Climb the mountain so you can see the world, not so the world can see you. - David McCullough Jr.

Picture: Northern Israel from Isfiya

It's a Small World

Last week, ACS Nano founder and editor Paul Weiss visited Schroeder lab. It was unreal; I've read so many papers from ACS Nano, it was really cool to meet a visionary of collaborative science, and here his thoughts about the future directions of nanotechnology. He was so friendly, and gave me his business card :)

I also happened to stumble across Prof. Lisa Klein from Rutgers University. During high school, I participated in the NJ Governor's School of Engineering and Technology at Rutgers, and I worked in a group to synthesize superhydrophobic silica aerogels in her lab, using the sol-gel process. It was so amazing to meet her here, giving a seminar on her research. She was equally surprised.

Druze Experiences

There was another subsidized event, a Druze Experience at the nearby Druze village of Isfiya. The Druze faith is a relatively unknown religion outside of Israel, but it is distinctive in many ways. I could describe it, but there are probably more qualified websites to find the details. I did appreciate that the Druze religion is similar to Hinduism, in that Druze people believe in reincarnation. I also found it interesting that Druze people believe that there was always a fixed number of Druze (2 million), and that if there are famines or deaths in one Druze community, this means there must be an abundance of life in another one. Plus, Druze people believe in "assimilation" - if they need to practice another religion publicly to fit into a community, then they embrace it as a part of their current life. As the guide said, "as not what your community can do for you, but what you can do for your community." Interesting connection. We then ate some delicious Druze food; I tried this really tasty dish using the grain bulgur, so I bought some this week and I'm going to ask my flatmate, who is Druze, to teach me how to make it.

"Akko" trip

We also were supposed to go to Akko on a trip, but due to Ramadan, we had trouble with the transportation. So, we went to a place called Rosh Hanikra, which is near the Lebanon border (why do I keep going back there). There were some really beautiful grottoes, and the Mediterranean Sea was this beautiful turquoise color. We also went to a village in the Hula Valley called Yesud HaMa'ala, where we had a hummus-making competition, a wonderful BBQ, and went on a 3-hour hike. I met so many cool people during this trip - Rahel, a student from Ethiopia, and Lin, a student from China. It was incredibly interesting to learn about the lives of Ethiopians; all of the different regions are so diverse, they express themselves through dance and wonderful music, their national language is Amharic, their food is called Injera, and they watch a LOT of Bollywood movies. Rahel's Hindi is better than mine, I felt so bad :/. But she was so friendly. I really appreciate how inclusive the International School is, I really feel like any student can form meaningful connections with any other student. It is so special.

Searching for the Music Room

There are so many chance happenings which occur in Israel. Two nights ago, I went with my flatmate SJ to one of the dorms, to look for the music room. We were a bit lost, when we got distracted by this cat that kept following us which seemed really itchy. But because we got delayed, we ran into this Kenyan student and had a really nice conversation about his life in Kenya and vision for African countries. I've watched many TED Talks about African visionaries who hope to retain talented African engineers and designers, instead of losing them to other countries and assigning projects to foreigners who then leave. But, I've never met an African student who shared that vision; it was so inspiring. I asked him what he thought of Black Panther (I had to), and got a really interesting reply. First, he was like "Yeah I saw it. In my home I am King T'Challa." Then, he said that the main message he hopes Africans take from the movie is that those who are in power use their power for good and reform. He is specifically passionate about governmental corruption which holds African societies back, and about Africans who travel to other countries for education but do not return to Africa. He feels both of these groups could contribute much to their homes, but they often choose not to. I thought that this contrasted a lot with how Black Panther was received by Black Americans (and others) in the U.S. For us, the movie was a celebration of Black culture and representation, not about corrupt power and "coming home." Both of these messages are so strong, and it's so interesting how they were received differently by different communities.