Day 75 - Drawn-out goodbyes

I woke up early and headed to Café Madaa, where I happily found Alissa and had a nice talk before going to the lab. Once there, I worked like a crazy person to finish processing and entering data from a few more images and adding the points to all my Sigma Plot files, then began cleaning up all my files so they’d be interpretable by a normal human being (a.k.a. one other than myself). By lunch I was only about halfway done, which depressed me as I had afternoon plans to head to Jerusalem with Jordan and Jonathan. I said goodbye to Erica as she left, then headed out to eat.

I was one of the first to arrive at San Martin for the real goodbye lunch, so started a movement by sitting at a very long table, hoping everyone would join. They did, in such numbers that naming them all would not only be pointless but also impossible, as I couldn’t even see everyone seated. Jordan sat near me and I told him Jonathan had texted me to back out of our journey, and that I would have to as well because I hadn’t yet found my professor, to whom I had to say goodbye before leaving. He was disappointed but understood, and decided to go anyway to pray for the last time at the western wall.

I was pretty bummed throughout lunch, and luckily Daniela spearheaded an effort to hang out with people later today. I had that to look forward to as I went back to work, where I photocopied my entire lab notebook and organized all my papers, then burned all of my TEM images and data files to a very large DVD for Professor Wagner. We kept missing each other when trying to say goodbye, though, so I was glad when he finally tracked me down in the photocopy room, shook my hand, and told me to write a draft of a paper. After this, there wasn’t much to do but turn in my keys and say goodbye to Noa, XiaoMeng, Patro, and Asaf. What a great group to work in, and a good building to be in. I couldn’t have asked for better.

It was about time, so I left, with all of my things, and met Daniela (successfully, this time!), Tamara, Rachel and Zvonimir for an afternoon coffee. Tamara had to leave after a bit to finish packing, but we lingered until the evening, then headed back to Clore. Everyone was chilling in the lobby, either doing nothing or making weekend plans for Eilat and Petra, and it was reluctantly that I headed downstairs to change and grab my climbing stuff. I did this slightly earlier than I needed so I could have plenty of time to say goodbye, especially to Clay and Tamara who were leaving tonight!

Finally I had to break away and go meet Nitzan, which I again did slightly earlier than I had to because I wanted to call Ben. I anticipated this being a rather short chat, but Nitzan was a bit late so it was much longer. We had a great talk, so I was in a happy mood by the time Nitzan arrived. I found, as soon as I got in the car, that Yaron had backed out, so it’d be us, and Giora and Tamar (a different Tamar, though, who they call by her last name to alleviate any confusion) would be meeting us there. It happened that they were both late as well, so there was no harm done.

For the second time, I was able to avoid the equipment fee by having all my own stuff. This was just one small positive thing at the start of a great night climbing. I mainly led, starting off by warming up on something I had already done. By the time I reached the top my arms were screaming, an alert besides my soreness of the past few days that I had really worked hard on Monday at Performance Rock. But somehow I still managed to feel great about my night.

I was the first of us to test a new blue route that became negative and had a huge feature, and Nitzan said it really showed how much I’ve been improving. He got farther than me, of course, but still wasn’t able to conquer it. Then we switched so I was with Tamar, and we top-roped quite a bit. There were plently of new, and as it turns out, challenging, routes for us to do, and I did some moves I don’t think I could have done before this summer. After a chunk of time, Giora had to leave, so we said goodbye, and soon after Tamar had to catch her bus. Nitzan then showed me a route he had told me about over the phone after the last time he was here: a blue one with overhanging steps. I didn’t get too far, but it was still fun to try. We cooled down and then went over to boulder.

Unlike other nights, I actually felt good about this bouldering session. At first Nitzan was suggesting ridiculous things, but this quickly changed into constructing routes which I could almost finish! Revolutionary. We had a good time and only stopped as the place was about to close.

We were both hungry as we approached Rehovot, so decided to go to the science park. Rapper, the Mexican place, was sadly closed, so we settled for Black Burger, a pretty decent burger place. I really amused Nitzan with the use of the Hebrew word for change, mostly because, I expect, he thinks I’m completely ignorant (when in fact that’s only 99.9% the case). After a bit we headed to his apartment, where I got the grand tour. He just moved in a couple of weeks ago, but it’s a really nice place. I looked at his photo albums from his trip to China as he burned me a ton of music, then he walked me back to campus.

Back in Clore, I had promised Jonathan to hang out, so I headed for his room. I found him slightly asleep, but woke him for a short chat which ended with me passing out mid-word. This I took as a good sign to go to sleep.

Zvonimir contemplating science 

(which is what the second word of the name of Cafe Madaa means)

Day 73 - Quit while you're ahead!

The big day. I stopped by Café Madaa and got iced coffee to go, then headed straight to Schmidt Auditorium, where we’d be hearing each other’s presentations most of the day.

Maria Magdalena went first. I was second to last, after two breaks. When I stood up, we were actually 4 minutes ahead of schedule, but by the time I sat down, we were 5 minutes behind. I spoke a bit too long, but I think it went well, and I got lots of questions, which was really nice: among others, Ari asked about the difference in size for functionalized tubes, and Tanmay asked about the TEM. Professor Wagner and practically the whole group (Erica, XiaoMeng, and Patro) showed up, as well as Asaf and Nitzan! This was nice but rather embarrassing, especially when my whole fan club got up to leave just as I finished, leaving the hall much emptier than before.

Maciej finished up the day with his presentation on the subject of particle physics, and spoke really well though I couldn’t get everything he was saying. I headed back to work for a few hours after we concluded for the day, taking a break to meet Lisa and get some delicious chocolate cake at Café Madaa before resuming until around 6:30.

At 7, Tamara had plans to find some kosher sushi along Hertzl, so we set off once our group, consisting of Rachel, Lisa, Dan, Jordan, and Joel, had all arrived and put their stuff in their rooms. Unfortunately, we knew Tuk Tuk to be not kosher, and SameSame, which had a kosher marking on their sign, had it covered up and told Tamara something confusing involving their vegetables, or something, and that they would be kosher next week. We moved on to Buzzi, where our luck was worse: there was nothing kosher about it.

After walking a bit farther along Hertzl seeking a meet place (because Joel is lactose intolerant), we finally turned back and settled for our favorite meat sandwich place about two blocks from Clore. Not as hungry, I decided to get falafel next door, and Lisa joined me. This was a good decision not only because the pitas are of a less gargantuan size, but we weren’t part of a huge group and so got our food and ate it before many of the other group had even completed ordering. We sat and chilled until everyone had gotten their food and eaten, though, at which point Lisa and I headed back to Clore.

I grabbed some things I needed to return at the mall before heading out again. We ran into Rachel coming towards us as part of the rest of the group returning, but she joined us for the walk. The first stop was Tartufo, because Lisa had yet to partake of ice cream at all in Israel, and considered herself a snob, a purist and a traditionalist at once. She ended up getting chocolate orange, but not before she and I tried lots of flavors and Rachel tried a few of the sorbets (she had had meat too recently). We sat for a bit to allow Lisa to eat, then continued down Hertzl towards the mall. On the way, we decided on a whim to see if the grocery store had Tim Tams, and, lo and behold, it miraculously did! I bought two boxes.

As we left, we passed a lottery booth. Rachel had told me earlier this morning of her stellar 5-shekel victory, so with Rachel and Lisa’s help, I purchased a scratch-off ticket for 5 shekels. The man asked me my astrological sign and seemed pleased with my answer, and I scratched it and happened to win 10 shekels! I decided to quit while I was ahead (after all, 5 shekels isn’t too shabby), and we continued along our way.

At the mall, I made the necessary return, which was complicated because I also wanted to have them retroactively apply my (new) membership discount, but it eventually was a success, so we left. Near campus once more, we stopped in the small grocery to get juice, for now, and chocolate milk, for the Tim Tam adventure. I used my newly won lottery money to buy myself a carton of chocolate milk in celebration, and we sipped as we crossed the street and entered Clore.

The three of us hung out a bit more in the basement kitchen, where we were joined by Jordan and Jonathan, the latter of whom had the wacky idea to try to flip, with one finger and in one motion, a chair from upside-down on the table to the floor so he could sit on it. Obviously this was a failure, and was very noisy, so he soon gave up and contented to make himself a sandwich. He put it away when he heard of my plans for ice cream with Tamar later, and decided to tag along.

When Tamar texted me that she was close by, we left, and met her there. I got the chocolate orange, which is really to die for, and snickers, while Tamar stuck with her favorite flavors. This would be our last ice cream date, so we sat and chatted for as long as we could, but Tamar had to be up early to baby-sit her cousin and eventually we had to call it a night. We said goodbye and wished each other luck on our travels (she’s headed to Spain next week, semi-permanently), then Jonathan and I headed back to Clore.

We found Jordan and Joel chilling in the lobby, and sat to join them. The main discussion topic was a minority, but not rare, tendency to mislabel Jonathan’s orientation, and a dissection of Jonathan’s every aspect resulted, trying to identify the source of the confusion. The upshot: it isn’t any one thing. Jordan eventually left the discussion in favor of bed, but Joel, Jonathan and I kept at this until far too late, when we all followed suit.

Day 66 - Panic! at the office

I grabbed a muffin on the way to work this morning, but once I got there I realized that the flash drive where all of my work and documents are located wasn't in my backpack. I searched slightly frantically for it, then decided (/hoped) it was in my room somewhere, and walked home. I randomly ran into Asaf on the path to Clore, and we chatted briefly before I went on to my room. I looked all over my desk and still couldn't find it, which was awful. Luckily I peered underneath my desk chair, where it was. Phew.

I headed back to the lab and worked on my presentation all morning. Tamara and I met at Charlie's for lunch, where Lisa was almost done eating but stuck around to chat. I had chocolate milk with my meal, for the third time in Lisa's presence (and third total). Back at Perlman, I continued working for a couple more hours, then headed to the Physics Building for another talk.

The speaker was a professor in physics, and his presentation was titled "Massive Black Holes." It started out by being very interesting, but all the blinds were drawn and I had forgotten to take my narcolepsy medication, and together these factors led to a disaster which resulted in my not really knowing anything further about this talk. Daniela, who sat next to me, told me it wasn't too noticeable, and that she would have woken me if I had snored too loudly. I was terribly embarrassed anyway. On the walk back, though, we made plans to eat dinner the next day.

At work afterwards, Noa had found a really old sonicator in a corner of our lab, so we decided to make some more samples. I had to take some pictures of it, though, so I also took some other lab shots (see below). At around this time, Mom called to tell me they were back on campus for the evening. I told them to stop by Perlman, as they were about to walk by. They came up to the fourth floor. Between the elevators and the lab, Professor Wagner and XiaoMeng were chatting, so I introduced the fam to the Professor. I then gave them the three-minute tour of the office and lab, introduced them to Noa and Patro, and took them down one floor to meet Asaf.

Next we headed to the stairwell, where I showed them the Foucault's Pendulum as we headed up to the fifth floor. I made Nitzan come out and meet them, where there was an awkward moment where Nitzan told my mom he was kidding with all his jokes about not holding onto the rope when we climb, and my mom's blank and slightly confused face revealed I had not been telling her anything about these jokes. After this amusing occurrence, they left Perlman so I could do some more work before we met for dinner.

I had told my family we would have some of my friends as guests for dinner, but didn't know who that would be yet. Once I made it back to Clore, I ran into Jonathan, and asked him to come along with Stephen (who wasn't around, but who I called). After about a half hour, my family approached Clore, Stephen had returned to Clore and dropped off his stuff, and he, Jonathan and I headed up to the lobby. We all met on the lawn and started walking toward Tuk Tuk, the sushi/Japanese restaurant near the science park.

Jonathan and Stephen introduced themselves and such on the way. My dad complained mildly as we walked, because the science park is sort of far from campus. Finally we made it to the restaurant, where we figured out the seating arrangements and surveyed the menu. I ordered a sweet potato "photomaki" (futo maki) and a rainbow roll thingie, while my family also ordered sushi and Jonathan and Stephen ordered cooked things and/or vegetarian rolls. I think it was a great meal: the food was good and my "roommates" seemed to get along with my family. Jonathan is in applied math, so he and my dad talked about that stuff, while Stephen and my brother completely agree in their hatred of Million Dollar Baby. The latter relates to the following conversation:

Stephen: I used to be a real movie buff. I would watch all of the Academy Award winners, and everything...

Me: Andrew, you and Stephen can really agree on something.

Andrew: Is it that Million Dollar Baby is a terrible movie, and should not have won Best Film, and that you stopped watching the Oscars after 2004?

Stephen: YES! How did you know that?

So it was a good meal. We were off to our normal Goldman family roll, and our guests didn't seem to mind. When we headed back to Clore, pretty much everyone was in the lobby, so I was able to have my parents meet some new people, including Jordan, Lisa, Joel, Tamara, and Ari! We sat and chilled, then decided to try the other ice cream place, Tartufo. We all had more basic flavors tonight, before heading back to Clore. Andrew left with my parents this time, so I joined those chilling in the lobby registering for the GREs together, namely Ari, Tamara and Stephen. The registration session eventually degenerated into Ari and me watching a few episodes of The Office before I headed to bed.

Today's pictures feature Perlman:

Noa hard at work breaking ice...

...for the sonicator! It used to be white. I know because I found it online (they still sell it!)

Patro dipping silicon, held in clothespins, into solution

Day 55 - Asaf was right! (or alternatively, the best and most jam-packed road trip ever!)

{Readers beware: this post will set a record for most pictures of any single post for this blog. If it loads slowly, that is why. Dial-up users: there is no hope for you...turn back now}

Stephen, Dave, Itamar and I woke up before 6 am today, and after working out the sharing of the shower and getting dressed and packed, left the apartment and got into the car for what promised to be an amazing roadtrip.

Once we got on our way, I of course fell asleep. I think this was allowed, or maybe even intended, because Stephen did it too. Itamar kindly woke us at our first stop: a kibbutz called Lohamei Hagetaot, where we got out to see a Roman aqueduct. After some pictures we explored the kibbutz a bit on foot, and bought some breakfast food at a small grocery store before getting back in the car.

As we progressed farther and farther north, the scenery got more and more unbelievable. Itamar had served some of his time in the army at a base near the border with Lebanon, and therefore was very familiar with the region's roads and history. He warned us whenever we were about to embark upon a particularly beautiful piece of road, and was able to answer all of Stephen's questions about the locals: what they do, what the towns are like, etc. Stephen was really enamored with the landscape and area in general.

The next stop occurred after Itamar navigated us through the dirt roads of a small national park near the border with Lebanon. We got out of the car to find an amazingly beautiful overlook, and across the gaping ravine stood the ruins of a fort used by Crusaders, creatively named Montfort. Itamar is very knowledgeable about this area, and told us a bit about the history of the structure. On the way back out of the park, we stoppped a few times to take pictures, then were back on our way.

Since we coulnd't really go much farther north (due to fences and, you know, national borders), we were now headed South. Next was what I think is Itamar's favorite of the stops: Bar Am. A national park, it contains the ruins of a very old stone synagogue, and also the ruins of a village, where fruit orchards had long since been abandoned. Most of the fruit wasn't ripe, but we found fig trees and picked some pomegranates which will hopefully ripen on our windowsills in about a month. The park was filled with fragments of old stone walls, and occasionally a peek through the trees rewarded you with an amazing view of the countryside.

Being hungry once more by the time we got back onto the road, we stopped in a town called Jish (which was pretty Arab-looking) for lunch. Once we got back in the car after this, we were in a slight hurry. Dave started driving in a slightly less leisurely manner, and when we made stops to take pictures, we got out of the car less and less. We still had to make it back to Givat Shmuel to grab our stuff and the food, and then get to Rehovot before shabbat, so our schedule was tight.

The roads in the Golan were straight and empty, so Dave was able to make up for some time. We zoomed past abandoned tanks and ruins of Syrian bases amid the golden-brown grass. Dave slowed slightly as we passed the Sea of Galilee, and we made our last stop soon after, at the Quneitra overlook. Itamar had been showing us where we were on the map all along, and continued at this stop. Using my camera's zoom lens, we were able to identify a few amazing things from this vista: a suburb of Damascus in the distance, a semi-permanent UN camp, the ruins of a relatively modern town among the trees nearby, and some windmills (for power) atop a distant hill. Itamar imparted some more knowledge about the location before we got back into the car. He also pointed out two nearby hills, one of which is home to an Israeli base and one a Syrian one.

After a bit more driving, including Hamat Gader, a gorgeous downhill drive and view, we reached a checkpoint: the entrance to the West Bank. No other cars were around. Dave was asked to show his ID but was given no trouble, and soon we were inside. The lanscape was different than even slightly north: it was desert. We passed one or two settlements, which were like oases of white walls and green trees in a sea of sand. A few donkeys could be observed along the deserted road, and once we passed a herd of sheep, but other than that all we had to keep us company was an endless expanse of dunes, dotted with low bushes, and the narrow road stretching out like a gray ribbon in front of us.

A few things to note about the West Bank portion of our drive. One, Stephen, using my phone, was able to get perfect cell reception to call someone about shabbat plans. Two, an interesting sign, reproduced below, revealed to us that Israelis have less-than-unlimited rights and access in the region. It came at an interesting point in our journey, because at the three-way intersection where we stopped to see whether to go right or left, it stood to our right, by a checkpoint, and told us explicitly we weren't allowed past it. At about the same time as Itamar concluded we needed to go left based on the map, I concluded that we needed to go left based on the law (apparently). And three, while we had no trouble exiting (except that Dave volunteered information about our destination which wasn't requested and led the soldier to believe he was asking for directions), the driver of the car next to us was asked to pull over and get out.

Past the checkpoint, Dave was relatively familiar with the roads because he worked nearby, so we flew along towards Tel Aviv. We could see the sea in the distance, tinged pink. Soon thereafter we reached Givat Shmuel. We all hurried upstairs and gathered our stuff and the food, then packed up the car and I navigated Dave to Rehovot. We luckily made it in time! After bringing everything into Clore and putting the food on the hot plate, Stephen and Dave showered and dressed quickly, and headed to services. I chilled a bit, showered, and then helped (a very tiny bit) to set up for dinner.

Joel, Jonathan, Dave, Stephen, some of Stephen's and Dave's friends who happened to be in Israel for various reasons, and someone from Stephen's lab, joined us for the shabbat meal. I unfortunately had to leave slightly early to head to the mall, but was able to eat my fill before this occurence. I called Asaf on the way, and soon was sitting outside the movie theater with he and XiaoMeng. A few minutes before 10, we were able to enter and pick up our pre-paid tickets. I left Jonathan's and Joel's with the man at the door, and we went inside to find almost the entire summer population of Clore scattered about the theater.

Soon Joel and Jonathan arrirved, and the movie, The Dark Knight, began. I have to say, I really enjoyed it. I love that superhero films are so dark now...I like having something to think about when leaving the theater. Heath Ledger's performance was remarkable - I still can't really believe it was him. There also weren't too many unnecessary computer-generated scenes involving explosions or the like, which I appreciate. And that is all I will say, in order to avoid spoiling anything (although since it came out a week later in this country than in the country where most people are reading this, I probably shouldn't worry).

On the walk back, Asaf, XiaoMeng and I discussed various things, including the fact that XiaoMeng and I should really be making our nanocomposites for Batman and not "science," as clearly the former has more money in it and is cooler. Asaf and I also discussed that he needs to be mentioned in this blog more, as his tag count is too low. This topic seems to be coming up often nowadays...people are probably realizing I will be leaving soon and that they have to start hanging out with me in earnest, or their tag counts will never increase enough to make them competitive.

Anyway, back at Clore I said goodbye to Asaf and XiaoMeng, and went to bed soon after getting back to my room, after a quick hello to Stephen and Dave. It was a long, but exciting, day that I won't soon forget. I have way too many pictures, but I've tried to include a representative selection below.

Me at the aqueduct

Itamar and Dave racing back to the car

Stephen looking out at MontfortItamar, Stephen and Dave
Montfort
Itamar taking a picture out the car window


Goats!
The Lebanese border
The location at which this picture was taken
...



Dave about to ask directions from some farmers
By an apple orchard


Stephen dozing off
Jish!
Another road in Jish
At the convenience store in Jish...note the interesting brand name

The synagogue at Bar Am
Me observing it
Pomegranate!


Us walking along a path with fruit trees...
An open pomegranate

Two on one branch! I picked these.










Ruins from when the Syraians occupied this area
The demolished town, and a Damascus suburb in the background
Windmills!
The Sea of Galilee





The Golan is so lush in places...
Entering the West Bank
Donkeys

Desert...


Let's not turn right...
A soldier at the exit checkpoint
Exiting the West Bank