More progress on living normally in Israel

I went to the shuk earlier this morning (at 9:00) which was great, because it wasn't very crowded, and some of the vendors were still stocking.  I even corrected the fruit guy who was calculating my oranges at the wrong price.  In Hebrew, of course.  Locating lentils was slightly more difficult, but it helped that I had written it and was at a booth that was likely to have them.  He had brown, green and red lentils.

And I used my little washing machine. However, I broke its little handle that opens it after the wash.  I 'fessed up to my landlord, and we determined that it could be opened how with two screwdrivers.  The good news is that the laundry did indeed come out damp, so it should dry quickly.  And now, I'll be able to wash bigger things.

Laundry and id card

The acquisition of my id card yesterday greatly facilitates my entry through the university security gates.  It's just simple now.

And last evening, my landlord put a new washer on the inlet to the washing machine, so that I can use it.  Washing things out in the little bathroom sink was getting old.  And just how long would my Woolite have lasted?  Hmm.  And he said that I can set things to dry in the atrium, as long as they're not too obvious.  That's good, because, while the bathroom is good-sized, it gets really small with the drying rack set up.  So today I made a special trip to the store to buy laundry detergent, but I didn't write it down in Hebrew (lesson to be learned here).  So, I'm looking at these bottles, looking, looking.  And then I see on one of them "fabric softener."  Maybe I need fabric softener, but all I want today is detergent.  You can't wash clothes with softener.  So, where is the detergent?  Aha, I spy a bottle of Tide.  I know what that is.  So the selection of detergent was about 1/3 the portion of the shelf, compared to the softeners.  Too many choices.  So I picked one, and hoped for the best.  Lucked out, because...it's detergent.  It's a little washer, but it's way bigger than my sink.  And it should spin out a lot of the moisture.

I met with my colleague again, and he gave me homework - some documents in Hebrew that I need to read.  So that will be some of my plan tonight.  And tomorrow.  And tomorrow.  Creeps on this petty pace...  Wait. It's not that bad.

And I met Dean Kost.  Briefly.  And gave him a statuette of the Tin Man.  He gave me someone else with whom I should meet, so I've emailed her (from my BGU email account, thank you very much).

I'm really glad that I found that chair cushion.  Last night's four-hour web conference would have been miserable.  It's a draining activity under any circumstances, but I will be paid for it.

I'm official

I received my BGU id (as you can see) and my BGU email (and figured out the macro setting for my camera).  I'd say it's official.  And, surprisingly smooth.  I found the offices where I picked up those things, and they were ready for me.  I particularly need the ID for entering the campus through the security gates.  So, now I don't need to make simplistic explanations in Hebrew to the security guards.

I found the BGU bookstore, hoping to procure some engineering paper and basic office supplies, but it's just a bookstore.  I did find some notecards and a book.

I took the bus directly to the old city, and was successful there, as well.  I think you could say that "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore," because I bought a broom and took home on the bus.  Yeah, I get the broom/Wizard of Oz thing, too.  And I was able to buy some graph paper and envelopes at the little shop where I got the broom and dustpan.

An office at Ben Gurion University

This morning, I met with my department chairman, Dr. Oren Vilnay, who is absolutely charming.  He had been the chairman of structural engineering at the Technion, but was recruited to come to Ben Gurion University to build a new program in structural engineering with a free hand (no traditions) to make the department in his vision.  So he, and the department, are quite entrepreneurial, a lot like our CME department at UMKC. They have a lot more students than we do at UMKC  - ~100 seniors in structural engineering.  Dr. Vilnay is also a fan of opera (and has season tickets to Covent Garden in London!) and had pursued studies in piano before engineering.

And I spent some time with my colleague who teaches structural senior design:  Dr. Igal Shohet.  He's all about helping me learn more about Israel (which is great).  I'll be having a second meeting with him later this week.

So, my office is #672 in the H3 Building of the Hias Campus.  Stop by for a coffee if you're in the area!  The office looks onto Szold St - at the very expensive hotel across the street (Leonardo Hotel).

Here's a photo of the Hias Campus courtyard and building H3:

P.S. I bought some halvah today. Halvah is a sesame-based sweetish item.  I had some in college and was pretty ambivalent about its value as a dessert/confection.  But I've seen it a lot, often as big bricks, where they cut off a piece and sell it like cheese.  Anyway, the halvah I bought was soft and tasty.  And it's a really good nutritional snack.  Maybe what I had in college was stale.  It'll make a great thing for my lunch bag.

An important addition to my desk

I have quite a hard wooden chair at the desk in my apartment, and with the three-hour conference call tomorrow, locating a decent chair cushion was on the top of my to-do list.  After yesterday's discovery of the BIG shopping center, I took bus #14 out there and walked about.  I found a store for which I received a circular in the Friday free paper, and had (luckily) written "chair cushion" in Hebrew on my shopping list, which was really handy because the young woman helping me knew almost no English, but she could easily read my very neat Hebrew script.  And she did know where the chair cushions were.  Yeah!  Also bought some little pans that will fit in my toaster oven.

And I experienced my first rain in Israel.  It has only been a steady sprinkle, but rain is forecast for tomorrow.  Today is very windy, so, like Kansas City, umbrellas probably don't do much good.  I do have a raincoat.  I will report if the rain comes.

I didn't bring my skates!

I heard an interview on TLV1 (English station out of Tel Aviv) about the recreational ice hockey community.  And it's co-ed!  But the rink is way up north on the Lebanese border, which is pretty far from Beer Sheva.  It is great to know that people are skating here.  Take a look:  http://bsimchas.leket.org/en/page/2014%20irha%20hockey%20tournament.aspx

Beer Sheva River Park (from afar)

My shabbat walk today landed me in a different place than I expected, but I wasn't lost.  I'm still looking for a good place to run, and headed east on Shazar.  Where I walked to was the BIG (the name, Big) shopping center, which, to my dismay, had lots of cars in its parking lot.  But I walked down one side of it to get a look at things, and saw this in the middle distance:

It looks a lot like a Calatrava bridge (he designed the light rail, sweeping bridge in Jerusalem), but when I tried to find a web reference for you, it looks like its the spine of a big shelter (maybe for a soccer stadium?): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arxrKkkiv6s  I think this YouTube is the master plan for the park.  And I could see this, too:

complete with people walking, biking and skating.  You can see the railroad tracks in the foreground, that go to Tel Aviv, Haifa and the airport.  So this is on the southeast corner of the city.  I didn't think it was walking distance.  It would be a great place to run if I can find a bus that goes there...

Then, on my walk back, I thought this was the perfect sign: