Hiking, at last...

On Saturday (July 8) at 2 in the afternoon, Joanna and I left with Josh (a soldier "adopted" by the kibbutz because he is orignially from England) for a long, hot walk. People told us we were slightly insane to walk the 2 km to the next kibbutz, Grofit. I thought, 2 km, that's nothing, we'll be there in 15 minutes. Right. Well, I still don't quite understand the physics of it, since everyone still swears it's only 2K, but I assure you it took us an hour to walk each way. The walk, is a long, hot haul straight down the highway. You can see both kibbutzim the entire way, and neither changes size as we walked step by step toward our desitantion. The scenery, traffic signs, litter and honking cars was uninspiring, but our motivation and conversation made for a memorable and worthwhile journey. Josh served for a year in Hebron and told some interesting anecdotes from his time there... (a city, which he pointed out is occupied for the 500 Jewish settlers who live there among thousands of Arabs.)

When we arrived at the Kibbutz, we climbed the fence and asked a local man where we could find water. he sent us down a shady-looking path. Eventually, we came across a packing house and found water. We watched some of the Thai workers haul barrels of grain around the warehouse. (I guess they 're not shomer shabbat.) Thai workers wear clothing from head to toe, covering their eyes and hands as well. In Thai culture, apparently, dark skin is a sign of low status so the workers stay covered to avoid tanning.
Anywaty, after a few botlles of water, we trekked back and dove right into the pool., feeling proud of our selves. There is nothing like a 2 and a half hour walk down the highway. in 115 defree heat!

Last night a few of us went hiking in the desert to "the huts." These are fully equipped desert abodes made by bored kibbuz teenagers. The one we went to was about 20-30 minutes away. There was a stone archway as we approached and then the hut which was tall enough to stand up and walk around inside of it. The floor and couches were covered with blankets and the roof was made from palm leaves and wood. There was a table, a stove, a stone pit to make fires and a large round iron pan for making real pita bread. The table was fitted with a nargila (of course) and, above us, about 10 feet higher was the "bedroom." Here, overlooking the sunset, Jordan, and 3 local kibbutzim, were several mattresses and another couch.

You can, of course, guess the true motivation behind the structure's conception, but for a dinner among friends it was quite perfect. (and we all kept our clothes on!)

We did make a fire and enjoyed a dinner of pita, veggies and hummous. For dessert there was this "airy" chocolate that was amazing and chocolate milk. NExt time, I want ot spend the night out there, but we had to get back in time to watch Zidane make an ass of himself.

Anyway, it was the highlight of my trip thus far and I remembered just how much I love being outside. There isn't much alone time here. It's amazing to get out in the desert and just listen to the overwhelming silence. Yuo can hear the buzzing of the power lines clearly, but once you get a km or so awway, the wind is the only sound. The kibbutz looks tiny and you realize how isolated the village is. Its isolation form a distance highlights the true insignificance of the issues that arise in our daily lives there.




Other interesting updates:

A french guy who studies in Marseille arrived yesterday. He came just in time to watch France lose, but at least I had company amid the overwhelming support for Italy.

A new girl, Karen, arrived and she is from Newton. She rented a house for a year on Cross HIll Road, of all places! She is friends with Kiri, a girl who lived at Sara Rubin's house. Crazy coincidence for those of you who know these people/places.

Oh! I've made this crazy observation. The New York Times' and the American media's coverage of Israel is way different *(I didn't say biased, I am only trying to imply that) from the Israeli coverage in Ha'Aretz. And it's not what you think. Now that I've become a dedicated newspaper reader, I am aghast at what I am reading about Gaza. Israel is doing some pretty indefensible things and the Israeli press, of all things, has made me rethink a lot of my ideas about his country. So has the book I am reading about the founding of Israel. It's called O'Jerusalem and it's quite respected in the community here. I am still thankful for Israel and thinkit has every right to exist. But the territories...that's a differnt story. Let me add, here, that these are my thoughts at 8:53 PM on July 10th, 2006. Subject to change at any moment!


Finally, I'm taking a wholly selfish poll...please respond to rachel.olsteiN@gmail.com

This weekend, should I:
1) stay here and attend the Bar Mitzvah of the son of one of my favorite kibbutz members. She is Columbian there will be great music and great food!

2) Go to Jerusalem and stay with a friend there and possibly meet up with 4 or 5 of my USYers from Connecticut. Adina, who I ran into on Kibbutz, invited me to spend shabbat and her birthday with them.

3) Go to Petra in Jordan with 3 other people from here. (I've already been, but don't remember that much since it was 10 years ago.)