Settled in Southern Israel (Heidi)

I've become quite comfortable here in Beersheva and have settled into a nice working routine. During the week I'm at the Medical Center writing about comparisons between the Incident Command Systems (ICS) in Israel and Atlanta. It didn't take long to learn that comparing these two was like comparing apples and pumpkins... So I've made a few changes in the topics I'm looking at and will hopefully be able to generate something a little more practical. This week I'll also be switching my focus a little and looking at the role and development of resilience within the communities here. I'm really looking forward to this and hopefully will be able to use some aspect of this for my thesis.

I've taken the train back up to Tel Aviv and Netanya (up by Haifa), to attend two separate hospital preparedness events. Both were excellent supplements to the military drill I saw my first week here and provide a good background for learning more about mass trauma hospital response. Photo descriptions: The hospitals keep protective suits for their staff for use when patients come in from explosions that occur during wartime or a suspect blast. The decontamination showers are outside the hospitals here, much different from the US where decon takes place at the sight.
I can't say enough about the people I'm working with. They have done so much to make sure I'm taken care of and are really looking after me. Before I arrived my supervisor here put me in contact with one of her graduate students, Adi, which has made it really easy to find things to do and meet people. It seems every night I am invited with her friends to play volleyball, ultimate frisbee, swimming, or repelling. I have found this an excellent chance to get to know "true" Israeli life, especially that of young people here. Plus, they have group meals it seems every night, and they're making sure I'm getting to try all the traditional Jewish food. I could post dozens of pictures of the amazing food here! The Friday feasts are really spectacular and this past Friday we had one that was really traditional with the prayers and separation of meats and milk. Very cool. Photo descriptions: Getting ready for a night of competative foosball... playing volleyball (I've never played when it's this hot)... one of the many delicious meals, this night there were 13 people that brought dishes! Last Tuesday was Student Day, and so they had a big 24 hour music festival. Most of the artists sang in Hebrew, but it's pretty amazing how you don't need to understand the words to sing along with the chorus! The whole thing was really fun and it was great to get out and enjoy a little Goldstar-the main beer in Israel. Here's a picture from the festival.

Unfortunately I haven't done much sightseeing -- I've been in Israel for 3 weeks and haven't even visited Jerusalem! How sad is that! Part of this is due to the fact that public transportation doesn't run on Friday afternoons or Saturdays... so it's a bit of a planning dilemma when I'm working all week (the work week here is from Sunday to Thursday), so I'm definitely glad I gave myself a couple weeks at the end to travel. But it's great knowing locals because they have cars and know all the secrets: next Saturday Adi and some friends are planning a morning climb up Masada so I can see the Dead Sea at sunrise, and there's also a 3 day hiking/camping trip at the Sea of Galilee in the works, where I'll get to stay at my first kibbutz! Photo descritptions: I realized I haven't posted any pictures of the area -- just preparedness stuff! So, here's Tel Aviv from the Jaffa side... the Jaffa port is one of the oldest ports in the world, apparently it's referenced in the Bible and was constructed around the time of Alexandria... OK, so India had feral dogs, here cats are absolutely everywhere. Everytime you walk by a dumpster they scatter like crazy. I'm tempted to pet them but I'm sure I'd get infected with a few hundred diseases...