...we rented a car for the day and...

I have recently started working in the Movement Ecology lab at Hebrew University.  For a bit of a run-down, read this.

My first day was pretty laid back.  I sat in front of a computer for a few hours doing a lab safety tutorial in Hebrew.  After understanding about seventy percent of the tutorial and failing the follow-up test twice, I asked the lab manager for some translating help.  It was so Israeli when he asked me if I really wanted help translating or if we should just pass the test in a round-about way.  We bypassed the tutorial, skipped right to a new version of the test, and basically did the test together; I passed in a matter of minutes.

After the several hours spent "learning" about lab safety, it was time for lunch.  The whole lab eats together in the middle of the day, which is really unique.  The weather was nice, so we all collected our lunches and headed outside to sit in a circle in the grass.  We did a few introductions and chatted for about twenty minutes.  It is a nice break and good bonding time--definitely something I'll be looking forward to every day.  Following lunch, I met with a few people and started reading a research proposal.  It was also determined that I would be taking a tiyul (trip) the next day.

Monday, I took a bus to Tel Aviv to meet a fellow lab-mate.  We rented a car, picked up some frozen fish from the Zoological Gardens at Tel Aviv University, and began the drive up North.  As we were loading the car, I asked if there were going to be problems when we returned the car still smelling like fish.  It was so Israeli when my lab-mate looked at me, laughed, and said that I had just asked "such an American question."  I laughed along with him and we began our drive.



 We spent the day in the Golan looking at stork nests.  We are initiating a new project with storks that breed in Israel, so I got to see all of the breeding sites and nests.  The six nests were very near civilization.  A few were near refets (cow sheds), and at one refet, I got to play with the cows--I even got a lick on the hand.  A potential breeding nest was located in the middle of a moshav (a co-operative village or settlement).  We asked the family living nearby if they had seen storks yet this year or last year.  The woman we asked was very excited about helping with the research and told us she would call if and when the stork(s) returned to the nest.  Even her children were excited about the storks.  And of course, we got an invite to come in for coffee or tea.  Aside from the breeding sites, I also saw a number of storks on the migration path from Africa to Europe.  I never really was a bird watcher, but I think I'll need to do a bit of research and catch up to the other people in the lab.  Everyone just knows and identifies all of the birds we see here and there.

After our stork tour, we went to Gamla, where there is a vulture preserve, to collect some data.  Never in my life have I been so close to such a big bird!  To get to the site, we did a bit of off-roading in a golf cart driven by the forest preserve manager.  It was definitely a scary, but quite an experience.  That ended our day of adventures, and we headed back to Tel Aviv.  I was right about the fish stench and most of the three hour ride back, we drove with the windows open.  I haven't heard anything about problems with the rental car company, but hopefully next time we rent, someone different will be working.

The past two days, I have been back in the lab: lunching together, attending the weekly seminar, reading lots and lots, and just getting settled.  It is so refreshing to use my noggin a bit, and I am looking forward to what is to come!