My first few days in Israel
Trip Start
Jul 13, 2009
1
3
12
Trip End
Dec 24, 2009
Yodefat, Northern District, Israel
Thursday, July 16, 2009
So I've survived my first couple of days in Israel. It's so beautiful here! Everyone's been super nice and helpful, it's been great!
At the Kibbutz Program Center everything went fine. After all the stories I wasn't sure what to expect, but the lady was nice enough. She said that it would take 3-5 days to get me a placement. In the middle of our conversation she got a phone call from some Israeli guy at a kibbutz going on a ten minute rant about how he loves Israel but that the way things are organized all the good people are going to leave, etc. etc. Okay... The lady also said that there might be openings at this kibbutz called Ein Gev, which is right by the Sea of Galilee.
Two days ago Boaz and I drove up North from Tel Aviv. We drove past some beautiful look out points (although the fighter jets flying over our heads kind of freaked me out initially), and then headed toKibbutz Ein Gev, which was a beautiful place. We tried to talk to the Volunteer Coordinator there, because we had heard that there might be an opening to work with the babies. She pretty much screamed at us, saying that there's so many people on the wait list and that we can't just walk in here and expect to get a placement, etc. etc. Then Boaz did some sweet-talking in Hebrew about the kibbutz he used to be at which apparently softened her up. She took my number and said she couldn't promise anything, but she would try. Oh well, at least I got to see the place.
Stopping at an officer's pool on the way, we drove on to Yodfat, where Maria (my friend from high school in Oman) lives. So now I'm staying with her and her husband. Yodfat is a small village, which was initially set up by a group of hippies, of which only one remains. The people who live here now are still quite excentric. A lot of them own goats or chickens, grow their own vegetables.. They have music making nights with traditional instruments, 2 pub nights a week, and one store with lots of organic products. Some of them live in these bedouin-style tents, because you're not allowed to build on all the land. The first night we went to this friend's tent, sat outside on the hammocks and broken down chairs, had some arak (the anise style drink you also get in turkey and greece etc), and played the guitar. Awesome experience.
Yesterday Maria and I borrowed her friend's car (apparently everyone uses everyone's stuff), and drove to this touristy spot on the Mediteranean on the Israeli-Lebanese border. There's these grottos that formed inside the cliffs that are quite beautiful. Unfortunately it was pretty busy and touristy. The entrance fee included a 'light & sound show', which talked about how legend tells us that a bride-to-be was forced to marry this guy she didn't want to, and threw herself off those cliffs, and now you can still hear her sighing when the waves hit. Apparently she blesses any couple who gets married there (which is interesting, since she killed herself in order to escape marriage). The grottos also used to have a railway run through them, built by the British.
After the grottos we drove down to Akko, an ancient village/city which is mainly inherited by Arabs. Very beautiful. After a dip in the Mediteranean we drove to Ami's work place (he works at a therapeutic horseback riding center). So a very touristy and fun day.
A lot of conversations here touch upon the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Apparently 17% of Israel's population is Arab (so not counting the West Bank and the Gaza Strip), but they have a very low socio-economic status and you see a lot of kids begging on the streets. Even though they have the same rights in terms of welfare etc.
Anyway, lots of interesting stuff, and I'm thoroughly enjoying my trip here so far!
