Thursday - to the shuk!

So now that I knew where the shuk was, it was time to go!  I took the #12 bus right to the shuk, and proceeded to look around.  It's big.  And wonderful.  And I thought Thursday would be a little more sane than Friday morning (when everyone's shopping for Shabbat).  The cauliflower is almost as big as a basketball, so I found a nice one and purchased it.  Of course, need some lemons and olive oil to go with it, so they were procured.  As well as some pistachios and hulled walnuts for snacking upon.  Then there were the eggs.  Now, I had asked my Hebrew teacher, Orit, about buying eggs, and she assured me that you get them in cartons, but there they were, not in cartons like I'm familiar.  I lurked about and watched someone else buy eggs.  Aha.  So they have eggs in 30 egg trays.  You decide which one you want, then they take a second tray, lay it on top, and tie it.  Oh.

Now that I had a bag of eggs, it was time to go home with it safely.  But I wasn't done shopping.  I emptied my shopping bags and went back.  Now one of the challenges for me is to make sure I can carry everything to the bus, and to my apartment.  So, I went back and got tomatoes, onions and garlic (to go with the eggs), olives, and strawberries (which are beautiful).  I located the cheese guy, who might be the only one there, and bought 0.5 kg of Israeli cheese.  Figuring this was a dairy place, I then proceeded to ask for butter - badly.  That poor man.  We did finally transact butter, but I probably won't need to buy anymore on this visit.  Had the consonants right, but not the vowels.  Don't know if I had my phrase book with me, which would have helped.  Israeli cheese is very white, like snow.  Sort of a salty, firmer version of mozzarella.  Good.

What would be the end to that perfect day?  Falafel.  I walked over to my neighborhood falafel place, limped through my order.  But you also get french fries, pickles, and salad.  I took it all home to eat, and had leftovers to go with my eggs in the morning.  It was good.

Wednesday - exciting day for Deb in Beersheva

Shlomo took me downtown with him so I could get a feel for the city while he did some errands.  We took the #12 bus, which goes through the Old City and also stops at the Beit Eschel shuk.  His son owns "Cafe Cafe" which is on the outside of the out-of-town bus station (where I arrived), so we sat down for a few minutes.  Deborah, his wife, works there, too, so I got to meet her.

Shlomo helped me negotiate internet service with Bezeq, which will be installed on Sunday.  Yeah!!

I met with Prof. Nurit Ashkenasy (materials engineering) at the university for lunch.  We went to an on-campus hummus place, that was just fine with me.  We talked about how I can help her efforts with the women engineering graduate students.  Then, we walked over to a coffee stand and talked some more.  Two other women faculty happened to walk through, and I got to meet Prof. Rachel Yerusalmi-Rozen (chemical engineering) and Prof. Alva Peled (structural engineering).  Very fortuitous.  Prof. Rachel invited to me to a seminar a little later that afternoon, and I thought, "Why not?"  Prof. Nurit allowed me (!) to check my email on her computer, for which I was quite grateful.  The seminar was part of a series on complex systems (not complex numbers like i, but complex in the common use of the word), titled, "Confidence and influence in ant colonies."  It was rather like "A Beautiful Mind."  While it was in English, I decided not to stay for the discussion period.  A little too odd a topic for me.

That evening was Tu b'Shvat, so I did a very modest observance by eating an apricot, some dried apple and some coconut.  I didn't have any grape juice to demonstrate the seasons, but I did observe the day a little.

Tuesday's move to Beer Sheva

Beni took me to the central bus station in Jerusalem to catch the bus to Beer Sheva around lunch time.  We decided that one bus would be simpler than two trains with all my gear.  The trip is ~1.5 hours.  The intercity buses are big and have the luggage compartments underneath.

The sign says (#470 to Beer-Sheva.  Have a good trip."  I called Shlomo from the bus station and he asked me to take a cab.  The bus station is very busy and there's really no where to park (like in Jerusalem - Beni had to just drop me off and point me in the right direction).  The cab was only NIS25 (about $7), and Shlomo was waiting at the curb for me.

My apartment is tiny. And the photos that he had sent me were perfectly representative, but I had to see it to understand.  He took me to a little neighborhood grocer that evening, where I bought hummus, bread and juice.  He said the big supermarket is much cheaper, so just get essentials.  He pointed out a nearby felafel place and a pizza place.

I unpacked everything, including the kitchen box that arrived ahead of me.  The apartment has lots of cabinet work, so that was not a problem.  I need to get some bins for organizing small things. 

The kosher kitchen is all set up (easy when you start from scratch).  I don't have much, but I've got the basics of dairy and meat dishes and implements.  I brought blue and red tape with me to idiot-proof the kitchen.  Now I need to buy some more things like real forks and spoons (I brought a box of plastic picnicware), but first things first.

Radio silence has ended

I just got my internet service at the apartment set up (Sunday morning), so I'll be about updating the blog presently.

Arrival in Israel

Most everything went according to plan, except the smartphone.  Flights were fine, and I was delivered to my friends' apartment near Jerusalem, too.  Had to carry my 45 lb suitcases down 51 stairs, but grateful that I can.  Of course, they go up 51 stairs tomorrow when I transition to Beer Sheva.  Beni's espresso machine almost got the best of me, but I prevailed.

Since he had a medical appointment at Hadassah Hospital, I went along and saw.....the Chagall windows!!  Yeah!

Here's a photo off their balcony in Gival Ze'ev:

NSF proposal review

I'm on a National Science Foundation proposal review panel for graduate fellowships, and this year they've gone to an all-virtual panel.  I just did the technology check on my laptop from home (in Missouri).  Hopefully, all will go well for the panel meetings in two weeks.  At least the time will be good for me -- the panel meets in the morning, which means it will be in the evening (not the middle of the night) for me.  Ain't technology great?

Getting ready

Well, the weird thing is deferred disposal.  What I mean is, it's like getting ready for Passover - throwing out hametz.  So I've cleaned out the deep reaches of my refrigerator, and tossed worn-out clothing, recycled what I could and ate what will perish.  I'm looking at my house/belongings with different eyes for now.