Stoked, Stressed, or both?

My first blog post!

Even though it’s only March, my projects are becoming better defined and I’m developing a relationship with my main collaborator, Eyal. It is somewhat challenging to clearly communicate through email, but I had a productive Skype call with Eyal. It turns out my proposal was a little too ambitious, so we honed in exactly what I will be doing whilst there. I just finished making my calendar and feel pretty good about it. 

I guess I should disclose that I have two main states: 1) stoked and 2) stressed. I feel I spend 95% of the time at state 1), state 2), or some combination of the two. 

I’m really stoked to have the opportunity to go to Israel since samples from a couple of my projects are from there. Also, I’m stoked because I will be able to work for two months straight without distractions and get a lot of data for my dissertation. I assume all graduate students potentially reading this are all familiar with the “Am I on track!?!” and “Do I have enough data??!??” anxiety hits – I think this trip is going to ease a lot of that for me. But…Who can say? Maybe nothing will work. After all, this is research J

I’m also really stoked about

-               snorkeling/diving in the Red Sea! The Paytan lab has plenty of divers, so I’ll have to ask them about what kind of camera is best for underwater photos.

-               going to Petra

-               learning more about Israeli culture

-               potentially surfing in Haifa – sadly peak season for waves is winter – but apparently there are some waves in the summer even

-               all of the food!

I’m stressed about

-               my projects not working

-               political climate

-               getting enough exercise during the trip – My productivity and mental health plummet if I don’t exercise. I even asked Eyal about this. He said there are gyms nearby. I’m not much of a runner, but I have a feeling that will be my activity of choice. Maybe I can kite/wind surf – I hear that’s big in Eilat… Or swim! We’ll see!

-               being homesick – I’ve become pretty attached to Santa Cruz. I’m sure I’ll be missing it.

In the next few days, I will be putting together my SOPs and list of supplies/instruments I will need for the trip. It’s hard to believe we leave in 4 months! So much to do until then!