Day 54 - Inconsistencies in the rate of passage of time

Time at work today seemed to drag on or leap forward, unpredictably. I don't even really recall getting much done, because my head felt like it was located in an insulated box, lined with cotton balls, somewhere rather far away from my body. It was an odd experience. Lunch occurred with almost the entire gang at San Martin, as usual. I took a break with Noa in the early afternoon for a slice of cake at Cafe Madaa, where we unexpectedly (har har) ran into Zvonimir. We split a piece of delicious mousse cake, while Zvonimir sipped coffee at the next table. I think Noa appreciated his sarcasm right off the bat.

I had spent most of the day trying to hunt down Professor Wagner to chat for a moment, and when I finally did, we talked for about 10 minutes, during which he decided I should present to the entire group at 8:45 am on Monday and ask everyone for feedback at once. I feel two ways about this. On the one hand, I really like this idea, as I can explain myself one time and get lots of feedback from people who understand the intricacies of my processing. But on the other, I had to get started right away on a presentation, since I only finally found him in the afternoon. The upshot was that I stayed at work slightly later than I meant to. Luckily I had some slides to start off with that I had made so far for discussions with Professor Wagner or just for my own clarification.

Back in Clore in the evening, I packed a bag for the night and next day, and intended to leave very soon to bring it to Itamar and Dave's place in Givat Shmuel before meeting everyone for dinner in Tel Aviv at an Indian restaurant called Indira. Luckily, Stephen saved me much time and effort, as he was headed there soon anyways, and took my bag for me. I hung out for a short while, then changed and headed out with Lisa, Dan, Iris, Daniela, Ari, Zvonimir, Clay, Jordan, the other Dan, Maciej, Maxime, Joel, Alissa, and of course the man responsible for the planning of the outing: Tanmay. Four of us took a cab to the restaurant, while the rest just missed the train to Tel Aviv and had to wait for almost 45 minutes for the next one. Finally it arrived, but we had to switch trains just before Tel Aviv.

Luckily we made it to the correct stop, and, due to Lisa's superior directional skills, successfully navigated the approximately 7 minute walk to the restaurant. When we got there, we found the entire upper floor had been reserved for our party, and that Zvonimir, Jordan, Dan and Clay had gotten drinks already. The rest of us ordered, and the food started arriving soon. It was all extremely delicious, and I think I would have thought so even if I hadn't been incredibly hungry (by this time it was about 10 pm). The samosas were small but good, the naan was crispy and delicious, and my chicken malai kabob was more like the chicken makhani at Rasika (Mom, you know what I'm talking about), meaning it was to die for.

Dinner went on a while, and I was so sleepy that I dozed off, waking up when everyone was leaving. They all grabbed cabs back to Rehovot, but I got one to drop me off at the main gate of Bar Ilan, basically across the street from Itamar and Dave's place. I found Itamar and Josh outside, and when we headed up I found Stephen stressing out slightly about the chicken in the oven, which he was preparing for Shabbat dinner tomorrow. Josh and I had some frozen grapes and we all chatted a bit, but I was so exhausted, and the plan was to wake up so early tomorrow, that I went to bed soon after.

Stay tuned for plenty of photos tomorrow...