I want to preface this by apologizing for not blogging as I promised. I am keeping detailed entries about my experiences here-but they never seem to make it from the page to the web! Lots of editing! This will be a rough blog and kind of choppy, but I've got other stuff I want to write about. Also, I won't be using full names unless it's Sami. :) Also, I changed some initials for anonymity.
10th
Got into Tel Aviv with Sami. See previous post.
11th
R. phoned Sami and invited us to his house in Jerusalem. Sami and I took the bus to Jerusalem, which was very cheap and comfortable. R introduced us to H and M, good friends who were also going to be students at Arava. We went to a pub later in the evening, and met up with more students and their friends. We had a blast, singing 90's songs and rotating where we were sitting.
R. phoned Sami and invited us to his house in Jerusalem. Sami and I took the bus to Jerusalem, which was very cheap and comfortable. R introduced us to H and M, good friends who were also going to be students at Arava. We went to a pub later in the evening, and met up with more students and their friends. We had a blast, singing 90's songs and rotating where we were sitting.
Tuesday 12th
(First day at Kibbutz Ketura)
Spent the morning walking around Old Jerusalem with R and H. **I will be doing a separate post later on the beauties of Old Jerusalem. We ate delicious desert, kanafeh, that H
says is a specialty of his hometown, Nablus.
Traveling through Jerusalem:
Left on time from R's house. Took R's old family car (crazy small personal parking space!) to meet up with the bus to Arava. We stopped at a bank so Sami and I could withdraw money. The bank didn’t take our cards, so we ran to another. They wanted our passports which were in the cars, but R called and told us to come back anyway because we were running out of time. We bolted back, only to find that the car had broken down. We assessed that it was a problem with the battery, so Sami, H, and I pushed the car to try to recharge the battery. Thankfully, I was wearing my hiking boots and not flip flops, so I could actually push. The attempt to jump start the car didn’t work, though. R attempted to get us a large taxi but all three major companies were out. So, we decided to take two taxis (too much luggage for one). One of the Jewish drivers didn’t know the location we were going to, so she was instructed to follow our driver. We lost her in the congested traffic, and we entered a tunnel. She ended up taking Sami and H to a completely wrong location and told them that that was as far as she was going. She charged them, too! By the time R and I got to the Arava meet-up, we were over an hour late. The students actually didn’t seem to mind because it gave them the chance to get something to eat. It took a little longer for Sami and H to reach us, and then we all piled into the bus. I was seated next to C, and we chatted for a bit. It was strange to not be by Sami, R, and H (they were in the back) and M (in the front). Most of us were pretty weary when we finally arrived at Kibbutz Ketura.
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| Kanafeh! |
Traveling through Jerusalem:
Left on time from R's house. Took R's old family car (crazy small personal parking space!) to meet up with the bus to Arava. We stopped at a bank so Sami and I could withdraw money. The bank didn’t take our cards, so we ran to another. They wanted our passports which were in the cars, but R called and told us to come back anyway because we were running out of time. We bolted back, only to find that the car had broken down. We assessed that it was a problem with the battery, so Sami, H, and I pushed the car to try to recharge the battery. Thankfully, I was wearing my hiking boots and not flip flops, so I could actually push. The attempt to jump start the car didn’t work, though. R attempted to get us a large taxi but all three major companies were out. So, we decided to take two taxis (too much luggage for one). One of the Jewish drivers didn’t know the location we were going to, so she was instructed to follow our driver. We lost her in the congested traffic, and we entered a tunnel. She ended up taking Sami and H to a completely wrong location and told them that that was as far as she was going. She charged them, too! By the time R and I got to the Arava meet-up, we were over an hour late. The students actually didn’t seem to mind because it gave them the chance to get something to eat. It took a little longer for Sami and H to reach us, and then we all piled into the bus. I was seated next to C, and we chatted for a bit. It was strange to not be by Sami, R, and H (they were in the back) and M (in the front). Most of us were pretty weary when we finally arrived at Kibbutz Ketura.
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| Kibbutz Ketura at top left |
Wednesday 13th
First hike in the Arava to Kibbutz Lotan. See previous post for pics.
Thursday 14th
First salsa dance lesson and first soccer (football) practice for our upcoming tournament.
Friday 15th
A professor took us through a tour of the plantations. Then, we hiked at midday (bad timing, in retrospect). Learned about Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. Went to Sabbath service, which I found very beautiful. Growing up in an Episcopalian church, which took from Catholic prayers and traditions, I came to appreciate prayers that were said together. Sabbath service was led in Hebrew, and some students helped me follow along in a Hebrew-English prayer book. After service, we ate Shabbat dinner, a special meal served by the kibbutz.
In the evening, we started a bonfire behind Kibbutz Ketura, and sang and star-gazed.
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| Date plantations |
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| Beginning the hike |
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| A bit steep |
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| Cool Lookout |
Sunday 17th
More salsa dancing at the merkaz.
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| Blackened from fires |
Monday 18th
S candidly says that last semester’s policy class was
“boring”, and that she did not like how the focus was on definitions and not
case studies. This was my first example of students being quite blunt with
professors. I like this style. Also, as a general rule, profs here go by their first name. And
they get a bit insulted or disappointed when called by titles. Prof Nadav
didn’t seem phased, and assured her that there would be many more case studies
in this course. His course on Ecohealth is three hours long, which I am not at
all used to. Thankfully, we get a minimum of a 20 minute break.
Some friends pointed out that Sami is always laughing and that I am always smiling. It's true to our personalities, but I think it's particularly true because we've really been enjoying ourselves here.
Tues 19th
We had our first PELS session today, a peace-building class that is designed for us to share our thoughts on political differences, religious differences, experiences during the semester, etc. We broke off into groups. I am proud to be a member of Guns & Roses, which we all collectively enjoy musically (we also dig the obvious symbols).
I am still shocked by the barren land every time I see a picture. How do they grow figs? Major irrigation? M&D
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