Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Coordinating Medical Care Abroad

Our trip to Israel is coming up really soon!

...so I guess it's about time to coordinate my infusions while I'm over there.

See, some people's immune systems help them. Some people's immune systems try to kill them.

Mine is the latter.

Thankfully though, there is an immuno-suppressant called Remicade that helps chill my immune system out, making it less likely to hurt me (which is a good thing). This drug had me in remission for several years, but it's not something that you can just take by mouth. It requires a visit to an infusion center, an IV, and 3 hours of waiting while it drips in every 6 weeks. Not a big deal when it's a part of your routine, but a little more complicated when going abroad.

Things to think about: getting a letter from my doctor, ensuring that the hospital has Remicade "on tap," travel to/from the hospital, saving up enough cash to pay for it out of pocket, the insurance reimbursement process (that I'm sure will be fun) when I return, and not stressing about anything because that will only make my immune system meaner.

So, cheers! to not stressing as the quarter wraps up and everything becomes due.


Friday, May 26, 2017

Why do I feel nothing?

Today someone asked me if I was excited to be going to Israel this summer. Truth is, I'm still waiting for this whole "I'm going to Israel for two months" fact to hit me. Even though I'll be in a new country, won't speak the language, and will have to start an ambitious science project, I'm not nervous, excited, or scared about it... What is that about?

Its probably just that I haven't really made much time to sit down and think about how cool this summer is going to be or how fortunate I was for even getting this opportunity. I guess graduate school, classes, grant proposals, presentations, and other projects keep me from dwelling on the future. Although, I'm starting to really look forward to it!


Stephan
I kinda feel like this Raccoon right now. Just chillin'

Thursday, May 25, 2017

אני לא מדבר עברית.

English is widely spoken is Israel. Nevertheless, Hebrew is the language of the people, so I thought I would do my best to get acquainted with the basics before heading out there. I learned that Duolingo now offers Hebrew as one of their languages, which surprised me. The last time I checked Duolingo, they only offered Spanish, French, Italian, and German. Now they offer 28 language courses, including (for some reason) Esperanto and Klingon, and not including (for some reason) Mandarin Chinese or Arabic.

In any case, I downloaded the app a few weeks ago, and have been doing daily exercises since. My goal in this is not fluency, even at a conversational level. I think that would be a little too ambitious. My goals are, in order:

1. To be able to read menus at hole-in-the-wall restaurants.
2. To get the gist of conversations between two native speakers.
3. To be able to say "I don't speak Hebrew".

One down, two to go! Ok, I might have added that last one to boost my confidence a little bit.

Duolingo's lessons seem well-structured, with sentences that make sense in terms of content. That being said, I think the sentences in the "strengthening" exercises are computer generated. As a result, they sometimes don't make a whole lot of sense, and other times they...have other connotations. To give you an idea of what I mean, here are a few of my favorites:

זאת אשה גדולה.
That is a big woman.
זה בתוכי?
Is it inside me?
הפרות נגדה.
The cows are against her.
הוא אוהב ארבע עשרה נשים.
He loves fourteen women.
האישה הזאת שותה הרבה יין.
This woman drinks a lot of wine.

We'll see how this all goes. For now, להתראות!

Steve

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Dust storms in Eilat

One of my collaborators in Israel emailed me about a dust storm in Eilat today. This is great news, because I can use the dust collected for my experiments this summer. If I'm lucky, the origin of the dust will be different from what we already have :)

Here is the link to the news article, which includes a video and some photos:

http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4964134,00.html

Saturday, May 6, 2017

A Sistrum Arrives...


Ta-daa!  I am now the proud owner of a sistrum, much like the one priestesses and devotees of Hathor used in Ancient Egypt and nearby lands (like Timna in Israel).  I acquired this one via a work trade.  My friend Mary, and Egyptologist who lives part time in Luxor and part-time in the U.S., gave me this on in exchange for helping her with a grant proposal to the Archaeological Institute of America.  She has been working to cultivate a blue lotus pond.  In pharonic times, the *blue lotus was an important flower for medicinal and spiritual purposes.  It appears in much of Egyptian art and architectural decoration, but it does not grow in contemporary Egypt.

I will be using this sistrum to capture acoustic reverberations in Timna in the copper mines, in the rock formations (Pillars of Solomon) and around the remains of the Hathor chapel there.

Mary also threw in a Hathor t-shirt.  I feel so inspired...




*Note, I have not vetted the scholarly veracity of this article on the blue lotus, but it's most credible "looking" I found at a glance:  http://www.trinfinity8.com/secrets-of-the-ancient-egyptian-sacred-blue-lotus/  



Thursday, May 4, 2017

The pets we leave behind

I see that two recent posts are about pets. Well, one pet. Unless you count the ticks. Regardless, who am I to fight the trend?

Pet week it is! Here is an overview of the dependents I will be aching for while overseas:

Borf

Figure 1: Borf Wellington, First of his Name

The sweetest, friendliest bunny you'll ever meet. He enjoys his kibble more than anything in the world, but is also fond of apple slices and dried mango. An expert loafer (Figures 1, 2). An expert beggar (Figure 3). Not that bright (Video 1).

Figure 2: The mighty hunter stalks his photosynthetic prey

Figure 3: A master of nonverbal communication

Video 1: He got into this mess himself. Just because I decided to take a video of it for a few seconds doesn't make me a terrible person. Right? RIGHT? PLEASE DON'T TAKE HIM AWAY

Gandalf

Figure 4: Gandalf. Not a wizard.

Gandalf is a cat with the conflicting qualities of being both terribly shy and needing an unhealthy amount of attention. He is free to roam outdoors, but the neighbors are presumably unaware of his existence. Squeaks when needy. Normal looking when upright (Figure 4), obese when horizontal (Figure 5).
Figure 5: I'm pretty sure he's not as fat as he looks

Spock

Figure 6: Spock. Prefers to sit on as much logic as possible.

Spock has the opposite qualities of Gandalf. He does not require much attention, but will happily approach any axe murderer in the neighborhood. Tends to bully Gandalf despite being half his size. Known for his loud, persistent, annoying meow. Enjoys sitting on the most important paperwork that happens to be in the room (Figures 6, 7) and performing the "walk on your side" party trick that wasn't even funny the first time (Figure 8).

Figure 7: Head butts signal that Spock is STILL SITTING ON THE PAPERS I NEED TO GRADE

Figure 8: Masterfully hunting any mice that happen to be laying on their side


Maybe I'll adopt something in Israel. Anyone know of any pets with a life expectancy of under 2 months? Like...a bee?

-Steve

Experiments!

I'm in the process of 'finalizing' my plans for this summer (I say that with '__' marks, because things always change) and it looks like I'm going to be very busy.

I will have two experiments, one for ~5 days and one for ~2-3 days. Most of the work is going to be analyzing the many subsamples from those experiments, because we are being very ambitious with how many things we want to monitor. I'm really happy about it and feel excited to have access to the samples, facilities, and guidance of collaborators. I think some of the students there will be helping me as well, and I'm also feeling fortunate for that :)

Next step is going to be writing up SOPs and making sure all of the materials are ready, most of which should be done by the end of the month if not within the next week or so!

-Esra

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Who's tickling my legs!

Things are heating up in Santa Cruz! It was 86 degrees F this afternoon. That's 5 degrees less than what is typical for the month of July in Eilat!! Boy are we in for a hot summer.

In Santa Cruz our animals/insects are starting to notice the temperature change too. Our dog Pawesome has shed most of her Husky fur and made some unwanted friends... I'm talking about ticks!

Poor Pawesome! Ticks are rough.... WOOF.


Our housemate found that out the hard way today with a blood curdling scream. One of Pawesome's ticks had made its way up to her neck! Shortly after I felt a tick tickling my leg. Oooooof! Of course as a curious individual I had to take some close up pictures of it!!


Check out the photos below! You should see the tick moving to the top of my paintbrush and holding its first pair of legs out into the air in a position that seems similar to "questing." Questing ticks are waiting for an animal to come by. Once it does they grab on to it and begin the process of finding a place to settle down for a long meal! GROSS!.....

Radiolab did an excellent story on how ticks made people allergic to meat! Check it out here: http://www.radiolab.org/story/alpha-gal/