San Martin for the last week and I intended to have one every single day for the rest of my life in Israel. They are soooo good. Schnitzel is chicken in like.. breadcrumbs. With sesame seeds.. Whatever. It's good. And I have houmous in the pitta and spicy sauce and salad and chips. Then I bought a pitta AND a baguette (with the same filling), with the intention of saving the baguette for later. Ofc I ate both of them in one sitting and felt very ill. So now I'm on to salads. MMM THE SALAD IS GOOD.

We had a lab meeting on Wednesday in which we had THE MOST DELICIOUS CAKE EVER and sangria and chocolate etc. It was so fun, apart from the presentation on ribosome biogenesis. It wouldn't be so bad if the meetings weren't so looong, or if we had a break in the middle.

Now, I need to mention (and I realise that this is the third paragraph about food in a row) that we had a bit of an argument in the lab the other day about crumpets. Gilad and I were trying to explain to Yael what crumpets are and she professed that they are the same thing as English muffins. So, after repeated explanations and a bit of google imaging, Yael is still not convinced. So I need crumpets. Whoever comes to visit me first is bringing crumpets. Okay? :)

On a more serious note, I've realised recently that I'm starting to feel. I've been numb to certain thoughts and feelings since I got here. As long as I keep busy, it seems that I can keep my mind off them and still not care. But now things are surfacing when I'm alone with nothing to do. I'm feeling very emotionally unstable and when I'm feeling down I will quite easily cry in front of other people. Fortunately, this leads to quite a nice story about tonight. Noa was leaving the lab and she came and said hi / bye before she left. I started crying and told her how I felt so alone etc, and about some more specific things. She invited me to go eat burgers with her, her girlfriend, and a friend. I had a really nice time and the burger was DELICIOUS. Noa and Roni complained that the burgers were too salty (and we got a free dessert - fruit sorbet because Roni doesn't eat gluten or something and Noa doesn't mix meat and milk). I had so much stuff on my burger that I didn't notice the saltiness. Even if I did, I don't think I would've cared. So I would really like to take Steven to this place when he visits. Then Roni gave me a lift back to the Weizmann and gave me some passion fruits that she stole from work (at the agriculture place across the road). She works on flowering time and her friend works on soil.

I'm going to go get a passion fruit now.

Oh, and then when I got back to my dorms I met a German girl called Karin going into her flat and I said "HI WHERE ARE YOU FROM" and we got talking and now we're going on some architecture tour in Tel Aviv early in the morning.

Then I got my passion fruits and left for the lab. Then I wrote this blog post. Good night.

x

Three physicists and a geneticist walk into a pub...

Well, a cafe. Herzl Cafe, just down the road from the Weizmann. And we didn't exactly walk in. We sat outside. So three physicists and a geneticist sit outside a cafe and are joined by a medic.
We ate schnitzel and shakshuka. We talked, we drank.

Leigh works in the same office, or lab, or whatever, as my roommate (Deeptanshu). She will also be here for a year, so I'm glad to have met her. Tonight we went Tango dancing in the building she lives in. I'm trying to decide whether or not to continue going (£7 an hour, once a week..).

I still want to move to Tel Aviv, but I think it would be a good idea to wait 4 months or so and save up some money to help pay the rent. It's also quite nice to be able to pop into the lab at any hour. Last night I did quite a lot of work and went home at 6 am. AND I SAW A LIZARD IN THE LAB KITCHEN. Yay.

I've realised that I will never be able to record all of my memories in a blog, not least because some of them are personal. I should probably keep a diary, but then I'm not sure I would ever want to read back over the thoughts I'm having now. I always find it kind of weird.

Well.. what else have I been up to anyway..
I've spent every weekend at Daniel's so far, and last weekend I met some of his friends when they came round to his house in the night. This weekend I met his aunt and cousin, who live next door. They were really nice, like the rest of the family..
Living in Israel is starting to feel normal and I was incredibly happy today, just because I'm here.
I don't suppose there's anything really worth mentioning. I should write things down when they happen in future...

Sorry. Bye.

Bloody Lovely Hell

So here I am in my dorm room, listening to Sorry Charlie, finally writing something for this blog. Being here has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for me. I arrived on Sunday the 1st and met the friend I made through Myspace, Daniel Weissmann, at the airport. One of the first things I noticed about Israel was the number of young people in army uniform carrying guns. After seeing a man with a gun at Manchester airport when I went to Lyon, I thought I would be more shaken by the sight. I hardly notice the guns now. That can't be a good thing...

On the way to Moshav Udim, where Daniel and his family live, I met Lori and Nir. I hope to see them on Friday when Daniel and I go to a party in Tel Aviv. I haven't seen much of Tel Aviv yet, and my expectations are still fairly high. I stayed at Daniel's house until Sunday morning, and I had a really good time. See Fig 1: a picture of Daniel with his sisters, Dana and Coral.


On Sunday I went into the lab was shown how to maintain cultured mammalian cells and I read a paper on Lats2, which is what my supervisor works on. Then I went into town to buy an Israeli SIM but they wouldn't sell me one so I walked home and bought toothpaste on the way, but I had a lot of trouble in town because I couldn't understand things. It was also reeeeally hot and after walking quite a long way I just wanted to go back to my dorm room, even though I think it's gross. I got lost on the way though, and unwillingly saw everything there was to see in the whole institute. Which is very pretty. See Fig 2.


After the trauma in town, the ridiculous walk around the Weizman, and now faced with my horrible room, I burst into tears. I rang Daniel and ran for the last train so I could stay with him until Tuesday. I started to wonder if coming here was stupid of me, and that maybe I just couldn't handle it. I obviously can't say how things will go from here on in, but I'm feeling much more optimistic. We won't start on my project for a little while yet, but at least I got to make use of my brain today. I'm starting to get to know some of the people in the lab. Most of the time they speak in Hebrew, which made me feel quite alienated at first, but it will be helpful when I know a bit more of the language myself. They seem to think it's a bit strange that I'm bothering to learn. I think a lot of people who visit here don't bother because you can live in the institute without knowing a single word of Hebrew. But I don't want to live in a cage. I want to experience Israel, including the language and culture.

I'm sure there's something else I wanted to mention, but my mind is on Hebrew now that I've mentioned it. Later I will go back to the lab to post this ((I am now posting this and it's past midnight!)) and hopefully get some nice pictures of the institute at night ((I tried and failed - maybe another day)). Last night there were massive bats flying around. Yay for massive bats!