It’s been a great first week, and I’ve finally gotten settled into things pretty nicely here. I went out to the grave site of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, because it was about time.

Graves of BG and wife.

David Ben Gurion's grave. How do I know which one it is? BECAUSE I NOW KNOW THE HEBREW ALPHABET!!

It turns out there is also a nice little park around the corner from this site:

Of course, there's definitely no massive drip irrigation to keep it this green... or anything silly like that.

Today I got to sit in on one of David’s graduate lectures on the basics of solar cell physics. This brought the total number of students attending to… three! It was interesting yet palpable, even though it assumes a working knowledge of quantum physics, chemistry and electrical engineering (!). I then proceeded to bask in that precious stage of coding known as “slam your head against your monitor until the stupid mistake you made becomes glaringly obvious,” but even this did not reveal my error. Hopefully, it will be taken care of tomorrow.

For the remainder of the day, I worked with online Hebrew flashcards that can be downloaded into an excellent free language learning software program called Byki (by Transparent Language). Now all I need are some people to practice with… hmmm!

"There must be at least one person who speaks this so-called 'Hebrew' out there..."

In other news, humus, falafel and pita bread are all tasty foods. That is all 🙂

Today I took my first trip into Be’er Sheva, the nearest city. I spent most of my time shopping around since the one mini mart we have on campus has some pretty inflated prices. However, it turns out even in the city things are just generally more expensive than in the US! For instance, I’m seriously kicking myself for not grabbing sunblock from Target for <$10 before coming here; instead I paid three times that in the supermarket today!

Busy intersection in the middle of the city.

The part of the city I was in felt pretty safe, especially because there were security guards and military officers with assault rifles walking around the bazaars or waiting for buses. I picked up a SIM card to use with my phone, then walked around for a bit.

I also found a large supermarket and picked up a few things, but ended spending about 40 minutes in line because the people in front of me decided to purchase a metric ton of food with a handful of problematic traveler’s checks.

The major thing I took away from my visit was that knowing Hebrew would be really really useful. I started learning the alphabet and basic words today (luckily there are similarities to Arabic), and will keep looking for a summer class.

When I got back to campus, I couldn’t resist strolling outside and taking a few pictures of the canyon basking in the sun. I also managed to catch a herd of Ibex (mountain goats)!

Ibex!

Can YOU find the Ibex(s)?

Just chillin on a very steep hill.

Om nom nom trash is so good!

Desert lizards are pretty cool too.

The canyon in all its glory!

View of my compound from afar.

After sleeping for about 13 hours, I have finally started getting settled into my new home in the middle of the Negev desert. The most impressive thing so far is the view that can be seen from my room, which is not far from the edge of this:

It is surprisingly cool here, as there is a nice breeze and (most importantly) NO HUMIDITY!

I was invited over to my sponsor’s (David Faiman) house soon after  my arrival yesterday. It was impressive because it is passively cooled — no AC! David is a brilliant and entertaining individual — he owns the only original copy of an 1826 opera, and has even produced a recording of the same composer’s work!

This morning I woke up early and took all of the pictures posted thus far (while it was still cool out). The Center for Desert Research is about ten minutes walking distance, so it’s good to get some brief exercise.

View of a reflector from outside the facility.

Today I was brought up to speed by David about the basics of solar photovoltaics, and it was a good thing I’d just finished a semester on E&M! Afterwards, I was introduced to most of the faculty (there are only 16 total) of the Desert Center, and attended a lecture about similar solar installations in Australia and the potential for Israeli-Australian collaboration.

The technical portion focused specifically on modeling dust accumulation on the reflector, and drag forces from wind that can sometimes lift up entire arrays! This is a scary thought, when you have large ones that weigh up to 20 tons.

I’ve been told my work will encompass both modeling and collecting measurements outside, so it should be a pretty exciting summer! My next project is to sniff out a summer Hebrew class on campus — it would make things a lot easier around here!

After a very draining day at Bush airport, I was not able to depart because the Chicago connection was snowed out. I overnighted in Houston once more, and am currently in Newark awaiting my nonstop flight to Tel Aviv. At least this way I’ll be arriving at the more reasonable 9:30 AM in Israel, rather than the planned 3:30!

The one redeeming point of my travels so far was getting bumped up to first class on the way to Newark. Hopefully, my checked bag will also make it to Israel (they refused to pull it from the original Chicago plane after it was loaded) .

And special thanks to my wonderful RA Henny for giving me a place to stay/ride to the airport for my red-eye departure!

After a hectic day of packing, I am officially ready to depart for Israel! I managed to squeeze in one last visit with my Turkish friend/Arabic speaking partner today — we had a delicious dessert at a Turkish restaurant in Houston (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanafeh).

The first major event will be my 13 hour layover in Warsaw and my trek to the downtown (to kill some time). Stay tuned for pictures!