Your daughter/granddaughter/niece/cousin/friend? The one that is stuck half-way across the world without a french press? Or a proper bottle of baking vanilla extract? The following is a quick and pictureless plea for care packages. If you feel so inclined to turn your love into material items please send the following care of the school:
A French Press
Coffee
Vanilla Extract
Trader Joe's sponges (the yellow ones made of veggie protein)
Taco Seasoning
A Travel Mug
Chai Tea bags
For those of you not so inclined... please do send me postcards keeping me updated on your lives. I made it through the first week of real classes without too much stress and I continue to be glad to be here, though I miss you all daily.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Shabbat at the Grocery Store
B, R and my computer, at the cafe in the grocery store, using the wireless internet. We walked here on Shabbat because it's a non-kosher grocery that is open on the Sabbath. We just moved to a new sub-let that doesn't have internet service and were feeling deprived after 14 hours of internetless living....
From my seat this is what the grocery looks like... just like in the states. Even the music is cheesy American/British rock. At the far side of the grocery store is a pan-asian cafe with mediocre sushi and pretty good pad thai.... we're about to go there for lunch.
From my seat this is what the grocery looks like... just like in the states. Even the music is cheesy American/British rock. At the far side of the grocery store is a pan-asian cafe with mediocre sushi and pretty good pad thai.... we're about to go there for lunch.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Moonlit Desert Hike
Present and future flatmates, R & B and I in front of a famous desert canyon about an hour outside of Be'er Sheva. 
This picture and the one above are taken from a beautiful park where Prime Minister Ben Gurion is buried. We took a moonlit hike down this canyon Thursday night:
After viewing the canyon we had a picnic dinner by candlelight as the sun went down behind tall cyprus trees...
My hand is holding the bag to protect against the strong desert wind at dusk...
This picture and the one above are taken from a beautiful park where Prime Minister Ben Gurion is buried. We took a moonlit hike down this canyon Thursday night:
After viewing the canyon we had a picnic dinner by candlelight as the sun went down behind tall cyprus trees...
My hand is holding the bag to protect against the strong desert wind at dusk...
The desert is both serene and a bit overwhelming at night... While I do not have pictures of our actual hike I do have this one from right before we set out after dinner....
New Home Away from Home
Saroka Hospital and Medical Center where I have classes:
In the early morning -
In the middle of the day -
At night -
In the early morning -
In the middle of the day -
At night -
Saturday, August 05, 2006
A Few Pictures....
View of the Dead Sea about halfway down the decent from the higher desert:
Sublet Flatmate, B, and I on the bus on our way to the Dead Sea.
Three classmates in the valley of David's Waterfall.
Several classmates in the Dead Sea.
Sublet Flatmate, B, and I on the bus on our way to the Dead Sea.
Three classmates in the valley of David's Waterfall.
Several classmates in the Dead Sea.
Newsletter #3 - Israel at Last
Dear Family and Friends,
First Impressions for me are always telling. More than one person that has told me to reserve judgment until I know something better, but I've found I usually come to the same conclusion later on. I now tend to depend on the accuracy of my first reaction. I have been in Israel just over a week now and I am very glad to be here. Be'er Sheva could, in many ways, be pulled right out of America. The people dress like Americans, generally act like Americans, at least on a surface level, and Be'er Sheva has all of the amenities and facilities of a city of nearly 200,000 in the U.S. My sublet has three bedrooms, 1.5 baths, wireless internet and AC.
I like the other students in the program. Most of them are non-traditional medical students: they're older (25-35),They're experienced (6 other Peace Corps Volunteers, three registered nurses, and several very experienced EMTs) and finally, several are married (7 brought their spouses or fiancés, three brought their first child).
Yesterday we had a class trip to the Dead Sea and the En Gedi Nature reserve. I have included a couple of pictures attached to this email: The first is of me standing next to the Well of Abraham for which Be'er Sheva is named and the second is on the same day and includes most of my class at the war memorial outside Be'er Sheva . The third is of me and many of my classmates swimming in David's waterfall the runs through the En Gedi Reserve and into the Dead Sea. Yes, it is King David whom was apparently there and for whom it was named. The Dead Sea is so interesting and very difficult to describe with true originality. One is so very buoyant that it is almost disorienting. Yesterday evening I went for Shabbat dinner at the home of a friend. S actually went through the prayers and many of the traditions which I had not experienced last week with my host-family, whom are completely secular. I really enjoyed the dinner and the have been delighted at the general hospitality of my classmates.
I am so happy to be here and to finally be a medical student. I know many of you are still very concerned about the conflict in the north with Lebanon and I am bit at a loss for how to assure you that this nearby conflict feels as far away as our conflict in Iraq felt at home. There is an intellectual acknowledgement that there is a conflict and the constant sense that bad news could be imminent and yet life goes on in a very casual manner. Israelis seem very nonchalant about this situation in a way that is still puzzling for me. At any rate, I am safe and well and delighted to be starting my studies.
This is mostly by way of an assurance that I am safe and well and so very happy to be here! Please keep me updated about what is going on in your lives.
Love and Blessings,
K
First Impressions for me are always telling. More than one person that has told me to reserve judgment until I know something better, but I've found I usually come to the same conclusion later on. I now tend to depend on the accuracy of my first reaction. I have been in Israel just over a week now and I am very glad to be here. Be'er Sheva could, in many ways, be pulled right out of America. The people dress like Americans, generally act like Americans, at least on a surface level, and Be'er Sheva has all of the amenities and facilities of a city of nearly 200,000 in the U.S. My sublet has three bedrooms, 1.5 baths, wireless internet and AC.
I like the other students in the program. Most of them are non-traditional medical students: they're older (25-35),They're experienced (6 other Peace Corps Volunteers, three registered nurses, and several very experienced EMTs) and finally, several are married (7 brought their spouses or fiancés, three brought their first child).
Yesterday we had a class trip to the Dead Sea and the En Gedi Nature reserve. I have included a couple of pictures attached to this email: The first is of me standing next to the Well of Abraham for which Be'er Sheva is named and the second is on the same day and includes most of my class at the war memorial outside Be'er Sheva . The third is of me and many of my classmates swimming in David's waterfall the runs through the En Gedi Reserve and into the Dead Sea. Yes, it is King David whom was apparently there and for whom it was named. The Dead Sea is so interesting and very difficult to describe with true originality. One is so very buoyant that it is almost disorienting. Yesterday evening I went for Shabbat dinner at the home of a friend. S actually went through the prayers and many of the traditions which I had not experienced last week with my host-family, whom are completely secular. I really enjoyed the dinner and the have been delighted at the general hospitality of my classmates.
I am so happy to be here and to finally be a medical student. I know many of you are still very concerned about the conflict in the north with Lebanon and I am bit at a loss for how to assure you that this nearby conflict feels as far away as our conflict in Iraq felt at home. There is an intellectual acknowledgement that there is a conflict and the constant sense that bad news could be imminent and yet life goes on in a very casual manner. Israelis seem very nonchalant about this situation in a way that is still puzzling for me. At any rate, I am safe and well and delighted to be starting my studies.
This is mostly by way of an assurance that I am safe and well and so very happy to be here! Please keep me updated about what is going on in your lives.
Love and Blessings,
K
Newsletter #2 - Escalation = Delay
Sent July 24, 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
Certainly choosing to move to Israel involves some awareness that thousands of years of conflict in this region are likely to impact my life. On the eve of my departure there began an escalation of the conflict with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and while I apparently lack the necessary and normal function that would make this a worry for me, you all have expressed with love your concern over it... and so has Ben-Gurion. My departure (along with our group flight from NY to Tel Aviv and the start of orientation) was delayed one week.
So I've found myself in Poulsbo/Seattle for another week, having already exchanged well-wishes and good-byes with so many people I love and so feeling awkward about calling them up to have coffee. I am anxious to start this next step and feeling out of joint at having had to unpack, even just a little. Given too much time I am likely to start fretting over the situation in Israel, the size of my suitcases and everything in between. I have plenty of last minute activities and projects that I wasn't otherwise going to complete, yet I have still been thrown by the change in in momentum.
I foresee that it is going to be more difficult to keep my newsletters over the next four years non-political. Certainly far more of you have opinions about what is going on in Israel and Lebanon than had opinions about West African politics... and I have more than my fair share of opinions as, no doubt, y'all can guess.
I'll write again as soon as am settled in Be'er Sheva. Provided there is not another delay, I should arrive there early Thursday morning. I do not know how long it will be before I have good internet access. Until then, be safe!
Blessings,
K
Newsletter #1 - The Plan
Sent May 16, 2006
Dear Friends and Family,
While a few of you have been a part of my adventure while I applied to medical school, many of you have only heard vaguely of my plans so…. here are a few details.
I am moving to Be’er Sheva, Israel on July 18, 2006 to attend Ben Gurion University - Medical School for International Health. I will live in Be’er Sheva for most of the next four years and will graduate with an MD in International Health in May of 2010.
I feel increasingly sure that this was God’s plan all along.
- In my junior year of college a good friend gave me a mug she had found at Goodwill - it features a conference at Ben Gurion University and is still in my cupboard.
- During my Peace Corps service in The Gambia, I was repeatedly drawn to information in the Peace Corps newsletter about Ben Gurion MSIH.
- Now I’ve discovered that Be’er Sheva is a sister city to Seattle!
Surely these things all add up to a sign? Or, at the very least, the planting of a very good idea.
As an answer to your questions:
1) Yes, I am very VERY excited to be moving to the Holy Land!!
2) Yes, I’ll need to learn Hebrew. There will be a four week intensive orientation including Hebrew study and then continued Hebrew lessons for the first two years of medical school. While classes will be in English, grocery shopping and clinical work will be in Hebrew (or Arabic or Russian…)
3) Average temperatures are as follows:
Month Avg. Avg. Avg.
High Low Precip.
January 53.0 F 39.0 F 5.60 in
February 56.0 F 40.0 F 4.50 in
March 61.0 F 43.0 F 3.90 in
April 70.0 F 49.0 F 1.20 in
May 77.0 F 54.0 F 0.10 in
June 82.0 F 59.0 F N/A
July 84.0 F 63.0 F N/A
August 84.0 F 63.0 F N/A
September 82.0 F 61.0 F 0.00 in
October 77.0 F 57.0 F 0.90 in
November 66.0 F 49.0 F 2.70 in
December 57.0 F 42.0 F 4.30 in
4) Yes, I will be coming home someday…I am currently planning to do my residency back here, in the Pacific Northwest, starting June/July 2010. In the mean time, I may be able to get home for holidays and will be home for at least part of Summer 2007.
5) Yes, there are many interesting things to do and see in Be’er Sheva. For example: There is a weekly camel market - every Thursday morning! There is also, apparently, at least one small opera company, a huge, old, British cemetery and the Dead Sea, while quickly disappearing, is still only an hour away.
6) Yes, it is safe. In fact, scarily, Israel is much safer than then United States when it comes to homicide statistics… and safer even than Canada when it comes to non-illness/age-related deaths (accidents, shootings, etc.). I will be worried about all of my friends and family in the U.S. and Canada and praying daily for your safety… ;)
7) Yes, I still love you and will miss you all desperately. I will answer all correspondence as best I can and send regular updates.
8) For more information please see: http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/bgcu-md/Gurion.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beersheba http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/places/beer.html http://www.jewishmag.com/61mag/beersheva/beersheva.html
If you know of someone who would also like to receive update emails from me, please send me their email address...
All My Love,
K
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