Introducing Team GeoWorld

GeoWorld is an educational software project to teach geography in a fun way. Anyone looking for the best project at MEET this summer, swing by Hebrew University and ask one of the below students for their elevator pitch:


From the left: Adham, Hassan, Edna, Moshiko (center), Abdullah, and Anwaar

Lebanese Food (kibbee and lebanee)

[This is a post from July 1st that I had trouble posting due to its length]

Kibbee has been my favorite Lebanese dish for a long time. It's a sure choice for kids and meat-lovers. More info here. It was part of a great sampling today from a Lebanese restaraunt that's easy to find (see below). Luckily Tali was there to figure out the local pronounciation of what I was trying to order.

I did find a great quote online, "One of the great things about Middle Eastern cooking is that both carnivores and herbivores believe it was created for them." [Detroit Metro News]. So true.

A few days ago I found some lebanee. This is an easy to make yogurt cheese. It's so easy and healthy and comes with an interesting taste, I really should make it myself sometime. All you do is drain some plain yogurt in cheese cloth to get a spreadable/dippable tarty cheese. We used to make it when I was younger. This week, I ate a whole container over the course of one day, just dipping pita bread as I worked.

Since spellings for Arabic and Hebrew words vary about as much as there are English pronunciations for them, I've decided to write as I know them and end with comments on how to find them...

Kibbee was "kubeh" on the menu at the Moses Art Lebanese Restaraunt, about a block inside the Jaffa Gate (Old City), East Jerusalem.

Lebanee can be found as "labane" in the grocery store. Try the plain first. I may soon start comparing goat and sheep varieties, as that's probably the original ancient source.

"The food of Lebanon evolved over the centuries: a little meat and lots of fresh vegetables, grains, herbs and seasonings aromatically combined. Many Lebanese dishes provide complementary proteins, that is, complete proteins formed by the combination of two non-meat foods, such as legumes with grains, or seeds or nuts with grains. Lentils with rice in the one-pot dish mujaddrah are one example; hummus bi tahinah —puréed garbanzo beans with a sauce made from ground sesame seeds, eaten with wheat bread, is another. Complementary proteins are essential where economic circumstances and the scarcity of meat create a need for meatless protein sources." [Saudi Aramco World]

The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea is awesome!

1. I was a floatation device. I had to tread water in reverse to keep my butt underwater.
2. Instead of sand, the beach is salt (and other minerals etc.). You know how objects near the ocean get salt-encrusted from sea spray? Here, things are covered in inches of salt like wintertime ice.
3. A slight lick of just the tip of my wet finger was enough to make me gag. I did not go all the way under.
4. Oh, and it's the lowest point on the surface of the earth. Purty cool.

North & South

We've heard about the fighting up north. We're all fine. No apparent danger in Jerusalem.

Coincidentally, we are heading south for a camping trip in the desert this weekend, far away from the internet, among other things

Google Negev.

Week 2, Complete

Our project is well underway, and the second and final week of lecture & formal technical instruction is complete.

From here on, the business lectures and labs continue as my team prepares their business plan alongside their hard core Java development. The team has a design and a plan. Coding starts on Sunday!

Three weeks from now, watch out for the prototype release of...GeoWorld.

Pictures!!!

Camel!
Most of us!

Yay!

Blog is Back

The first week was a fantastically busy one. The technical lectures went well, and the afternoon labs worked well too. The students love the business curriculum--Shahid and Michael are rocking this area.

This second week is well underway. (Remember, we start on Sundays over here.) I have my Project Group. We will be spending the next four weeks on our software engineering project, an educational "game." My team consists of five excellent students. With a couple of my team members out for various reasons and some early trouble nailing down what exactly the project would be about, the beginning has been tough. However, this afternoon we will get to a very fun part of the design, the technical module breakdown.

Investigating the technical breakdown of the project will start them thinking on their division of labor and really get them excited on which parts of the program they will work on. All will code. We've already broken down everyone's roles: Anwaar will be the Business Manager, Hassan will be the Quality Assurance Manager, while four will take turns being the weekly Project Manager--currently Adham, followed by Moshiko, Edna and Hassan.

I have been impressed by their discussions, ability to compromise, and willingness to understand each other's positions.

Overall, the Year 2 students are spending their mornings in technical workshops, where they each focus on an area of Java to help them with their projects. I am leading the 2-day Swing/GUI (Graphical User Interface) workshop yesterday and today.

Let's Get It Started...

First day of MEET today. Students are great. Fun and productive day. Various issues to deal with of course, but things are off to a good start.

Needless to say we are busy. Haven't checked my email in 24 hours nor have I blogged. Check back in 48 or so. And about those pics I promised...maybe some other time.

Blog troubles plus consolation

Liv and I are having some trouble posting into blogger. It has to do with our traffic being block for long http headers, so maybe its due to our location or some big posts.

Consolation Prize: check out MEET's spring newsletter, featuring Nune and me!