Today is the first day it has rained in Tel Aviv since I arrived. To me, rain is beautiful, signaling a process of renewal and change necessary for growth. The Middle East is, for me, a place in need of metaphorical rain. There are many wonderful, longstanding traditions and cities that have changed again and again over the centuries becoming multicultural and multifaceted. Jerusalem and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are good examples of this. The old city walls share stones from multiple eras. The markets bustle with ancient treats and T-Shirts advertising local tour guides as better than Google. The call to prayer intersperses with merchants yelling their wares and church bells announcing the hour.

There are also many things here that people have come to accept as normal and unchanging. Every new apartment has a safe-room, everyone jokes about not needing a gas mask but has one somewhere, and machine guns are carried around the streets by 18 year-olds going about their army service. The longer I am here, the more I understand both how difficult it would be to see an urgent need for change if one grew up here and saw these things as routine. At the same time, I I feel so much hope as I see, often amongst my new colleagues and friends, how resilient, open minded, insightful and refreshing Israelis can be. 

Please allow me to introduce my second group of colleagues in Israel. As with the PICR lab, I honestly hope the individuals I meet here will be friends and collaborators for life. 

For those of you in academia who are familiar with the motivational lulls of graduate student life- those times when endless literature searches on one's couch lead to less than fantastic work (yes, I admit it)-you are also aware of how important something inspirational- a conference, paper, conversation, or mentor is. For me, the annual ISPP (International Society for Political Psychology) Conference is usually that thing that moves me forward, along with an occasional conversation with a colleague or my adviser. 

Here in Israel, I am lucky enough to have those mentors and advisers daily. If you've never experienced this, I hope you meet a group like those here. Each time I have a conversation or meeting, I leave both confused and energized. To have a group of people willing to support, educate, push and share with you is an exceptional way to life an academic life. This model, one that Daniel Bar-Tal champions and that is not used by many of his students, including Eran at IDC, is truly a gift and something I hope more Professors embrace.

From here on out I have two main goals: to pick just a few of the many projects in my head to pursue and to bring this model to my own students if I ever have the chance to become a professor in my own right.