"Get the best from the worst" by December blogger of the month Ashley Voroba

A smart person gave me a piece of advice during the recent conflict:

Get the best from the worst.

It’s not really the same as “make the best of it,” or “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”  It’s a little bit different. 

While most of my classmates went home following the announcement canceling school, I stayed in Israel.  For a lot of reasons.  The biggest reason was that I never had plans to go home for Winter Break in the first place (since my mom is coming to visit).  Another reason is that I didn’t really feel the need to leave. Most importantly, I knew I wouldn’t get a drop of studying done back in the States.

I think it took me about a week to really get my head on straight after everything that happened.  Living in uncertainty and feeling powerless takes a toll.  For days after the ceasefire, I compulsively checked the news, holding my breath as I hit “refresh” on Ynet’s update page, looking for an answer to the simple question “why?” and knowing I wouldn’t find it.  I checked no less than three news sources each day, feeling unable to really trust any of them to be accurate or unbiased.  By now my news consumption has dwindled nearly to pre-conflict levels, though I think I’ll never really look at news the same way again.  I was reminded during the conflict that while journalists strive to portray the accuracy of an event (some more than others), there is no such thing as “the truth.”

Returning to Be’er Sheva after the conflict was strange.  Most of the people I know here had left, making it seem very quiet.  And suddenly I had nothing but time.  No classes, no exam schedule announced.  I forced myself into a routine of waking up early and trying to study, though I wasn’t really sure what to study for.  Thankfully, a few friends were still here, and I think we helped each other return to sanity and normalcy.

I’m not sure I was able to exactly follow the advice I received, but I did squeeze some great things out of my unexpected free time.  I finally made it to yoga (in Hebrew) and found time for spin class (also in Hebrew).  I bought some cold weather necessities like a space heater and an extra blanket (yes, it really does eventually get cold here).   I spent some time exploring Be’er Sheva and the Old City.  And I found the best spots in the library for studying, places with windows and quiet.  Living with uncertainty is part of life here, and I think I’m learning to be ok with that. 

Maybe that is the best from the worst.  - Ashley Voroba, December blogger of the month

My week during Operation Pillar of Defense, by Jamie Klein

I do not believe it is my position to write a political response to what occurred during Operation Pillar of Defense. As it is my first year at the Medical School for International Health, this is my first exposure to an experience like this and I feel it is most appropriate to share my story rather than my political beliefs.

Wednesday November 14^th

Around 4pm

 As the sun began to set on Wednesday evening, I received an alert from Haaretz newspaper informing me that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) had assassinated Ahmed Jabari. Not knowing who he was, I placed my phone down and continued to study. About fifteen minutes passed and my boyfriend, who sat next to me, received a call from his friend asking if he had heard the news. I watched as his face expression changed abruptly, not knowing what consequences were to follow. Once off the phone he explained to me that Jabari was the operational head of Hamas military wing. While we sat and discussed the possible repercussions of his death, the IAF continued to target rocket storage facilities throughout the Gaza strip. Following an hour of discussions, we decided that the potential for a retaliation from Gaza was highly probable and it would be a safe decision to leave Be’er Sheva for the night. Shortly after making the decision to leave, I received an email from Mike Diamond that classes would be canceled on Thursday November 15 – confirming the decision we made only moments before.

5:45pm

In the midst of packing clothes for the weekend and ensuring I had enough books to study, I called a classmate of mine, Zach, to see if he had been released from his Global Health Module (an additional seminar that students register for throughout the year). He informed me that they had indeed been released early and he was on his way home. I offered for Zach to come with my boyfriend and me to the Arava (an area in southeast Israel on the border with Jordan) for the weekend, as a precaution for the number of sirens that may occur later in the night and into the weekend. He agreed and we decided to meet at my boyfriend’s apartment around 9.

9:00pm

I was informed that our ride to the Arava was nearing the apartment, so I decided to call Zach and tell him to come over. Less than thirty seconds after hanging up the phone, the air-raid siren sounded. My boyfriend, his mom and I went briskly to the safe room, closed to window and door and waited patiently for the siren to end. Usually one cycle of the siren lasts a minute and only occurs once - this time the siren cycled through three times. Towards the end of the final siren we heard about 15 explosions only a kilometer or two away. Immediately I called Zach to find out his whereabouts. Luckily he had not left his apartment, but I urged him to run over to us before another siren sounded. I turned to the television and was surprised to see video footage of what I heard only moments before. One orange explosion after another appeared in the black canvas of the night sky and I felt my heart beat just one thump louder.

9:15pm

Although it seemed like an hour, Zach made it to our apartment in less than twenty minutes. While I was on the phone, giving him the access code to the apartment, another siren sounded. I told Zach to get into the stairwell while we went to safe room once again. This time the explosion was different – it was closer than before and did not have identifiable sound of the Iron Dome interception. This time the rocket landed inside Be’er Sheva. When the siren finished we retrieved Zach from the stairwell and together sat wide-eyed staring at the news. Shortly after we were notified that our ride arrived and we headed down the stairwell to the car. As we left the building we could smell the smoke from the rocket that landed inside the city. The smell of hot metal and fumes burned the inside of my nares, forever ingraining that moment in my memory. The following half-hour car-ride out of Be’er Sheva and passed Dimona, the next closest city, was the most quiet and apprehensive I have ever felt.

The following days…

My first few days in the Arava were spent in constant communication with my classmates. We knew at all times which students remained in Be’er Sheva and those that traveled to other destinations outside of rocket range. As one of the class representatives, my cell phone remained in the palm of my hand at all times. There is no question it was a stressful time for my classmates and me. As the situation continued to escalate, Israeli families all across the country were opening their doors to residents of the south. Never had I witnessed such hospitality and sincere compassion before in my life. Host families offered to take in each and every individual residing in the south, no questions asked. Thankfully Zach and I were able to find a host family in the Arava able to accommodate the Kiv family of six!  My classmate Sakal, his wife Faith and their four children were finally able to sleep peacefully. Their host family’s father even whittled wood toys for the children to play with. It was remarkable that we could transform such an uncomfortable situation into a mini-vacation.

As our days in the Arava continued, Zach and I were fortunate to tour the agricultural fields.  The Arava is a very special region of Israel that is at the forefront of agricultural technology and development. Almost every vegetable imaginable is being grown there, sprouting from the depths of the desert.

Final remarks

A week after Operation Pillar of Defense began, MSIH students were notified that school had been suspended to the end of December. Ironically, later that same day a cease-fire was declared. However by this time many students, including myself, had booked plane tickets home hoping to get home in time for Thanksgiving.

And indeed I did. I arrived home at 3pm on Thursday afternoon, just in time to surprise my family for Thanksgiving and celebrate my birthday with them.  24 hours prior I could not have imagined myself sitting at home surrounded by family and digging into my mom’s famous turkey and mashed potatoes. There was no doubt about it, I definitely had a thing or two to be thankful for this year. - blogger of the month, Jamie Klein

Refreshing, Awakening, Invigorating, Necessary: RAIN, by blogger of the month Jamie Klein

 11.12.12

In communities all over the world rain is mesmerizing. It literally forces us to stop in our tracks, allowing us to pause, evaluate and recollect our thoughts. In that moment of silence and stillness, we are amazed at what enters our minds. For my roommate rain is the ultimate balcony cleaning solution, no bleach or physical labor necessary. For myself rain brings a taste of home, a refreshing scent of spring that is generally lacking from this desert environment. And for the resident cat outside my apartment, rain provides the long awaited bath it has dreamed of.

Rain is as refreshing as it is essential, and it has arrived in Beer Sheva! 

As the weather is changing and finals are arriving, I can feel my classmates and myself itching for the interpersonal experiences we imagined having as up-incoming physicians. Appropriately timed, this week we began the first of several sessions intended to give us practical experience on the patient interview.

As a warm up for our pediatric interview rotation, my class and I visited Hagar elementary school in attempt to re-familiarize ourselves with the mentality of six year olds. The mission of the school is incredibly progressive in that they are integrating Arab and Israeli children and families together in order to develop a greater understanding of each others culture. Politics and conflict aside, it is a noble act.

My classmates and I divided into groups in order to participate in different after school activities: theater, cooking, reading, art, etc. A few others and myself were asked to join the kindergarteners. Due to the rain, our playtime activities were limited to legos, blocks, and crayons – still highly acceptable to the average five year old regardless of what continent you are on. I spent my time with a young Arab girl named Hallah building a lego farm. Like any two girls, our indecisiveness got the best of us and we remodeled several times. Luckily, in the end we were both pleased with the design of our lego farm! 

Aside from this experience forcing me to speak only in Hebrew, I was reminded that there is more to studying medicine than merely the basic sciences. It was the necessary wake-up call my classmates and I had been long awaiting. - blogger of the month Jamie Klein

When the going gets tough, the tough get going, by November blogger of the month Jamie Klein

November 1^st  As the temperature begins to drop and the leaves begin to fall, there are a few things American medical students look forward to…

The holiday isle in Walgreens is decked with holly in preparation for Christmas. 

Early morning training sessions for the annual Turkey Bowl officially begin.

 And my personal favorite, the long awaited transition to the infamous holiday cups at Starbucks. 

While other first year MSIH students and myself may have initially felt a few symptoms of withdrawal, I think it is safe to say we are adapting to life here in Israel.

Although I do not celebrate Christmas, my family is all too familiar with my adoration for a good Christmas tune. I am looking forward to continuing this tradition, even without the constant holiday music streaming from my car radio. Surprisingly Turkey Bowl fanatics are more relentless than Cubs fan! The date and location are to be announced (hopefully not on the “basketball court”- since nice grassy fields are a bit difficult to locate in a desert), but GAME ON. And after two and a half months of class on the 6^th floor of Soroka Hospital, the men in Coffee Time finally know our orders. Even though it is no Starbucks, the friendly morning meet-and-greet cannot be beat. 

photo courtesy of Nathan Douthit

While the month of November has many wonderful things to look forward to, we are after all medical students, and the weight of that statement is becoming increasingly more apparent. My classmates and I were politely reminded of this fact as we received the weekly schedule update last Thursday. In the next month my classmates and I will conquer a bacteriology lab report, weekly genetics assignments, a literature review, yet another famous immunology quiz, a bacteriology exam all while preparing for our five final exams that begin at the end of this month. If it seems like we should be overwhelmed, we are! And how will we survive this tumultuous month of never-ending studying? One day at a time, with our Coffee Time cup in hand, holiday music oozing from our headphones while dreaming of who will score the winning touchdown at the Turkey Bowl…well, at least that is how I plan on making it through.  - blogger of the month Jamie Klein

10.12.12 by Jacek Jarczynski

It is now almost 10 pm in Beer Sheva and I am unwinding from what was a very productive, exhausting but overall excellent day.  There was much to review for an upcoming biostatistics exam.  My friend Ashley and I put in a solid 7 hours doing practice problems and making sure we were clear on the conceptual ends of the material.  Much was accomplished today and tomorrow will be the final push as far as the studying is concerned.  After tomorrow it will be just a matter of knocking out the exam.  That was the business end of things for the day.  In the evening the books were temporarily retired and I decided to take a walk through Beer Sheva with no destination in mind.  Just wanted to clear my head and decompress.  On Fridays after sundown the town becomes very quiet and there are relatively few cars on the roads.  It is now much cooler in the evening here and most of the time there is a pleasant breeze zipping by.  I was walking down Ben-Gurion Avenue when from a distance I heard the sound of a beautiful melody.  I walked toward the source of the sound and passed by what looked like a wedding reception in one of the gardens adjacent to the street.  The melody was absolutely authentic to this area.  There was so much life and strength in this music and I could hear people dancing and celebrating behind the walls of the garden.  It was like a breath of fresh air.  Music is so essential … I lingered in the area just to listen a little bit longer.  Back in my room now and I am eyeing my bed … I will sleep like a rock tonight and will NOT dream about coefficients of determination nor will I be 95% confident or whatever % confident that the true proportion of a population is within a range of whatever.  I will catch up with the remainder of that business tomorrow!  

Progress made, by blogger of the month Jacek Jarczynski

Western Wall, Old City, Jerusalem 

Me in red with Julian and Tal.

September is almost through and I can hardly believe that I have been in Israel since mid-July.  A great deal of progress has been made on all fronts with regard to academics, housing, settling in, meeting new people, and getting familiar with Be’er Sheva in general.  As summer turns to fall I can see olives and dates ripening on the trees throughout the city.  There is much inspiration in this area for someone with an appreciation for nature, history and ethnography.  I am quite fond of Be’er Sheva and the new friendships I established here.  The MSIH experience thus far has been fantastic.  The classes are coming along well (taking a break from biochemistry reading to write this entry), I am picking up more of the Hebrew language with every day and the local people I have met here so far proved to be incredibly generous and friendly … and I love my new bed!  No more sleeping on an inflatable mattress!  The things we take for granted until we have to relocate and set up shop all over again in a new place.  Earlier during the month we went on a class trip to Jerusalem.  After meeting with students from the Hebrew University Medical Center we went on a tour of the old city.  It is impossible not to feel the weight of history present in every corner of the old city.  All for now and back to glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway.   - blogger of the month Jacek Jarczynski

A week of trying new things, by September blogger of the month Benzion Samueli

This was a week of trying new things. I learned a lot.

One. You can’t necessarily see the thorns on a cactus. And if you pick a cactus fruit from the plant and roll it around in your hands, you won’t necessarily feel the spikes immediately. It could take 20 or 30 minutes before your hand becomes inflamed from all of the prickles in your fingers.

Two. Cheap brandy is disgusting.

Three. When you send registered mail, only the post office from which you sent it has access to the information, and if it gets lost in Tel Aviv instead of being delivered to Jerusalem, you need to complete an investigation form in Be’er Sheva.

Four. There’s an xkcd for every situation. I found one that was relevant to today’s biostatistics class, another relevant to our Global Health lecture (the comic itself is a link to a really cool site), and another on people like me complaining about everything.

You may have noticed that my first two blogs were considerably longer than the third, which was a bit longer than this one. Explanation: medical school is hard, so I don’t have time to write full page parodies anymore. (And here we use A4 paper, which besides being mathematically a really cool size, it’s also longer and harder to fill than 8 ½ x 11.)

Now, I’d like to end off my blogger month on a serious, heart-warming note. (Also my lovely wife Rakefet told me that I should.) In truth, as much as I have been highlighting the strange/annoying parts of Israel in my posts, it’s just to be funny. I truly love Israel and Ben Gurion University is amazing. Professors invite their students to their homes for holiday meals. We’re all far away from our families, which is very difficult, but the closeness I have with my classmates makes it a bit easier. So I’d like to thank my parents for supporting me while I’m here, the New York office for making the application process affable, the Israeli staff & faculty for creating a good learning environment, and my lovely wife Rakefet tolerating my craziness.

Works Cited

“my lovely wife Rakefet” is a play on two things. One, Joel Stein always refers to “my lovely wife Cassandra” in his “The Awesome Column” on the second to last page of every TIME magazine, as well as in his blog More Stories About Some Kid. Furthermore, on the first week of classes, as everyone was meeting each other, I was told by several students, “your wife is lovely.” I told Rakefet and she didn’t believe me. Just as she was saying this, a classmate walked up to us and said, “Oh, is this your lovely wife Rakefet that I’ve been hearing about?” -blogger of the month Benzion Samueli

Nothing I say should be taken too seriously! by Benzi Samueli

(Disclaimer: Nothing I say should be taken too seriously or literally; I take a great deal of poetic license with everything.)

I know I have an upcoming exam in immunology, and if I don’t study harder for microbiology I’m going to fall behind real quickly, but I promised MSIH that I’d write these weekly blogs for a month. Plus I get a nalgene and gift card for this. So I’ll study a little later.

I got an iPad this week, which is very exciting and very useful. A number of students use the Notability app, which lets you import the lecturer’s slides and take notes right on them. Also, all of the textbooks are available in eBook format. All in all, the iPad is a great investment for carrying around all of the lecture slides, notes, and textbooks in a very small device. So when I start studying a little later, it will be on the iPad.

Another personal study tool I use is print-out review sheets taped up on my walls. As I walk around my apartment, I quickly look over amino acid structures and lymphocyte classifications. I took biochemistry in college, and I can’t believe I only just realized this week that phenylalanine is alanine with a phenyl group. The review sheets will be helpful a little later when I start studying.

Most of the professors are very kind in posting a lot of resources online. From Moodle (the university’s official class-resource platform) or their individual websites, you can find relevant articles, notes, assigned reading pages, etc.  I just received a couple of e-mails from biostatistics that some material will be excluded from the final, and also some explanations on the binomial distribution. Unfortunately, these e-mails are going to delay what was once a very timely study session, because I’ll need to look over them before I start studying a little later.

It’s getting late, so I should go to bed. I’ll wake up early to study. Uh-oh, the sirens are going off. One of the directors just sent the class a text message that it’s a false alarm. I discuss with my lovely wife Rakefet how the alarms can go off accidentally. I mean, in high school it was obvious - the building could just detect when we were taking finals and would go off all the time. Anyway, this defeats my early-to-bed-early-to-rise strategy, so I guess I’ll study tomorrow.

Correction from Previous Post: Unbeknownst to me, my lovely wife Rakefet has herself turned into a grammarian (as we say in Hebrew, להתגרמר), and told me that my pronunciation guide to the word octopodes should have included a ə.  - blogger of the month Benzi Samueli

Cool grammar facts, and more! by September blogger of the month Benzi Samueli

As anyone in my Hebrew class can attest by now, I love studying grammar and the rules of grammar. So before I begin my discussion on life in Israel, let me tell a short story that lead me to a cool grammar fact. My friend and I had a difference of opinion regarding the proper definition of a word, so I went to the Merriam Webster dictionary website. In any case, this also brought me to MW’s grammar videos, from which I learned the following:

When the word octopus was brought into English in the 18th century, it was given a standard English plural suffix (octopuses). When fanatic Latin grammar nuts insisted on giving words their proper Latin endings, octopi was entered into the dictionary. Realizing that octopus actually comes from GRΣΣK, other grammarians gave it the proper plural: octopodes (ock-TOP-uh-deez). Incidentally, Octopodes is the name of my alma mater’s oldest a cappella group.

That having been said, I was asked to talk a little bit about my experience moving to Israel under the Law of Return. Once you are determined eligible for citizenship, the State places you into one of four categories, which have almost no practical significance (there are two things that I’ll get to in a minute). They are:

●     עולה חדש* - New immigrant - has no previous legal connection to Israel (me)

●     קטין חוזר - Returning minor - was born in Israel but left at a very young age and returns as an adult (my lovely wife Rakefet)

●     אזרח עולה - Citizen immigrant - was granted citizenship on birth due to technical reasons, but wasn’t actually born here (two of the other immigrants in my class)

●     תושב חוזר - Returning resident - grew up in Israel, moved abroad, and is now moving back

As I mentioned, these categories bear very little significance. The State gives some extra benefits to a New Immigrant that others don’t get (such as 1 year of health insurance; otherwise it costs the market price of $1500/year).

But the main purpose of the categories is to add bureaucracy to the system. (Lesson #4: Everything in Israel is designed to create more bureaucracy, which in turn creates jobs for people to handle the extra paperwork.) Because my lovely wife Rakefet is a Returning Minor, our immigration booklet is green instead of the blue one that other immigrants get. Immigrants who are entitled to a blue book are able to get them at the airport upon arrival, but green bookers need to go to the nearest immigration office to pick them up. But just for fun, if a green booker is married to a blue booker, even though that causes the couple’s shared book to be the green type, then it is received at the airport. Also, if you happen not to fit nicely into one of these three categories (and indeed, someone in my class does not), then you get to play circus with every authority you encounter because there’s no checkbox that accurately describes you on the forms.

Lesson #5: (the most important lesson I will ever give) The bureaucracy is much easier to deal with if you do your homework and really learn the process. For example, converting your driver’s license can be done in the following simple steps: 1) get optician's note; 2) physician signs note; 3) DMV stamps note; 4) schedule & take 3 driving classes using the DMV stamp; 5) schedule practical exam; 6) pay for the exam at post office; 7) take exam and get certificate; 8) bring certificate to the DMV for your temporary license; 9) bring temporary license to post office to activate it; 10) wait for the real license in the mail. Although you may not realize that you need to go to the post office twice in order to get your license, it’s true. So before you ask anything from a government office, it’s highly advisable to know what they expect from you. And while they will expect a lot more from you than their counterparts in the States, it is manageable.

One great benefit of Israel’s bureaucracy, though, is the Population Registry. Every citizen is fully described in the computers of the Population Registry. When you buy a cell phone plan, PO box, internet service, pet octopodes, bank account, or anything at all, you just give your 9-digit Citizen Number (aka TZ). Lesson #6: Unlike your SSN, this number is not private, mainly because in Israel you don’t get privacy. With your TZ, the sales rep can instantly download your phone number, mailing address, birthday, and all-important immigrant classification. Then, you just have to fill out a blank form with your phone number, mailing address, birthday... wait, why did they download that information from the Registry if I have to fill out this form anyway? Whatever, this is Israel.

*Joke

Taught by my Hebrew teacher. Background: Russians usually pronounce the Hebrew/English “oh” as an “ah” sound. Ex. Moscowbecomes Moskvah. The rest of the joke has to be done in Hebrew because it doesn’t make sense in English.

שני עלים יושבים בנחת על ענף של עץ. פתאום מגיע עלה נוסף ומתיישב ליידם. העלים מסתובבים ומסתכלים עליו ושואלים אותו "סליחה מי אתה?" אז הוא עונה להם במבטא רוסי "אני עלה חדש"

Why do I have to go to the post office to pay my gym membership?, and other interesting things about Israel, by September blogger of the month Benzion Samueli

●     Why do I have to go to the post office to pay my gym membership?

●     Why is there a traffic light here?

●     Why are they only open for 3 hours on Mondays... and they take a 30 minute lunch?

●     Why does the English menu have higher prices than the Hebrew one?

●     How does it make any sense to say, “I make for you special deal... buy one for the price of two, get one free!” ?

●     What kind of a name is “Supersol Deal Extra?” Or is it “Supersol Extra Deal?” And why do they sometimes spell it Shufersol?

●     If I wanted a taxi I’d wave one down... why do all drivers ask if I want a ride?

Lesson #1: the answer to every question is: because this is Israel. Although when I tried to use that response when my Hebrew teacher asked why I’m learning Hebrew, she said, “But we’re in Be’er Sheva... nobody speaks Hebrew here.”

To understand what it’s like to study at BGU, you need to understand Israel a little bit. So that’s what this post is about. To sum everything up, I overheard someone say, “Lalala, this is Israel. It’s like a summer camp - most of the normal rules don’t really apply, you’ll get sick and you lose your voice.”

You pretty much don’t get privacy here. There’s a scale outside the hospital dining hall that everyone steps on in front of the cashier and anyone else who’s around. (At first we thought it was a requirement to make sure you don’t stuff your pockets with food, but later learned that it’s an option to help you to keep track of your weight.) The internet guy asked one of my classmates how much he paid for rent; the plumber asked my friend how much she makes and how much she pays for her children’s pre-school; a professor mentioned that Payroll leaves all the paychecks sitting on a table, and then realized that everyone gets paid the same. But somehow I haven’t mastered this culture yet, because when someone asked me if I’m married and how I met my wife and then I returned those questions, she got all flustered. My friend, trying to show off his Hebrew, asked her out on a date with a few different idioms, until she said, “I don’t want to talk about this.”

Lesson #2: It will be a long time before I can get away with “being Israeli.” Last week, in response to hearing someone say חס וחלילה (God forbid), I said חמסה חמסה חמסה (which has a meaning opposite of “Evil Eye;” this is a phrase I picked up from my Hebrew teacher that she always responds to God forbid). In any case, a passerby came over and reproached me for saying חמסה. He explained that I didn’t understand the strength of the word. My Hebrew teacher explained that Israelis don’t like it when Americans encroach on their culture.

But the greatest moments are the Hebrew slip-ups. Here are some of my favorites, some of mine and some of others:

●     יש לך חבר בישראל? A barista asked a customer if she had a boyfriend in Israel. Misinterpreting the word as meaning “Do you have any friends,” she answered, “יש לי שלושה חברים פה” (I have 3 boyfriends here.”)

●     השדים כועבים לך? A medical student tried to ask a older, superstitious religious person if her breasts were causing her any pain, but in a slight mispronunciation, asked if any demons were hurting her.

●     אתה רוצה לצאת איתי? Attempting to ask someone if he wanted to leave school together, I accidentally asked him out.

●     בוא נזרום! While saying “Just go with the flow” sounds cool in English, in Hebrew it means something almost like, “Go be a prostitute.” (Lesson #3: Don’t say anything your friends told you to say. You’ll inevitably end up in a Big Fat Greek Wedding situation.)

●     יש לך השעה? Many English expressions just don’t make any sense in Hebrew. I asked someone if “he had the time,” but as time isn’t something one can literally possess, he answered, “מה זאת אומרת?” (lit What does this say? fig What do you mean?).

Americans have some shared notions about what each foreign language sounds like, and the kind of noises and accents you need to make to imitate them. Ever wonder what other people think of English? When I was walking down the street with my wife one night, a little girl overheard us speaking and came running over and said, “Na na na, speaking English speaking English, na na na.” - September blogger of the month Benzion Samueli

Wow, what a week! by blogger of the month David Weltman

Wow, what a week! 

First off, we finished up our CPR course and Hebrew Ulpan this week, each ending with a party and lovely chocolate selection. I don’t think I ate that much chocolate in my life (but it made for a great breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack). We just completed our test today, combining a 1.5 hour written examination with curing dummies of choking and hemorrhages, as well as taking patient history and analyzing ailments. It was a rigorous exam, but somewhat fun, too—we came a long way!

Outside of the classroom, I was privileged to spend my birthday here among my new MSIH friends this past Wednesday. We began the evening with a festive meal, going to Casa do Brasil and enjoying delicious meat (and for three of us who went all out, unlimited meat—prime rib, lamb chops, mallard duck, you name it!), and my friends surprised me by ordering dessert—which came with sparklers, flashing lights, singing, and dancing. After that, those who braved it and those who couldn’t make it to dinner joined me at Manga, a local bar, for some shots and good conversation. The hours flew by—it was awesome!

After a week of medicine and celebration, we now look forward to what our semester will bring. Who knows what we’ll find? But one thing’s for certain—you can look to our next bloggers of the month for more details!!! - David Weltman, blogger of the month

Getting into the swing of things, by David Weltman

Getting into the swing of things

Orientation has really been getting going. Intense study for Ulpan continues, the test at the end of our intro to emergency medicine course begins to cross our minds, and we’re beginning to see the importance and loss of a Sunday as a day off. And yet, this hasn’t stopped us from having a good time!

Mmmm, Cholent.

Every weekend, many of my classmates—myself included—have been taking weekend getaway trips to places like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. While I had also spend some weekends away, my classmate Moshe and I decided to instead take up the offer of one of our teachers to come over for Shabbat dinner, and then host a lunch of our own the following day. It turned out to be such a nice and relaxing Shabbat. The Margolis family were wonderful hosts, and we are thankful to them for their hospitality. Plus, a vegetarian Shabbat dinner was a nice respite from the norm. Lunch was also amazing, thanks to our guests. I whipped up a cholent/chamin/beef stew (or whatever else you want to call it—could’ve used a little more salt), and the rest was basically potluck. The company was great, and we ended our meal and dove into a heated game of Settlers of Catan, which, coupled with my reading of the epic saga The Lord of the Rings, made for quite the adventurous Shabbat.

I also have been able to get into the city a bit, which has been a plus. I saw the conclusion of the Batman trilogy, a great work in my opinion (although others in my class disagree). I met up and went out to lunches and dinners with friends, bought a new bike (which is currently getting repaired), and bought some new items for my future home here in Beersheba. All in all, a really solid start, and I hope to be able to see and do even more in the weeks ahead!!! - blogger of the month David Weltman

A Few Weeks In, by David Weltman

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

 Wow, what an awesome first few weeks. It’s been a lot of work as of late, which is funny, as this is supposed to be simply the orientation and we don’t yet have eighty classes to study for. And yet, with ulpan, finding apartments, and our emergency medicine course, along with all the other mind-numbing tasks we’ve had to do thus far, we’ve had our hands full!

Nevertheless, I have used the past few weekends to travel to visit friends. Two weeks ago, I went to Jerusalem with another student on the program to visit my friend Daniel, and we enjoyed getting lost in the Old City, a beautiful Shabbat overlooking the eastern mountains, and a Tisha B’av service overlooking the Old City. This dark day on the Jewish calendar marks the destruction of the ancient Temples of Jerusalem and the sieges and burnings of the city and its inhabitants, “all her gates are desolate, her priests sigh, her maidens are afflicted and as for her, it is bitter unto her” (Lamentations 1:4). It was such a cool juxtaposition, listening to those words and looking at the city renewed and prosperous.

the Cardo, a very much intact ancient Roman Road

Herod's Gate (the gate of flowers)

Damascus Gate (gate of Schechem)

Jerusalem to the East.

Beyond that, I signed a lease on my new apartment! It doesn’t open up until September 1^st, so I’ll have to figure out what exactly I’ll be doing in the meanwhile, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there—next week. I can’t wait to report what comes next! - blogger of the month, David Weltman

Wow. by August blogger of the month David Weltman

View from train to Beersheva

Wow. When I landed and took the train in during the early morning down to this city (see above), after having traveled such a long route east, I was in such a daze. I arrived at my apartment and, despite being totally beyond tired, I somehow managed to stumble to the bank, spit out convoluted Hebrew, and open up a student account before going to sleep and messing with my sleep schedule that much further (which, as I am finding as I compose this post tonight at 9:30 P.M., is still the case).

Since we began this Sunday, we have all learned a lot about living in Beer Sheva. From the safety situation to the location of the mall and grocery stores to the not-so-secret elevator on the medical campus and so much more, this is certain to be the beginning of a long learning process on how to live as a student and as a resident, a גר תושב, as it were, in a country not our own. But we are here to do more than that. In the next four (or however many) years it will take for us to get there, this program will cause us to take on new challenges, new experiences, and give us a new set of tools with which we can change the world, one patient and one place at a time. In the meantime, an ulpan a day will do much to keep us future doctors at bay, if not away entirely. But, as the Israelis say—לאט, לאט—one step at a time, and we can get there.

Entrance to Caroline House, where the MSIH
has its administrative offices.

Meanwhile, for me, this week has been anything but clear-cut. My bags got lost in transit, and even as I type, one is now with me, one is at my friend’s place (since they couldn’t get in touch with me for delivery), and one is still lost in transit. I opened a bank account after a lot of backs-and-forths, only to arrive today to pick up my bankcard and checks and discover that they couldn’t find my passcode, so I’d have to wait some more. I also still have no SIM card and my credit card doesn’t work—both the SIM and my new card came in the mail today with sign-for delivery requirements, and I missed both of them.

Smile, its all for the best.

Despite all of this, as I passed a utility box a couple of days ago with a smiley face and the words תנו חיוך, הכל לטובה, “Give a smile, all is for the best,” I could not help but smile. This is the start of a brand new, amazing adventure. And I hope it will truly be for the best.

Hats off to our Israeli liaisons, Daphna, Dana, and Evy, for being such help to us before and during my journey down here, and to the wonderful staff of our program who helped us and continue to do so through our orientation. I can’t wait to see what’s in store next. It has been so awesome getting to know my fellow students over the past few days, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you all so much better as the days go on!  - August blogger of the month, David Weltman

Well, here's my last post, by July blogger of the month Seungjin Kim

Well, here's my last post.

About a year ago, right about this time, I was standing in my apartment in Beersheva, alone, A/C not working, and just wondering what I've gotten myself into. I was excited and senselessly lonely at the same time. As time went by, Beersheva became a new home for me. Now I know what to do when I go back there, along with trying to meet some high standards set by the current third years. I hope I can be as good a second year as my second year friends when I was a first year, but I really have doubts. They were..and are an amazing bunch. When we finished our first year, a third year, soon to leave Beersheva to go stateside for his fourth year, said to be nice to the first years. I really want to, and will try to. If there's any first year reading this, please, please contact me for anything; I'll try to provide help. It's normal to be out of place at this time; it's normal to be frustrated. Don't think about USMLE until the beginning of 2nd semester, because prepping for USMLE should start, in my humble opinion, in 3rd semester (so why at the beginning of 2nd semester? Because at the end of 2nd semester you'll be in zombie mode.. you'll know when you get there).

That said, I still gotta enjoy my break before I go back there. I still need more rest! I lost 5 kg around the last couple months in B7 due to some studying schedule mishaps and I finally gained some weight back. Yeah.. eating and exercising are two really important things for marathon-studying required in med school. For now I don't want to do any work that requires concentration, not just yet ;) I still gotta go places, eat good food... I still haven't gone to a Korean BBQ yet! And still haven't gone to In-and-Out (aghast)! But I do know my place is there in the Negev, so I will gladly head back when time comes. Only when time comes, hehehe.

What's going to be waiting for us second years once we go back?

Well, we started with one classmate who's married, but we'll have one more. We'll have to start studying for USMLE. We're gonna start systems. One hellava rollercoaster ride that'll end with taking the Step I. One last real Christmas break. I'm kinda excited for it though. Now we know how the year flows in Beersheva, so we'll be ready and prepare ourselves better. Some of us will try to use the newly gained knowhow to race against time and academics to create something great this year. As for me I got little projects I'd like to accomplish, med school and church-related. Hey Hebrew, round two! Step I – let's dream for 270, 'cause why the hell not? Let's dream high! … haha I'm probably gonna accomplish 20% of what I have in mind for the year but that's okay. Ugh and then there's the dreaded lit review... sigh.

Oh also, the city will have finished building the water park!!! It'll be nice to stroll around it during nighttime.

That's it from me. Good luck first years!!!! Can't wait to see you guys! - blogger of the month, Seungjin Kim

How I learned what I learned, by blogger of the month Seungjin Kim

During the first year of the MSIH program, I learned quite a lot about International Health. The learning was mostly by frontal lectures by some fascinating lecturers who have or are currently working in their relative health sectors, ranging from local hospitals to the Israeli government agency, even outward to Europe and the WHO. I really learned a lot, and the concept of it doesn't seem too vague anymore.

Frontal lectures have the advantage of speeding up acquirement of near-neutral knowledge, much like as you'd learn Kung-fu by inserting a jack at the back of your head and downloading the software, like how Neo did in the movie Matrix. Then again, it's not THAT interesting. Or fun.

My first direct exposure, or how I first sensed I am being exposed to the fact that this school is situated with a window to show a world other than the United States I was comfortable in, was through the clinical interview sessions, and especially when we started going to the Bedouin villages. Well, not only that. A local PHR group held meetings about the Bedouins and how bad their situation is in Israel.

A straight-shot way to describe what I felt would be that the Bedouin situation was a model in which I learned the concepts to consider when the goal was to increase the health status of a developing country. We listened to the examples in the Bedouin population in nutrition studies in GHM health modules, tribe-based genetic diseases in Genetics, lower status of women, high prevalence of diabetes, and the demolition/re-construction of unrecognized Bedouin villages and reasons why.

On top of that we started going out to the clinics situated in the Bedouin villages, such as Tel Sheva. We saw the patients, usual reasons for hospital visit, and we also tagged along house visits. The house visits really opened my eyes as to what we'll be actually doing if we're to be doctors in developing countries. The nurse that tagged us along was being invited into a family house, counseling on diets that are better for the diabetic father, teaching how to use the insulin injector. The diabetic patients with parts of their lower limbs amputated made me think a lot. It could have been avoided.

My second direct exposure was when I helped out a second year set up a computerized medical records system for a refugee clinic in Tel Aviv. One of our classmate found in her heart to start volunteering every week there, even though that means spending quite a bit of time just in transit. Anyway, before the computerized medical records system, they only had Word documents as a medical records system. With the help of this brilliant second year, the refugee clinic now runs on Ubuntu (I just had to put this down here because it's an open source Linux operating system and it's so awesome standing up to Microsoft and Windows!!!), running OpenMRS – the fully free medical records system that, like any other awesome open-source initiatives, are done by a focused network of like-minded programmers around the world who think they should give to the world something awesome, for free.

The refugee clinic in right inside Tel-Aviv's huge Central Bus Station, or CBS. They are part of a network of refugee clinics, where refugees can come for medical needs. In this one, it's managed by Orel, an Israeli that is around my age, with a passion for cigarettes and the need to help the refugees find justice in Israel. I'm thankful I found an outlet for my need to fix/tinker with computers, that I can help out in the IT part of the refugee clinic, and maybe on the health side of the operation as well, if time permits in the coming year.

Of course, there are other ways to get exposed, such as the PHR. Or teaching English in Umbatim. Or you can just outright create your own window to whatever you want to get exposed. I know I'm not the adventurous type, and even I got two substantial exposures this year – a taste of what's to come in the next two years here, and afterwards as a doctor in underserved communities. – blogger of the month Seungjin Kim

The people I've met, by blogger of the month Seungjin Kim

In this blog post, I will recall and pass on my experience with the people beyond the circles of the students/faculty/administration of MSIH.

Each morning usually started off with going to the classroom 616 in the Old Internal Building in the Soroka Hospital, by 8:10 AM. I usually overestimate the amount of time it'll take for my biking to get to class, so I usually arrive at around 8:00 AM. I meet the cleaning lady there – a lady that looks like she's a Russian descent. I used to just ignore her but as time passed, and as my Hebrew increased relatively, I started to be a bit bold. I started saying 'Bokhel Tov' (Good Morning) to her, and although that's all that communication limits allow (she sometimes fumbled Hebrew too, or so I think with my limited Hebrew), I became less of a stranger.

Amidst the occasional VERY random encounters such as an Israeli almost forcing me to be friends just because I was born in Korea, my usual day-to-day exposure to the locals happened while grocery shopping.

My preparation to go grocery shopping is always a quest. I felt especially like a mage, memorizing spells to use them, hehe. Equipping is essential. I gotta bring a backpack, along with my bike, along with my water bottle. My small pocket notebook (aside: I make PocketMods. Google'it!) has lists of words, spells I might cast to complete the quest of obtaining prized items such as 'chicken' or 'ground beef'... oops, sorry for the game analogy! But really, I repeat phrases and sentences, mumbling past people who look at me strangely. Oh by the way, for me, grocery markets have levels. Beginner's level: small markets, Eden, Tiv Tam. Intermediate: SuperSol, Mega. Hardcore: Shuk.

Beginner's level grocery shopping isn't too hard. They either speak English or don't have a lot of people shopping. SuperSol and the Shuk, on the other hand.. I have to meditate on potential encounters before going in. People would start asking me who's the last in line (i.e. the most important information in SuperSol), or at the loss of communication, but still trying to convey that he knows that North Korea's Kim Jung Il has passed away, a guy at the Shuk would start making crying faces at me, interchanging with a choking sound/facial expression. I might have to start a ground-meat buying transaction with a kid who is running the meat shop, possibly right before closing up shop. All in all, every interaction an interesting one.

Another group of people I got exposed to, with the help of the MSIH first-year clinical interview classes were the Bedouin population around Beersheva. Now for this, as it links to the theme of International health, I'll go into it more in the next blog post.

Now for me, the biggest interaction I had outside MSIH for the past 11.5 months – a consistent, deep relationship, as in becoming part of – centered around the Christian group in Beersheva, with its focal point being the 'Nichalim Yeshua' church. This relationship is the second biggest fruit that I gained by living in Beersheva, first being MSIH. As a Christian, I practically gave up of the prospect of going to church as I moved into Beersheva. However, a third year showed me this church, and I've become part of it.

In it are multiple groups of people. The older people are mostly from Russia/Eastern Europe. Some of the younger groups are Israeli. Some are foreigners that came via mission-related activities or academic /work-related reasons. Some, like me, are MSIH students, a sub-group which apparently lasted for quite a few years already. For me, knowing about all of this was a miracle. I realize I will be blabbering on and on quite a bit about Christianity-related things. I ask with respect and humility that you accept what I will write down, and I am writing with nothing but a humble effort to jot down what I felt and experienced, to add to the overall first-year experience.

I never really expected my being in Beersheva, in Israel, to sing worship songs in Hebrew, to actually say 'Hallelujah' because that's what it says in Hebrew on the projector, to say 'Elohim', to end prayers by 'ba shem shel Yeshua'(in the name of Jesus). It was and still is surreal. Very emotional. To be greeted and hugged by the older people – reflection of my grandparents back in Korea – in Russian, as they don't know Hebrew, but still feeling the love nonetheless, was one of the great stress-relievers after six days of unending school work. To be able to meet English-speaking fellow believers and sharing their accounts, to be sent to a meeting of believers in all parts of Israel and share in the understanding, to pray for another's struggles... it was amazing.  Sure, the sermon is in Hebrew and concentrating to the translation headsets takes a lot of effort, but to see all of the group take joy in worshiping and caring for each other was pretty enriching. Meeting a Korean who grew up in Israel was inspiring. In the same aspect was a MSIH couple's role-model like conduct in things, always making time for bible-study, while still managing marriage, school, and birth of a child. Or another MSIH student's reason to become so good at Hebrew being wanting to read the Bible in Hebrew. The passion of the Negev, for me, is here. The desert can be dry and terse, but I found a source of water that replenishes. I intend to find out further of how this relationship will unravel/deepen in the coming years. I really thank God for this opportunity. - blogger of the month Seungjin Kim

First year is behind us! by July blogger of the month Seungjin Kim

Here we are lounging about in the Sports Center in the main campus, after our last exam on June 28th.  It was beautiful and so free.

To all the upcoming first years who might be reading this post: you chose well. Welcome to Beersheva. We're all very excited to meet you guys!!!!!! Ask Columbia for my email if you want to contact me about things you have questions about; I'll try to help you out with what I know. Or find me on Facebook - /seungjinkim.

Well.... first year is, behind us!!! At least for now. Hopefully behind me. Arrrgh I won't think about Endocrinology now. What's ahead of me is my summer break. I'll be in a happier tone in my next blog post - I still got to pack, do a final check of my apartment, get on El-Al, go to New Jersey, get on the Greyhound, reach California. About the Greyhound.. well you know, I figured I gotta do it at least once :) Hence the tense/pensive/anxious/exhausted tone.

 Also, I seem to praise my experience here too much, sugar-coating everything. Well... at this point in time, at the dawn of the summer break, everything looks amazing and worthwhile. All in all, it was good. Life here was real. At the same time I can't wait to be back home!

My goal in life before deciding to go to med school centered around just earning enough to live within means. I thought locally. Now, after seeing/experiencing the environment allowed by MSIH - I feel I think bigger, in larger scales - in terms of nations, health systems, cultures and the world. Because.. "Lama Loh!?" (=Why not?) Haha. I genuinely feel now that I can influence the world, given I put in the work.

For the past few days after our last exam, I was busy doing my share of our apartment cleaning, preparing it for our subletters - the upcoming first years. Now, it's 6:11 PM, I'm sitting in my room, listening to the Beersheva ambient noise of cars honking, kids laughing/talking, and wondering why there aren't any wedding happening today in the Leonardo Hotel. All in all, a quiet day.

Now for the main content. Since I am the July blogger, I will write about the past 11.5 months, how I've changed over the past year, roughly in three to four topics.

First topic is about the people I've met. I'll organize it into classmates, upper-classmates/professors and people that I've met out of school. Well.. now that I think about it, I'll move the non-MSIH experience entirely to another post. This post is nearly 1360 words. Is it long? If it is, my apologies, equally for the flow of it – I might go off on a tangent here and there.

Starting out, here is what makes my mixed culture. I've lived in the U.S. for nearly 15 years now, entirely in California, entirely focused in local Korean communities. Southern California has a huge Korean population, and if one is to live in the Koreatown of Los Angeles, you can basically live in the U.S. while not speaking a single word of English, and still live. I don't live there, but living in certain parts of the Orange County is nearly the same experience. At least until I've gotten into UCLA and lived in LA after graduation, I've had weeks where I consciously balanced speaking English and Korean. Why? Some things just unravel a certain way, heheh.

Most of my classmates already know this by now but I spent my middle school in Korea, and highschool in Brazil, where I hung out with fellow Korean families that came to Brazil for same reason as ours, along with my relatives who immigrated there in the 50's. I think I found a need to choose (at least up to what is allowed in one's life), and I allotted Korea a bit more into my identity. Yes, that choice had its upsides and downsides.

So, I'd never imagined that in my life, I'd be studying in Israel amongst many other students of diverse cultural backgrounds, representing/sharing what I can of my background, all in all building up a class body that is global. This year has been inspirational, humbling and eye-opening, quenching my thirst for something more, a start in balancing out what's been missing in my life. I guess it was my next step I needed to take.

Haha, as an aside.. I felt none of this during the summer session. Rather, I felt as if I was in a reality TV show that was all-location in Beersheva, putting random people together, sharing a common goal to survive med school. The night before the group flight in Newark, I slept in a two-bed room with a future classmate. I was too excited to sleep soundly. In the Emergency Medicine course, I had to hold arms, legs, heads of people I met only a few days ago, shouting at them, giving orders, immobilizing, tying them on backboards. Looking back, it was sort of an ice-breaker, and fun! This sounds awkward but I wanted to keep anything that reminded me of home. Did I know how to cook? Barely.. I lived in a co-op housing, eating cafeteria food. Hebrew? The daily four-hour ulpan Hebrew classes were exhausting! In hindsight, it was when my Hebrew learning really peaked. But it was daunting to do that with EM. Oh, how confused and cautiously relaxed were we at how easy med school was back then.

Almost everyone in our class has some experience living/traveling in some exotic parts of the world, with stories to tell, with generally a very heightened sense of respect for the other culture. They have the passion/desire/hope to see how their future might unravel, and how much they can accomplish in terms of influencing this world. All in all, they think big. Yes, I'm sugar-coating it a bit. But all in all I would like to thank the administration for picking practically a perfect set of classmates, heck the entire student body of MSIH, and allowing me to be a part of it.

Tell you a little secret – although I've gotten good at shifting cultures, it still comes unnatural to me to look at older people, the upper-class or professors straight in the eye, because it's rude in Korean culture. Equally is why I tend to naturally look at the upper-class both in awe and respect because upper class equals respect, no matter the age and what they do.  However, in this case, the respect was affirmed by their actions to help the first years out. They were so friendly and calm, gently leading the first years settle in, drenching us with tips to survive med school and Israel. Much thanks to them. I mean the fact that they survived medical school AND Beersheva for one, two, even three years was impressive. Throughout first year, I've been asking myself whether I can be as adaptive and goal-fulfilling as the current second/third years. Now that I've adapted more than 11 months ago, I think I understand how they did it, and I humbly assert it's possible for me too.

Professors - they really inspired me. They set in motion projects and studies that I've only read about in articles. They treat patients with diseases I've just begun to learn about. They influence the under-served community with their medical skills - often I've found a speck of the life I want to live while they shared their experience. Some would come to lecture us and then rush off to go participate in the WHO meeting for non-communicable diseases, or go up to Tel Aviv to help out with the refugee clinic inside the Central Bus Station. Some would guide us in our clinical interviews. Another professor is a friend of Dr. Rick Hodes. Oh yeah, and one certain visiting professor from Columbia for the Nutrition lectures built a medical school - our school - with one intention, to make doctors with the desire for the betterment of International health.

Medicine, for me, went from being an abstract to a possibly achievable goal. Not only for the present, but for the future. Really, some of the things the BGU professors (both affiliated and non-affiliated with MSIH) are researching are amazing - they show a glimpse of how we as physicians will practice medicine. Dr. Shahar of the BGU computer science department in particular was a huge impact for me, especially with his talk in the TEDxBGU, held this May. I think it's because I was a comp. sci. major, and I realized my background and medicine can overlap, because Dr. Shahar did so as well. As to how, I don't know. But it can be done, and that's what excites me, because there is proof, right where I live and study.

Next post will be when I'm in Irvine. Home. I haven't gone back since coming here. I really don't know what I'll feel. Will I feel happy? Exhausted? Crashing in my bed and never crawling out? Will I even have a bed? - blogger of the month  Seungjin Kim