Wandering the Grounds

I'm going crazy, or at least a little bit loopy. Everything in Rehovot, including public transportation has been shut down again! Today is the cheese holiday I mentioned earlier and for some reason, the Israeli people like to start their holidays the afternoon of the day before (just like with Friday afternoon of the Sabbath). So, yesterday there was absolutely nothing to do. I can't even waste time on Facebook here, because the internet connection to that site is so slow! I went into work all day, and the place was desolate. Technically, the Weizmann Institute declared yesterday as a half-day of work, but still, nobody came into the lab in the morning. Rony e-mailed me and said that he wouldn't be in till Tuesday. It's amazing that the Institute gets such magnificent work done; they must be very efficient at time management.

The building where I work

Because no restaurants are open and my kitchen is a mess, I've been eating peanut-butter on pita bread. I finally succumbed to the pressure of paying 21 shekel ($7.00) for peanut butter out of fear that I was wasting away from lack of protein. I figured that it was still cheaper than buying meat and much more appealing. Of course, the meat probably would have lasted longer—after one bite of the square-shaped packaged variations on pastrami, it would likely have remained uneaten in my refrigerator for the next nine weeks!

Skippy peanut butter -- Hebrew style!

After a quiet day at work yesterday, I took an hour long walk around the grounds of the Weizmann Institute (With all this walking I'm doing, I'm bound to have some pretty built, sexy calf muscles when I leave Israel. Ladies, be prepared!). The weather here is a bit cooler than Phoenix was when I left, so it's actually really pleasant out. The shade from all the trees helps a lot a,nd all the gardens are really beautiful to see and smell. I took along the book I'm reading and spent the rest of the day outside. I've been told that the Weizmann Institute is like a little bubble within Israel in terms of landscape—the surrounding area is fairly desert-like. Perhaps I can figure a way to get out of town today (though probably not, since the buses and trains are closed till 10:00pm). I will definitely make arrangements to do something next weekend!

Photos from my walk inside the Institute