My Research

Many of you (but primarily my mom) might be wondering, "so what is Nina actually doing with her time?...What research is she doing exactly?"

This is a good question, and I will do my best to answer.

As you might remember, in my last post I mentioned that I decided to stay in Israel for an additional year, after my Fulbright scholarship is over, to earn my Master's degree in Hydrology. In order to join the Hydrology program, I had to find an adviser who was willing to take on an extra student, in the middle of the semester, with no previous plans on doing so. 

Finding someone to take me under their supervision was relatively hard. All the professors are busy with their current work and they plan each semester accordingly with the current students that they have. 

The reason why I found Shai Arnon (who I had already asked multiple times and he had firmly said NO multiple times) is because one of his students dropped out - a Palestinan student named Ameen who was also a part of my Fulbright research project on EDCs in the water. Shai was out of luck because Ameen was going to do all the water sampling in the West Bank, since there are areas where Israeli's are not allowed to go. This is where my American citizenship stepped in! I am now the student responsible for taking water samples in the West Bank! But I will still be involved in the Israeli water sampling as well.

The Israeli side is my Fulbright research project and the West Bank side is my Master's thesis project.

So what do I do exactly?

After taking the water samples, I bring them to a lab in Tel Aviv run my the Ministry of Health. I will work with a scientist there to separate all the EDCs from each water sample. This process includes special technologies used only in this lab (out of all of Israel), and takes a few hours per sample - adding chemicals, rinsing with water, vacuum filtration through a fibrous disc, etc, etc. After I get all the water separated from the EDCs, I hand the EDC sample to the scientists for analysis. 

Once we get the EDC data back from the scientists, I will look at the data and analyse it for public health issues.

Hope that provides you all with some guidance on what I am doing!!

Two Months Past?! Email Blast #3

Beautiful faces, hello!

It’s somehow December! I don’t know where the time goes, but at least a lot has happened since I last wrote you!

I have officially decided to stay here for my master’s degree! So instead of being in Israel for one year, I’ll be here for two years. My Fulbright research will directly cross over to be research for my thesis. This past week I gained a second advisor – a research and thesis advisor in the Hydrology Department (my Fulbright advisor is in the Environmental Studies Department)  – and I will be earning an M.Sc. in Hydrology. Very exciting!

My finals schedule was recently announced (end of January through mid February), so my classes just got ten times more intense. The two hydrology courses that I am taking are way over my head because my USC degree wasn’t very science heavy.To compensate, I’ve been spending hours on tutorial websites and with my head buried in text books, trying to teach myself the physics of wells and aquifers. If you know of any good resources, let me know...

OH yes, and how could I forget – the small “war” happened. I stayed very safe, here in Sde Boker because I am just barely out of rocket range from any of Israel's borders and because our population here in this quaint little town would be a waste of ammunition for Hamas to even think about. I did travel twice – one time to visit a friend of a friend on a Moshav and one time to Tel Aviv for Thanksgiving. I took the train to the Moshav and during the ride there was an announcement to get on the floor, under the seats. I did as told, but nothing happened – just a precaution because there was a rocket in the distance somewhere and we had to get away from the windows in case the glass broke. So, I can’t say I was affected much by the Pillar of Defense. Plus, I even got to play Frisbee twice because my Ulpan class (which is at the same time as the weekly Frisbee game) was cancelled due to it’s location in Beer Sheva (hit by over 200 rockets). Life is good, no?


I recently went through another wave of culture shock and missing home – the reality that my friends here are not of the same caliber as my friends from home/USC hit hard. As you all know, I am a social person. I can’t deny that I’m surrounded by amazing people here, but it really takes time and effort to create close bonds with people who speak a different language and who grew up with a whole different lifestyle. And until I can achieve that kind of friendship here, it's hard not to have someone's shoulder to lean on. 

That’s the end of my saga for now! Wishing you all a Happy Hannukah and Merry Christmas!

Until next time,
“Ninush” (my new nick name in Hebrew)

Time for Hannukah!

Visit from Ethan!

Last weekend Ethan Levy came to visit me! My first friend to visit me!

I finally had a real shabbat (first one so far)- Ethan and I did close to nothing! It was amazing. I was in my pajamas until at least sunset! He got me hooked on Game of Thrones because he sat down and took the time to explain all the families and the incest and the background, so that when we watched the show, I wasn't as lost with what was going on.



Most beautiful sunset so far - with a rainbow thingy on the right! WOW eze yofi!!!

Tel Aviv - desert girl goes wild!

A few weekends ago I spent some time in Tel Aviv! I went for Thanksgiving on Thursday, and then stayed through Sunday for a long weekend.

I saw my friend Bluth, whom I met on Year Course, and I stayed at Noah's place with Ethan (Camp Kee Tov friends).
I spent lots of money all weekend, but had a flippin awesome time eating good food and stalking up on goodies to take home to my kitchen. I bought a measuring cup (which is in mililiters, and I have to do conversions whenever I'm baking/cooking).


I got my hair braided at an ethiopian hair shop! When a desert girl goes to the big city..... things happen.

And Bluth and I explored her neighborhood (Florentine) and walked along the Jaffo seaside.

Post-Thanksgiving

On Friday morning I woke up at my Fulbrighter friend's apartment in Tel Aviv and set out to the Fulbright office for one of my check-in meetings (scheduled for this day because I am hardly ever in Tel Aviv, so the Thanksgiving dinner last night put me in a good position to have the check-in). I opened her apartment door to find the biggest rainfall of the season so far! Wow!
Immediately switching my plan of walking the 35 minutes to the office, I hailed a taxi. In the two blocks to find a taxi, I was already soaking wet, but loving it nonetheless! The desert hasn't seen much rain yet - we got a few rainy days, but in desert language that means five minutes of downpour and sporadic drizzles for the rest of the day.
I got in the car and the driver and I both exclaimed (in Hebrew) how happy we were to see the rain! I continued to use my new and improved Hebrew to tell tim that I'm not from here - I live in the desert - so this was a real treat for me.

He proceded to ask me what I was doing in Tel Aviv and I told him about Thanksgiving, an American holiday that I came to the big city to celebrate with friends. He said he had heard about it, but asked me what we do, and what we are celebrating.

Wow, what a question! Not only have I never been asked what Thanksgiving is, but I've never had to struggle with the language barrier of choosing the right words to express the feeling of true happiness. My small Hebrew vocabulary communicated to him that Thanksgiving is a time when you can surround yourself by people who you love and that bring happiness into your life. I told him you can think about what's good in your life and take some time to appreciate it.

This conversation with my taxi driver truly made me appreciate Thanksgiving. It warmed my heart, and that little ten minute ride was my real Thanksgiving here in Israel. The dinner on Thursday night was nice, but I had a feeling of entitlement or something because it was a bougie even at a stranger's home. Kind of felt more like a cocktail party...

So, I want to take a moment to truly appreciate my support system - my family, friends, mentors, and people I look up to. You have all impacted me in some way and made me the person I am - the person I am proud to be. You've affected me in ways you will never know.
Thank you for being in my life and thank you for helping me appreciate goodness....








... Like this challah that was displayed at the Deputy Ambassador's house on Thursday night (tee hee, tee hee....):

(Ok, so maybe I turned the photo upside down, and MAYBE they intended for it to be a "t" but they didn't do a very good job, am I right?)

Thanksgiving!

Fulbright organized a Thanksgiving dinner for us at the Deputy Ambassador's home in Hertzliya Pituach (very nice neighborhood). It was nice to see my Fulbright friends once again, but the experience was nothing in the league of the Ranch that my family usually goes to on the northern coast of California. I missed snuggling by the fireplace and playing with the little Chinese baby who's family also spends the weekend at the Ranch. I miss feeding apples from the apple tree to the beautiful wild horses and walking down to the algae filled pond with my papa or holding hands with my mom on our moonlight starlight walk after the big Thursday dinner.

Here's the whole group - wives, husbands, kids, and all! (not everyone came, but a good amount of us were there). I bet you are thinking, "whoa, so many people!" - yes yes, I had no idea so many people were doing Fulbright. There are only 6 people like me (one year of either post-undergrad or post-masters research) all the other people are either doing one semester Visiting Professorships or 2 year Post-Doc programs.

Obama!

Guess who I voted for?!

All the Fulbrighters in Israel were invited to an election party thrown by the US Ambassador this past week in Tel Aviv. They held the party on Tuesday night (before the election results came in) because the Ambassador, Dan Shapiro, is appointed by the president and if Obama didn't win, then Shapiro could be out of luck. So they held the party before the results were announced.

Jess (who hosted me for the night), me, the ambassador, Amelia (my friend from Sde Boker)

I brought a friend from the midrasha to the party and we stayed in Tel Aviv for the night with one of my Fulbright friends. The party was painfully stereotypical American with hot dogs and burgers, when I was expecting this to be a nice, elegant gathering, haha. Oh well. The company was great - as I get to know my fellow Fulbrighters in Israel better, I appreciate their immense knowledge about all sorts of topics and I am always entertained by certain characters in our group.

It was a fun night to get out of Sede Boker and head to Tel Aviv, and I'll get to see my friends again soon for Fulbright Thanksgiving!

Fulbrighters!

Live band with balloon decorations!

Night Hike Magic

For the full moon last week I decided to lead a night hike! Brining my SC Outfitter skills half way around the world, I teamed up with a woman named Amber who already knew the trail and we lead about 30 people from the midrasha down into a canyon and back out to a campfire! No flashlights needed because the moon was so bright, it was amazing.

I told the story of the moon and the stars and we made food called Poyke - where you basically throw everything together (quinoa, rice, seasoning, vegetables, anything you want) in a pot and it is somehow ready all at the same time! It's a magic boiling pot!

My Address!

I moved apartments - from a studio apartment to what is called a Caravan (it's kind of like a storage container from a shipping boat, but painted nice and with a tile floor). I still live alone, but I am now located in a more social/community-oriented location. My direct neighbors are from Ethiopia and have an adorable 2 year old boy, who calls my name out when he sees me and makes me smile. My neighbor across from me is named Isabel - a very lively PhD student from Brasil who teaches me a word in Portuguese here and there and generally makes me laugh a lot.

There are 10 Caravans in my courtyard - all of our doors open to a common outside area with small gardens and picnic tables. For my first shabbat after my move, we all had dinner together:

      

 

I have a natural alarm clock every morning at 7:30, except Saturday, because I now live right next to the elementary school, so I wake up to the sounds of screaming (happy) children. Things could be worse... :)

Write me letters! And I'll write you back!
Here is my address:

Nina Gordon-Kirsch

New Caravan 127

The Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research

Sde Boqer Campus

Midreshet Ben Gurion 

Israel 84990

In front of my new pad

Hiking in Mitzpe Ramon just before magic hour. :)

On Shabbat yesterday, I went to Machtesh Romon, near Mitzpe Ramon, with five other students from Sde Boker. Miztpe Ramon is the town near three big craters in the Negev caused by erosion in the rift zone of the African and Arabian tectonic plates. "Machtesh" means crater.

We went in the afternoon, and although I thought it would be really hot, we were able to hike in the shade of the canyon walls and the sun set as we headed back to the car. On our way home we stopped at a look out point to watch the pink sunset and drink some tea. To the right we saw the sun peak behind the crater ridges, with orange and pink rays dancing on the clous. To the left we saw a lightning storm in the distance somewhere. With every flash of lightning, the clouds around the storm glowed pink from the sunset across the sky. It was an intoxicating experience with wonderful company.

Week Two: Learning and Re-learning Israel

After my second week here, I’ve learned some very important things about Israel, the culture, my program rules, and have continued adjusting to life in the desert.

I would like to share with you three things from my week:

1. “Lines” in Israel are equivalent to an American first grade class lining up after recess; every single person is pushing to be first in line.  Now that I've re-experienced it, it's something that I remember from last time I lived here as well. I have a vivid memory of going to the grocery store in Netanya and being full fledged elbowed to the side by an eighty-something year old woman who ended up in front of me to pay.  

Read an article today that introduced Israeli culture, and this was in there! 

2. At my Fulbright orientation this week (where we met the American Ambassador) the U.S. Department of State Regional Security Office presented to us about safety. The officer advised us not to go to the Old City in Jerusalem on Shabbat. Ha. I hope everyone does go because it’s one of the most magical experiences to have as a Jew in Israel.

3. After spending some time in Tel Aviv this week, I was thankful to be living in Sede Boqer: it is ridiculous how cheap my rent is in comparison, I don’t have to gag a few times per block because of looking at watery dog poop that no one cleans up, and I am finally starting to penetrate the close-knit community that exists here.

I finally got an Israeli cell phone plan for my iPhone (thanks to our close friend Yoni) so now I have internet and all my apps, etc. This means that all of you should download an app called What’s App – which allows us to text for free! Yaaahoooooo!

Classes start on Sunday – I am taking two classes about how people can live sustainably with little resources (aka in the desert), a sustainable urban planning class, a hydrology course, and Hebrew! I’m definitely looking forward to learning again, we will just see how I fare with the assigned reading and writing assignments. Homework. Oy vey.  

Date Trees and Judean Desert, near Ein Gedi

Dead sea and Jordanian mountains in the background

Apartment and Lifestyle

Apartment and Lifestyle:

Ok so here are some more details about my life here:

(my apartment when I first arrived)

I live in a single apartment (the only multi-rooms here are for families/couples). I moved into a room with a bed, dresser, couch, bathroom, desk, and kitchen. But the kitchen was completely empty, there are no accessories to the apartment. However, I am a lucky girl because I got here two weeks before the new school year starts, which means all the students who just finished are only leaving now. SO after three days, I have a toaster, kum-kum, broom, silverware, plates, and cups! I am so happy to be so lucky! An empty kitchen is no fun!

I ventured to Beer Sheva (45 min bus ride) yesterday and bought sponges, dish soap, pasta, soups, tea, and veggies. OMG I got three tomatoes, three cucumbers, one avocado, and one carrot for TWO SHEKEL! WHAAAA?! That’s like 50 cents! Daaaaang. Gotta love that open market. Also gotta love that American accent when I speak Hebrew – it’s really hit or miss. In my experience, some Israeli’s love foreigners that speak Hebrew, and others (this happens just as much, if not more) get fed up with you in about 2 seconds and wont speak to you. So anyway, I made friends with that guy so that next time I can get a good deal again.

After the shopping trip yesterday I decided to clean my apartment and move my furniture (with help from an Ethiopian, Chinese guy, and the Zambia guy). Now I feel so much better about living here. It wont be as hot, because I moved my bed to be near my back door so I can open it and get ventilation at night. Tomorrow I want to put up my decorations and organize where to put all my things, now that my furniture is in its right place.

The ambiance here is very academic. Everyone is associated with a professor – either for Masters of Ph.D. And Masters here is not like in America, it’s more like an American Ph.D. A Master degree is very intense here – a big accomplishment. This intimidates me a lot, considering I am entering the masters program with little experience in my supposed thesis topic, haha. Oh well, maybe I can get my masters in something like social sustainability, while doing my Fulbright research separate.

But I have to say, it’s truly inspiring to be around such intelligent people. This school specializes in environmental subjects like ecology, agriculture, and hydrology,  therefore I am constantly surrounded by people who speak the same language as me academically. It’s nuts! We can speak about complicated (or semi-complicated) environmental problems, or design solutions, etc, and everyone is on the same page – everyone is already past square one on environmental comprehension. Very cool. There is compost here! I bring my compost to the garden just down the road and there is some dude who’s job it is to take care of the garden.

Anyway, next week is my Fulbright Orientation. I am excited to go to Tel Aviv, and I am more excited to meet up with the other Fulbrighters. I know I haven’t written anything about Fulbright yet, but I am waiting until I have more info – about my research timeline, etc and then I will write!
 

Arrival to the Holyland!

Friday October 12, 2012

Goodbye America and Shalom Israel!

I arrived on Tuesday October 9 to Israel. Ben Gurion Univeristy sent a taxi driver to come get me – he held a sign with my name on it! It was very exciting! We drove two hours straight to the Sede Boqer campus in the middle of the desert. Literally the middle of nowhere - check it out by clicking here. Quite a different Israel than the one I knew on my gap year. There is one store,  three restaurants, and a post office.

As you might imagine, this is quite a contrast from Los Angeles. It’s been almost four days, and I’ve gone through many feelings already.

Why I find it hard to be here:

What do I do all day? Nothing. Wow. Nothing though, really. Classes haven’t started yet,  nor have I started my research, so I literally have nothing to do all day. I walk around looking for people, but it's often pretty quiet out. 

Also, it is very hot here. I wake up at like 5:30am everyday because it’s so hot. I’m looking to buy a second fan for my room. I hate being hot. poop.

Why I love it here:

Although the day times are very still and hot, the night times have been fun for me. Considering I'm in the middle of no where, there is a surprising amount of things going on at night time. I played Frisbee on Wednesday night at the kibbutz that is 10 minutes from here - there is an email group here in Sede Boqer and people post when they are doing things so that everyone can come, so I caught a ride from someone going. It was awesome! Not only did I get to meet new people, but I totally held my own on the field! Afterwards, there was a going away party for a girl who just finished her studies. I hardly knew anyone, but it was nice to see so many people there. It showed me that they really have a close-knit community here – everyone knows each other and loves each other. Thursday night, I watched the Giant's win the 5th game of the playoffs on a TV in a new friend's apartment. And tonight I am going to a concert and art show in the desert called “desART”. I am hoping that it is something like spending a night at burning man, but I can’t get my hopes up.

A second thing I've truly enjoyed is the international aspect of the school. This is an international campus so there are people from all over the world. I met folks from Mexico, Ethiopia, Jordan, Armenia, Ghana, Italy, Kazakhstan, Zambia, Brazil, and Canada. It is truly amazing. I am learning SO MUCH worldy knowledge. To those of you who only know of Kazakhstan from Borat, well think again. I learned that they speak Russian there. Also, the Kazak girl here, she is Asian looking! Totes didn't know that. The only downside of the international campus is that everyone speaks English. All. The. Time. I’ve spoken Hebrew a little bit and I will tell the Israeli’s here to speak with me. But it’s amazing – my friend from Zambia, he’s been here 6 months and only knows how to say "how are you" in Hebrew. I think that is no good. The students here are experiencing a very different Israel from the one I think of.

Something else I LOVE is that no one locks their bikes. This place is small and so community oriented. No one steals, etc. So you know which bike is yours and you don’t take someone else’s bike. I don’t have a bike yet, but I can’t wait to get one and NOT lock it and it still be there when I come back. Oh bliss.

I also feel very lucky to have the scenery that we have here. I feel like I have the Israeli Grand Canyon here on campus. It’s pretty ridiculous. This canyon is a three minute walk from my apartment:

Wow! And there are always Ibex there. I learned that it’s mating season for the Ibex, so the male does this thing where he stops in front of a woman, and kind of bows his body and sticks his tongue out for the female to look at. He stands there, still like a statue in this silly formation until she either gives him permission to mount her or shakes him away. How funny!

Fulbright here I come!

In March 2012 I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study water quality in Israel this coming year. I will be based at Ben Gurion university in Be'er Sheva from October 2012 - June 2013. I am very excited! Here is a little blurb that USC wrote about all the students that were granted Fulbrights this year: http://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/1177/thats-right-you-earned-a-fulbright/

Climbing in Rio!

I finally made this climbing video – it was the most adventurous and fun night in Rio!
I was in the hostel and I saw a guy with a harness and climbing shoes, the rest is history as he invited me to a guy’s house that he transformed into a climbing gym. In the middle of Rio. Awesome.