Visiting home and traveling..my summer break before starting the second year of medical school by blogger of the month Maia Reiley

After spending a few days with friends in New York, I flew home to Maine, and immediately started preparing for the next leg of the very exciting journey that medical school is turning out to be. Visiting home is one of the wonderful things about traveling and living in a foreign country, and the result of habituating to a new country is a sort of reverse culture shock upon reentry. JFK airport greeted the newly deplaned arrivals from Israel with several well marked lines to stand in, depending on country of citizenship. The airport attendants loudly, enthusiastically, and repeatedly made sure that everybody knew which line to stand in, how to open their passports to the proper page, and how to present their customs ticket. While efficient, the process seemed insulting. After nearly a year of pushing and shoving and generally fending for myself to achieve anything from getting on a bus to opening a bank account, going through American passport control felt very foreign. 

Other experiences proved to be more welcoming in their simplicity. I could plug my computer straight into the outlet, instead of playing a balancing game with the outlet, plug converter and power cord. I could understand everything being said around, about, or to me. It is very nice to be able to have a conversation with instead of getting the general gist of questions and either smiling and nodding and saying thank you, or smiling and shaking my head and saying no thank you.

My few days in the city of well organized lines have been followed up with a refreshing stop in the land of no lines at all, which can also be called the land of nearly no people, or, in google-able terms, Brooklin, Maine. My family just calls it home, though.

The next stop will be Iquitos, Peru. One of the perks of attending MSIH is the likelihood of meeting other students who not only want to do the same things as you in their free time, but who will also make a plan do these things and follow it through. The current thing is a summer internship in a city off the Amazon that, apparently, can be reached by plane or boat, but not by road. Because I don't particularly enjoy cars or driving, this should be great. I wonder what the local practice is for standing in lines, though. 

Sukkot, by blogger of the month Sahar Romem

Sukkot is the last holiday Israeli university students celebrate before they begin their school year and for us MSIH students it is the last break before finals. It is therefore an Israeli tradition for families to travel on Sukkot and this year it was announced that more than 200,000 Israelis traveled.

In order to take advantage of their close proximity to Europe or to identify with their new community, the class of 2018 traveled as well. Most students traveled abroad to Spain, France, Netherlands, back home to the United States and Canada, Jordan, Berlin, and even Lithuania and a small few traveled here in Israel to Eilat.

It is understandable that the cheap airline tickets to Europe are hard to resist, but there are many places to see in Israel as well. So, I have compiled a list of “must sees” in Israel apart from the common Kotel and Matzada.

1. Nitzana
a. Located in the Negev
b. An easy full day circular trail
c. Accessible for dogs
d. Possible to bike

2. El Al River
a. Located in the Golan Heights
b. A medium full day circular trail
c. Accessibility to water spots
d. Accessible for dogs



3. Jordan Star Outlook
a. Located in the lower Galili Region
b. Historical site
c. Beautiful look out, interesting buildings, picnic area


4. Hasartva
a. Located in the Jordan Rift Valley
b. Look out, picnic area, challenging sports


5. Tel Gezer
a. Located near Jerusalem
b. Half day hike with beautiful views
c. Not a circular trail


6. Naftali Mountains
a. Located in the Upper Galili Region
b. 2-3 hour medium 13km trail
c. Not a circular trail


7. Lozit Caves
a. Jerusalem area


8. A’it River Natural Pool
a. Located in the Golan Heights

                                                                                                 - blogger of the month, Sahar Romem

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

Meteorologists be damned! Weather report from B7 and the surrounding area, by blogger of the month Amanda Norwich

 What do people talk about when they have nothing to talk about? The weather! On the contrary, we in Beersheva and probably most of Israel, have lots to talk about. But the weather has been especially exciting lately. It started with a progressively worsening sandstorm on Tuesday, which moved into two straight days of rain. Now, less than a week later, it's 50+ degrees and sunny. If I didn't know better I'd think the country was having an episode of bipolar mania. To top it all off there was a whopping 2-3 inches of snow in Jerusalem on Friday! Coming from New Jersey I don't think that qualifies as a real snowfall, considering last winter the snow reached a cumulative height that seemingly dwarfed my house. But for Jerusalem it's a big deal! Driving up the windy roads of the mountain-top city was difficult and when I got into the center of town, I made it just in time to find out public transport in the city had come to a standstill. Despite the morning's unwelcoming weather, it changed rapidly for the better and became a sunny beautiful day. All the snow had melted by the time I left in the afternoon and the huge soft flakes seemed like just a dream.

Then that very night back in Beer sheva it poured like I have never seen before, flooding the streets and soaking every piece of desert. The main street in town, Rehov Rager, turned into a veritable river that we had to cross as we braved the elements to visit a friend for Shabbat dinner. The delicious homemade falafel (thanks to super-chef Adie) was a great motivator, but my little legs could only carry me so fast and by the time we got there I think we were all pretty well acquainted with what it feels like to have water in your shoes. Needless to say, we took a cab home.

Before and after of the sandstorm

And I almost forgot about the sandstorm last Wednesday! There's a great before/after picture circulating on facebook that I took the liberty of sharing with everyone here. Again, it's amazing how quickly things change. One minute we were walking to school with the sun in our eyes, windows open, mouths agape talking to one another. A few hours later my jacket was fastened tight over the lower half of my face, the windows were all boarded up and I was trying not to get carried away by the wind. It's hard to believe that was only a week ago as I sit here in my room with the window wide open and listen to the birds enjoying the sunshine. So I guess the moral of the story this week, if we can garner anything from Mother Nature's example, is don't take anything for granted. What may be true today won't necessarily be the case tomorrow and things change around here at the drop of the hat. I guess that's part of the fun of living in Israel. It keeps you on your toes and I wouldn't have it any other way.

- Amanda Norwich, February blogger of the month

The Be'er Sheva Survival Kit, by March blogger of the month Cherec Dickey

The Be’er Sheva Survival Kit

After spending the last seven months here, I’ve realized that there are some material things that are necessary for a favorable life in Be’er Sheva.  I listed a few of them below to give you another glimpse into life in this desert city.  It’s never boring!

No parking spaces? No problem! You can just drive your car onto any curb or sidewalk available! 

1) A bike.  Bicycles are a necessity for every student, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Never before in my life have I had trouble finding a parking spot for my bike.  When I go to the main BGU campus, I see bikes – everywhere!  To accommodate the lack of bike parking, perhaps we should implement a “Student of the Month” spot for bikes.  Another option would be to get a car . . . because then you could park where ever you want! 

MSIH bicycles parked outside of a hookah bar.

It’s usually obvious anytime MSIH-ers are out in Be’er Sheva – because of the plethora of bikes locked in random places just outside of the building.

Carrying things around Be’er Sheva in style! 

An added bonus is the signature “Be’er Sheva Green Milk Crate” that one can attach to the back of the bicycle.   If you get one of these, your life becomes significantly easier.  You can fill your lovely green basket with your backpack, goods from the shuk (market), or even your pet cat (or any other cat wandering around).   Green milk crates are the fad these days.

While not every MSIH student has a bicycle (some are fortunate enough to live within a short walk of campus), bicycles provide a great (free) means to get to and from the grocery store or pretty much anywhere else in the city one may want to go. 

2) Catnip.  Remember those (slightly annoying), “What people think I do . . . What I really do” posts that were incessantly popping up on Facebook?  My Israeli friend posted this one on my wall, and it’s probably the best way to describe why you may want to have catnip on hand.  

Israel, or at least Be’er Sheva, in a nutshell.

One million slightly happier dumpster cats is better than just one million dumpster cats, right?

The view outside our classroom on the
6th floor at Soroka Hospital. 

3) A scarf or other anti-dust device.  In the past couple weeks, we’ve been experiencing our first taste of the infamous desert dust storm.  At this point, I would no longer consider it a “taste” but rather a heaping helping.  These photographs were taken by my classmate on Wednesday afternoon.

 Cloudy with a chance of dust . . . everywhere.

4) A rain coat.  It’d probably be best to keep the anti-dust device and your rain coat together.  After each of those wretched dust storms comes the torrential rain.  You may think, “Desert?  Rain?  Really, it can’t be that bad.”  No, really, it is.  I thought the same thing and didn’t bring a rain coat.  Don’t get me wrong, rain is a beautiful thing in the desert, and I can’t wait to see the fields of blooming flowers that come afterward.  Maybe that will even happen before the month is over, and I can show you some photographs.

5) A camel.  Okay, you don’t really need a camel, but I couldn’t leave this one out. I keep insisting to my classmates that a camel would be ideal in Be’er Sheva.  Not only do you get a wonderful, unfriendly pet that will spit in your face on a regular basis, you have a ride to class, the grocery store, and the movie theater.  Most of all, you will look incredibly cool atop your camel.

If you can get past the flies and spit,
a camel is ideal as a ride and companion. 

6) A tent.  You will want to have one of these on hand in case any random tent cities pop up in protest of housing prices or other issues.  They’re also good for camping excursions in the desert, but really, I’m convinced that people just have them for protests.

A glimpse of the world-famous tent 

city in Tel Aviv, taken last summer.

7) Quality running clothing.  A number of my classmates took a break from their studying last weekend and participated in the races of a lifetime: 10K and half-marathon at the Dead Sea.  I am told that they had a wonderful time, and that four of the MSIH 10K runners got first place.  They even had a picture to prove it.

MSIH runners at the Dead Sea Half/10K last weekend.

Proof that four of the MSIH female runners in the Women’s Open 10K got First Place!

 Seriously, though, everyone did great at the race, and I’m really proud of them all!

8) Lastly, one needs a little black dress (or otherwise suitable attire for the live theater) to fully enjoy this city.  You want to look nice when you go to support your classmates in the musical theater production of Oliver!, right?  Last Thursday was opening night for two of our own MSIH-ers: Angelie Singh (a first-year) and Sarah Dennemeyer (a second-year).  Some of us got together and put an ad in the program to congratulate them.  I thought it was really sweet.

Sarah and Angelie surrounded with MSIH
love at the Oliver! opening night

They did a fantastic job, and we were so glad to be able to be there to cheer them on.  Congratulations, Angelie and Sarah!  They’ll be touring Israel to perform throughout the next month, going to places like Haifa, Netanya, and Jerusalem.

That’s all I have for now!  Be’er Sheva is a wonderfully unique place, and should you ever decide to visit or move here, maybe my list will be of help to you. Lehitra’ot! - blogger of the month, Cherec Dickey

Breaking cultural barriers, by February blogger of the month Amanda Norwich

Shalom haverim! I know, it never gets old... Thank you for tuning into this installment of the MSIH first year blog. You have joined us at a very interesting time. We are in the middle of cardio week where we get to (as our professor so eloquently put it) "break cultural barriers" by spending the entire week with Israeli medical students. We take classes, partake in clinical rounds at exciting locations like the Cardiac surgery department, Cardiac catheterization lab, Internal medicine wards, etc. They have even promised to "make party for us." We are all quite excited. In all seriousness, this has actually been the most interesting and motivating week so far this year. Sometimes when you get lost in the piles of books, mazes of pathways and enough flashcards to build a miniature Levittown it's easy to forget why we're here. As our last blogger Julia put it, whether it's Obama (the cute 2 year old at SACH we visited not the president) or the patients we've seen this week - this is why we're here. I've heard it over and over again from multiple classmates and I couldn't agree more.

Our own personal paparazzi at the Superbowl party!

            Now, getting back to our attempts at cultural assimilation. First to try and describe our situation I'm going to employ a little plagiarism. A friend has started a running list of small daily idiosyncrasies of American-Israeli interaction. Here's an example in the section "Literal translations that just don't play in English" -
“Eh, I was busy busy, I wanted to come but, I was sitting on my homework.  And the test, terrible, all on the face.” While this may seem culturally insensitive to some of you, making fun of Israeli people and culture, please know that we only do it in jest. To be honest, I don't feel too bad because they make fun of just as much and that's only the comments we understand! Mostly it's the mispronunciations or unknown and unfortunate mistakes we make while speaking Hebrew. I'm sure we could start an equally revealing and hysterical list of things Americans say to Israelis. Perhaps next time I'll include some.

            To top off our activities in cardio week, some of us also went out to watch the Superbowl hosted by the International Student Association. Not being a big football fan myself, I went just for the experience and I'm so glad I did. Kick off was at 1:30AM and the game ended around 5:30AM from what I hear. After falling asleep on someone's shoulder I decided it was time to leave. The night was made even more interesting by the camera man walking around taking pictures of real live Israeli-American intermingling (see picture below). I'm sure he felt like a National Geographic photographer, trying his best to capture us in our natural environment. I know I felt like a gazelle in the headlights. No pun intended, his light was literally blinding.

            Unfortunately I must leave you now to rest for another day in the life of a multi-cultural medical student. We need to rest up because tomorrow we will be doing a session of Yoga in the afternoon followed by Zumba in the evening. It's a hard life, I know. While I wish you could all join us, I promise to take photographical proof of medical students doing things not involving chairs, books or laptops. Maybe it'll even make it into National Geographic... 'Til next time! - Amanda Norwich, February blogger of the month

A photo montage of my unique experiences in Israel, by blogger of the month Rebekah Dickman

Attending medical school is not within itself a unique experience. When I tell people that I am in medical school they are impressed at my ambition, but not overly impressed. Then I whip out the fact that I attend medical school in Israel, and suddenly it becomes exotic and impressive. And although I did not decide to go to medical school in Israel to impress people, it does happen to be a fun added bonus. Note – this factor also translates to normal events. Instead of “Last weekend we hopped a bus out of town” or  “I’m training for a half marathon” or “Last night I went to a really great lecture” I get to tell people “Last weekend we hopped a bus…and headed to Jerusalem” and “I am training for a half-marathon…it’s at the Dead Sea” and “Last night I went to a really great lecture…in a bomb shelter”. See what I mean?

Alongside the “instant coolness factor” I have also found that I also accumulate a lot of really fun and entertaining pictures. Since this is the last blog for me, and I figure you are tired of reading what I have to say, why not share some of the photos? It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here is an essay for you to enjoy.

Thanks for reading! – blogger of the month, Rebekah Dickman

On Exiting Israel, by January blogger of the month Rebekah Dickman

On Exiting Israel

Welcome to another exciting episode of life in a foreign land! Ready to play?

Your challenge - if you choose to accept it - is to successfully make it through the security at the Ben Gurion International airport in time to catch your flight. You have three hours to complete this mission. Failure to complete all sections will result in time-consuming detention and possible loss of limb.

Task #1 (Optional):  The front door

If you are one of the lucky ones, you might find that you have an extra security check before entering the airport! (It would be inadvisable at this point to joke about the Ninja throwing stars in your carry-on).

Task #2:  The Maze

Find your airline and enter the correct corral. Presentation of your passport is required. Correctly interpreting the orders of the agent at the gate to the corral will gain you bonus points.

Task #3:  The Interrogation

Step up to the “nice” security agent with the large firearm and answer correctly the questions posed. Questions such as: “Why are you in this country”, “Is this your first trip to Israel”, “Do you have family here” and “Did you know Hebrew before you came” are commonplace. Bonus points for making it through the entire recitation of ‘why I wanted to go to school in Israel despite having no family or friends in the country and not speaking the language’ without cracking a smile.

Task #4:  The First X-ray

Present your barcode from task 3 and deposit your luggage into the x-ray machine. Do not forget to pick up your luggage on the other side, as you will need to proceed to task 5. Unfortunately choosing to ditch the luggage at this point will only make matters worse.

Task #5: The Search

Quickly unpack all of your carefully arranged items so a substance detection wand can be passed over each and every item. Multiple times. Bonus points for not setting off any alarms and for not having any items punctured, sniffed, scanned, confiscated or any deviation of previously said actions.

Task #6: Halfway Through

You have made it to the resting point! Congratulate yourself by handing your luggage off to a ticketing agent and getting your official boarding pass! But don’t stop now, there is much more fun to be had.

Task #7: The Second X-ray

Remember not only to remove your computer, ipod, ipad, cell phone, charger(s), and headphones and any other electronics or you will have to repeat this task. Make sure to get your shoes cleaned by the friendly agent on the other side of the x-ray! Bonus points for not giggling as you are selected to aid training the new security guard on how to thoroughly hand-frisk passengers.

Task #8:  The Scrum

Last chance to turn back! Enter the hall of the exit stamp. Lines in this section are strictly optional. If you see a gap, go for it. Remember to stay close to the person in front of you or you are likely to loose your spot. Personal space is also optional.

Once stamped, you have successfully made it through security and may enter the departure lounge.

Congratulations on your success!

Safe travels and have an enjoyable holiday. We look forward to tormenting you on your next trip. If you are flying El Al, we will see you on your return trip!