Israel 2

So… Haifa was really sweet. I think I liked it so much because of its geographical layout. The top of the hill is Carmel district. Then, like spider’s arms, 4 or 5 hiking trails meander their way down to the Mediterranean. I checked out Eden Hotel the first night and met up with Roey (a friend Tatiana and I met in Bariloche, Argentina last year). He is doing good and is just about finished with his first semester of university. The next day I checked out the Port Inn, a hostel that was better than the Eden. I went for a hike to the sea, then watched the sunset. After an expensive Chinese dinner, I crashed early and went to the train station.

Keren’s base is in Akko (north of Haifa) and I boarded her train when it stopped in Haifa on it’s way south to Kyrat Gat. We got off in KG and walked to her family’s house where I would spend the next three nights. The first night was chill and I met everyone. I must admit, it was a bit crazy when I showed up with the yelling and people coming in and out, but that’s just how a big family is. Her mom and older sister run the show in the house and they spoiled me to death with food and attention. They spoke English better than I could speak Hebrew and Keren’s younger sister is so full of energy and life! On Shabbat, we did all the rituals but it was definitely more laid back than my last couple of Shabbats (which would probably be more along the lines of how I will be observing my Sabbaths). I started and finished the book Blood Brothers about the middle-east conflict and went for a couple of walks with Keren to her best friend Nava’s house. After Shabbat was over and we could turn on lights, return messages, and take showers, Keren, her 3 girlfriends, and I went out to Be’er Sheva and partied at a club called Forum. It was pretty fun. I drank vodka tonics even though they used lemons and not limes. =P

On Sunday, I woke up after Keren who had to get up at 7am (we returned the night before at 5am). She was on her train back to the base when Avi (Keren’s bro-in-law) and I took a bus together to Be’er Sheva. He was on his way to work and I was on my way to a moshav that I heard about through my friend Tal. (A moshav is similar to a kibbutz, but not communist.) Avi and I talked throughout the weekend about Jewish history and he gave me a few sites and books to check out.

I didn’t really know where I was going when I got on bus 382. The driver said he knew so that was good enough for me. I was the only civilian on the bus because Sunday is the day when all the soldiers return to work and the route I was on apparently didn’t stop at too many places. My destination was simply a junction in the middle of the desert. When the bus suddenly pulled off the side of the road 2.5 hours into the ride and tapped me on the leg (I was sitting behind him), I was a little nervous. But I immediately met Amir who hitchhiked his way there and was now waiting for the last hitch up to the settlement. The two of us found rides really quickly and in no time, the two of us were feeding the camels in the front. It was night when we arrived and the air was cooling. Everyone here (I am typing this from the settlement in my room) is really chill. I have had so many ideas fly through my head while I’ve been here. Stuff about life, and about burning man, and about what I will do when I return. We’ll see though. My journal is filling up pretty quickly, I must say!

The work here is menial and minimal. I work about 4 hrs a day, making beds or shoveling dirt, or gathering wood. I’ve learned how to make pita by hand and am learning how to make my own teas and humus! Other than that, I have just been chillin and checking out the local extracurriculars. Some of my friends would really like it here (Dan). It’s quiet, isolated, and powerful. That’s about all I can say because you would really just have to come here to know what I mean.