Diwali!, by blogger of the month Ariella Krones

I will have three New Years this year!  First was Rosh Hashanah, last will be January 1, and today we celebrated Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.  Though (I think) the 5-day festival is over, Saturday night worked the best for a low-key celebration.  And, because we have a pool and a substantial outdoor space, we were asked to host the celebration.  This holiday is about a lot of things, and is celebrated in many different ways.  As one of the stories was told to me, a prince was exiled from his city for many years, and when he returned, the city lit up with lights in celebration.   Hence, we light candles, preferably floating in water, and eat sweets.  These things I can do!

A tradition that one of our classmates keeps is to say a prayer or wish as she lights a candle.  So as we sat around the pool and watched our tinfoil boats of tea lights move, we each said something that we were thankful for.  I realized, listening to my classmates (from 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd year) how much each of us appreciates both this education and each other.   We had finished long days and yet we took the time to sit, listen to and learn from one another.  After we had each spoken, Maya led us in an ‘ohm.’  I hope that every week can begin with a group affirmation of the sound of the earth beginning.  - (thanks to Andrew for the pictures of the lights!)  October blogger of the month, Ariella Krones

Some travelling, physically and mentally, by blogger of the month Ariella Krones

It’s the beginning of the end of our last long break in our first semester of med school.  Whew.  In celebration and badly in need of a break from studying, I took a nap in the hammock outside.  [background: by some stroke of luck, I ended up living in an apartment with a lovely yard and lovely neighbors who own a hammock].  It is finally getting chilly here, which for some reason made the half hour so enjoyable.  Maybe Be’ersheva is finally starting to feel like a home?

Many students at MSIH travel for the sukkot break.  I went with a few friends to Crete.  We were not really sure what to expect, but none of us had been before and we all wanted some change of scenery.  We got that, in many ways, including a day and half of rain.  While we did not get to do as much hiking and exploring as we would have liked, I loved it.  We went for a walk in the pouring rain along the old Venetian harbor, marveling at how the waves that splashed up from the Mediterranean Sea onto our feet looked dark, sharp and altogether cartoonish. 

The old Venetian harbor in Crete on a less-wet day.

When our feet started to squish, we ducked into what looked like an old mosque- domed, but with no turret, and with Arabic artwork outside and in.  There was a small art exhibit inside.  After looking around for a bit at the range of pieces this one artist had made, we went back outside, into the rain.  We then saw another exhibition, and so, with questions about the beautiful leaning buildings and the art space/mosque on the harbor, went in.  After puzzling vocally over the translated explanations of the slice of Cretan history, a very nice man helped us out, explaining that, until about WWI, Crete had been governed by a series of empires including the Venetians and the Ottomans.  Crete is still a fantastically beautiful island, and for the rest of the trip it was fun to work out when the buildings we saw might have been built, and why. 

Lots of cats in Be'ersheva.  Lots of cats in Crete.  Somehow,
the cats in Crete seem to be many times more healthy
and friendly than the cats in Be'ersheva.  Odd.

As you may have surmised by my initial story of napping instead of studying, settling back into class after such a break is a process.  Part of that process, for me, is refocusing on exactly why I am where I am (in medical school).   I have spent some time reading about the new malaria vaccine that has been shown to reduce malarial infections in children by half.  This is very exciting.  The efforts to eradicate malaria have gone through many different phases in the past.  Researchers have attempted to refine mechanisms to remove the parasite from humans, remove the parasite from the vector, most often mosquitoes, and remove the vector from the environment.  The most recent push has been to use bed nets to protect people from the mosquito vectors.   A vaccine in combination with other protective measures could truly change the face of malaria treatment. 

While any advance toward a vaccine for malaria, or a parasitic disease for that matter, is a good one, there are a lot of questions raised.  First in my mind concerns the fact that this is a parasitic disease.  Even if the vaccine worked 100% of the time on all strains of bacteria, would that be enough, or would the parasite be able to live in the vector?  There are also questions of resistance.  Will the parasite evolve beyond the reach of the vaccine, and will immunogenicity wear off?  (Time to start studying immunology)  Most pressing to someone in my position as a medical student, how would we practically integrate a vaccine with less than 100% success rate into primary care settings, along with other methods of prevention, treatment and education, especially when the places that are hardest hit by malaria are often the places with very little primary care?   - blogger of the month Ariella Krones

Some articles to read about malaria:  Follow the links inside the articles to learn more.

Experimental Malaria Vaccine Slashes Infection Risk By Half http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/10/18/141460067/experimental-malaria-vaccine-slashes-infection-risk-by-half?sc=fb&cc=fp)

Assessing Strategy and Equity in the Elimination of Malaria: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000312

Wanderings, by Ariella Krones, October blogger of the month

So I promised pictures at the end of my last post.  But alas, I have none.  Just stories.  And proof that, yes, in fact, everything except Soroka Hospiial shuts down for Yom Kippur.

Erev Yom Kippur we went for a walk.  It was beautiful.  The evening had started by going to dinner at another classmate’s apartment, and then walking over to a synagogue we had heard was good.  It wasn’t my style, so I went outside and ended up doing a little meditation of my own.   When the service finished up, we went our separate ways until it got a bit later.   Around 10pm, we made our way to Rager Street, the three lane highway that runs straight down the middle of Be’ersheva.  We live right near the emergency entrance to the hospital, so when we started out there were cars and ambulances going in and out, infrequently but enough to notice.  As we wandered further down Rager, though there were fewer and fewer cars and more and more people, on foot, bikes or other form of wheel.  We cartwheeled in the middle of the south bound lane and took pictures as we went to pick up some more friends. 

I was feeling pretty quiet, just enjoying the people and the cool air (very cool for the negev), but it was definitely the most festive I have ever been on Yom Kippur.  There were small groups of kids on bikes, finally safe from the cars that usually pay little attention to them, as well as families walking their dogs.  I have talked to other friends about what they did that evening, and it seems the mood around the city was pretty consistent.  Some people went biking themselves, and said that they were probably the oldest people on wheels.  Some neighborhoods were much busier than others, with entire families out playing, while others were pretty empty.

A few of us had planned to have a breakfast at the end of the holiday (for those who don’t know, there is traditionally a fast on Yom Kippur for 25 hours, with a break the fast at the end).  We invited people who we knew were fasting, and mentioned it casually to others.  However, with all that was going on, I neglected to follow up with many people.  The following is an example of one of my favorite things about MSIH so far.  I’m not sure if it’s because the program is so small or because it attracts a certain kind of incredibly self-sufficient person, but the dinner turned out to be lovely, as people called or stopped by of their own intiative with a dish to contribute. 

As demonstrated, the MSIH student body is a more collaborative group than I have ever been part of.    The group of us, for the most part, is in class together for 6-8 hours a day, and then are also each other’s main resource for social events and learning about Be’ersheva.  There is a stream of emails and phone calls asking for and offering support that looks something like this:

Is anyone cabbing to the airport on Thursday?  I have a flight in the evening around 7. 

Organized a yoga class every Tuesday and wanted to get a count of people interested…

I have a car for the day!  Four seats available for a good shopping trip if anyone needs.

There is a concern for your classmates’ well-being and success, a conscious effort on the part of individuals to make the collective experience here a good one.  With that said, we are all on our separate ways (more or less) for Sukkot vacation.  Ten days, and how many countries?  After spending some time in the empty streets of Be’ersheva I’m excited to wander around Crete for a bit! - blogger of the month Ariella Krones

The beginning of fall: mostly Rosh Hashanah by blogger of the month Ariella Krones

My first Rosh Hashanah in Israel has come and gone!    It was a great weekend, and a much appreciated break.   Rosh Hashanah, for those who don’t know, is the Jewish New Year.  As Adie translated so adeptly, it literally means head, rosh, of the year, hashanah.  2 interesting things about Israel from this weekend:

1.      1.   This is the New Year here.  January 1 is a work day; Rosh Hashanah is the time for huge meals and big outdoor music festivals (next year…)

2.      2.   Never believe anyone who tells you that absolutely everything is shut down for the holidays.  I found this was only mostly true, and as a result, I am still wondering what Yom Kippur here will be like. 

Puppy dog eyes!  I’ve been missing having a
dog since I left home a
few years ago.  This feeling was mitigated
slightly by going to the
parks in Manhattan and petting any dogs that
wandered my way.  The number of stray dogs
in Be’er Sheva
makes this a less wise solution, but Nomi here
is more than enough.  My cousins took her in
off the street maybe a year and half ago, and she
 is the most lovable, devoted dog.  She also has
 an odd thing for licking people, which
can be a surprise,
 but having your feet licked is as good excuse
as any to take a study break.

For the holiday at home, we usually go to synagogue and then see family either in Washington D.C. or Frederick, MD, where I am from.  It’s always a really nice two days, and important in the Jewish scheme of things, but understated.  Here, as I said, there is a much more festive atmosphere.  I was pretty eager to take a break from Be’er Sheva, so as soon as class was over Tuesday afternoon,   I jumped on the train to Tel Aviv to spend the long weekend (we had Wednesday and Thursday off) with some distant cousins.  My cousin and I cooked all day Wednesday, making quinoa, gazpacho, chicken, tofu and honey cake… many of my favorite things.  There were some friends over Wednesday night for a more formal dinner, and Thursday was all family.   My cousins have a great three-generation compound family, only some of whom I had met, and needless to say, it was a lot of fun.   

I had hoped to be able to see Tashlich in Tel Aviv.  Tashlich is a tradition where people will throw bread in a flowing river or ocean to symbolize their sins for the year being taken away.  Don’t ask me more about it, I really don’t know any more!  Once again, in D.C. it’s a pretty quiet thing, and it’s really just nice to go walk in Rock Creek Park with family.  In Tel Aviv, though, on the Mediterranean?!  That would be pretty cool.  Anyway, I ended up napping after a huge afternoon meal, and going for a walk later that night in HaYarkon Park.  While I did not see anyone throwing bread crumbs, I saw maybe the highest concentration of young families EVER.  It was like a carnival.  So!  Not everything shuts down, and things are definitely not quiet.

CAPTION: Since I’m not really a big picture taker (I got a smartphone here so that I didn’t have to also remember to bring a camera around all the time), here is a screenshot of HaYarkon Park in Tel Aviv!  There is a brand new walkway along the river and at the port that is so nice and filled with people during the holiday.   I had fun dodging bikes and small children; there are lanes for pedestrians and cyclists, though in true Israeli fashion, the lanes are all just a suggestion!

Till next time.  I promise to have more stories of classmates, and more pictures, this time of Be’er Sheva! - blogger of the month Ariella Krones