Israel Students: Hebrew University Faculty of Agriculture, Rehovot

"The cast: Nurit Hivsher (22.5), Tali Zviran (21). A wintry morning, a gray gate. We get an entry pass and a soft swoosh of tires is heard. We drive in. The rain that has washed over the campus has deepened the colors. Rising from the lawn are orange and white buildings, and students from Africa walk along a wet path led by a man carrying a large umbrella. We are in Rehovot.

The room: The student dormitory building, 15 square meters, beige walls, two narrow tables (for writing on), two plastic chairs (for sitting on), two youth beds (for sleeping on), two greenish bookshelves (for placing books on), a carpet. This is where first-year students reside. Potted plants adorn the window sills. On the wall on Nurit's side is a map of the world, on the wall on Tali's side is a movie poster and a black-and-white photograph of her grandmother ("Yocheved"). Next to the door is a kitchenette (without gas burners and a faucet) with a table, mini-refrigerator, toaster oven and electric kettle.

Rent: NIS 500 a month. In return the tenants get electricity, water (hot and cold) and gas (in the shared kitchen).

The shared kitchen: At the end of the hall, long stainless steel sink, industrial gas burners and a gray honeycomb of cupboards (for pots and frying pans).

Cleaning and maintenance: A cleaning and maintenance company.

Tuition: NIS 9,600 a year ("in six installments").Fields of study: Nurit - protection of flora ("in the direction of biological extermination"); Tali - plant sciences and biotechnology ("in the direction of academic research"). Both are undergraduates (three years to graduate).Other fields of study in the faculty: Biochemistry, ground and water sciences, agricultural chemistry, animals, veterinary studies (master's degree only), food engineering, nutrition sciences, hotel studies, food resources and tourism ("Something new"). The veterinary hospital at Beit Dagan also belongs to the faculty, which is part of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Nurit's bio: Nurit is from Kfar Sava. Her father is a bank official (Bank Leumi), her mother a librarian (at Tel Aviv University). She grew up in the Yad Eliahu neighborhood in south Tel Aviv and is a graduate of Ironi Heh High School in the north of the city. During high school, she took part in a special project run by the Rehovot-based Weizmann Institute of Science, doing 5-unit matriculation certificates in mathematics, English and art, and 9 units in physics, served as a soldier-teacher in the southern development town of Netivot (after a year of service as part of a Nahal paramilitary brigade "core group"). After completing her army service in 2003, she worked half a year in the Arava, on Moshav Ein Yahav ("like a Thai"), growing tomatoes, cucumbers and onions, and took a trip (with a girlfriend) to Thailand, Laos and Nepal...

Tali's bio: Born in Nahariya in 1983. Her father, an engineer in Rafael (Israel Armament Development Authority), is from a veteran Nahariya family; her mother, who was born in Beit She'an ("There were Ashkenazim there, too"), is a high-school teacher and learning disabilities diagnostician. After completing the regional high school in Kibbutz Kabri, Tali did her military service in the air force (as a computer systems operator), getting her discharge last year (February 2004). She took the psychometric university entrance test without any preparation ("I used Yoel Geva books") and achieved a score of 716 points ("That was enough for me"). During the period between the test and the start of the academic year, she went to Thailand ("with two guys I didn't know"), had her photograph taken with the Iraqi national soccer team ("They were having a hafla" - a celebration party - "after beating Thailand"), returned to Israel and started her studies ("what I always wanted")..."

Source: Avner Avrahami.Family affair / Tali and Nurit - Faculty of Agriculture, Rehovot. Haaretz.com (5 April 2005 / Adar2 25, 5765) [