What a week!!!

This week was extremely intense (which is my excuse, or reason, to be writing in my blog instead of getting right back into work...).
It started with the very Israeli emotional roller-coaster of memorial-day-turn-into-independence-day. It is even worse because of the time difference - on Monday morning I was still crying after reading several bereavement stories and listening to Chava Alberstein, and in the afternoon I was already watching the beacons and the fireworks of the Independence day opening ceremony, and talking with family and friends happy in barbecues and parties...that's one sharp transition.
Wednesday was the opening day for the "big defense festival", with Emily's defense at WHOI. She gave a great talk and it was fun to see her smile afterwards, but also sad because I know this means she will be leaving soon :( Ping (Thursday) and Chang (Friday) followed action with great talks as well. While I really don't have to do much for someone else's defense, all these have raised the overall level of excitement in the department, and it just felt like there was a lot going on all the time. On Friday night we all went out to Rob's house in Concord and had a big party for all three defenders. Good wine and food were as usual part of the deal.
On a little different mood, this is now also the time for many friends to take their general exam. This, naturally, raises the overall level of stress in the building, with practice presentations and mock exams... Many of these students come to see me, seeking advice and just wanting to talk about it. It feels great to be able to (at least try to) help them. This just makes me understand how much I would not like working in an all-adult research-only facility. I need this human interaction and the mentoring process.
If this wasn't enough activity for one week, yesterday (Saturday) I went wall-climbing for the first time ever. I was lucky to get a free spot on a group trip from MIT, and got a climbing lesson for a great price. We learned how to belay, and then climbed for 4 hours in pairs. It was a lot of fun and actually not scary at all. But it is hard! I managed to get to the top of three 5.7 routes, and to about 2/3 of the way up a couple of 5.8s. I guess I could use some practice... Then I went directly to the barn and rode Tasha, who was really good - maybe she felt that I really couldn't move my arms any more...
And now it's back to work - there was some progress during the week, and many of the problems with the code were solved, but now it's time to actually do something with it...
As I said - What a week!!!