We have arrived! (day 1/2 of iron skillet or whatever)
What an incredible start to 6 months in Israel. I’ll backtrack in a moment, but I have just stepped out of the shower and dressed, so it will take me a few. I left for JFK around 1:30, arrived about 2:15, and around 6 we boarded the plane to Zurich. 7 hours and 50 minutes later, we landed at our destination and got out of gate 26 to walk through Zurich’s security to gate 42. Destination: Tel Aviv. So, that about 8 hours plus 4 hours plus 2 hours at checking out and getting on the bus, two hours travel time… Total of 16 hours travel time. Nasty, right?
You would assume my first inclination would be a shower but, after allowing everyone else to go before myself, I realized that there was time left for a run! There I am, under the stars of Israel, on the streets of the back-country, running down the only main street in this small town of Yeruchad, considered by some to be the boonies of Israel. The trashcans look like the top of a tank thrust off its wheels onto the ground, minus the pointy nose. The streets are not littered, per se, but when I ran down the side streets and got discombobulated about where I was, everything seemed a little darker and shadier. There were these four religious boys, about the age of four years old, climbing onto this small compartment on the side, hoisting each other up and all fitting onto this one piece of architecture that served as their playground.
It was great to feel the ground under my feet, breathe in the air. I had such a hard time believing I was in Israel, and I still do. It feels like I’m going back in a week, not in 6 months at all. Hopefully this will help me connect myself. I’ve been feeling my sea legs since we landed. I ran, I ate, and yes… I showered. I’ll find my legs soon enough.
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Sometimes I can’t believe how stupid people are. We are here to improve their township, to make it a better, less trashy place to be—and they choose a playground as their drinking spot? It’s only 9 o’clock. There are still kids out. What, we’re these golden gods that can do whatever we want at night, and by day we paint walls to make everything better? This mentality kills me, and my understanding of this is no doubt prompted by the guy I met on the bus on the way to Talpiyot mall this summer… but I really can’t stand it sometimes. I had my run, that was my fun, and it is not so superficially important to me to be able to say no, to believe in what I believe in and follow those principles, or at least chosen actions. Oh, and of course when I stick my head in the hallway to see if there is anybody who has chosen a different ground, the result is zero. Well, one girl in a bath towel, one girl in pj’s, and both getting ready to go out.
At least I know that when someone asks me tomorrow why I did not go out, I can comprehend that my reasoning is partially on principle, partially because the society is contemptible. The society of it, not the individuals… We really do have a responsibility towards this country and these people.
Plus I still have my sea legs.
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Played texas hold ‘em and spoons with this kid from the kibbutz, Benjamin. He was real funny in his mannerisms, but he kept eating the spoons that we were using as poker chips.
Day 2 of JNF/Kakal program/Cast Iron or whatever we're calling it these days
Today we woke up and went to breakfast; I took my time and got there with three minutes to spare for eating. It was plenty for me. I don’t like to waste good time on food. So many better things to do. Plus eating too much food makes me groggy and takes off that edge of staying ahead of everyone else. (Might be better to pretend I’m drunk tonight and drink… nothing at all)
Practiced my Hebrew to a credible degree today; Hatool is a cat, hatoolim are cats; this is critical in Israel because between my run last night when the cat dropped down in front of me and the cats scattered today, there is an overrun of hatoolim in Israel. A few of us put our paint brushes down today and were video taping the hatoolim howling at each other… They wer yelling at each other with their noses touching, screeching demands that the other cat move, not backing down an inch until the other one moved, and then moving into the territory. They never budged from their spots until a woman came out and yelled at them to shoo. I think I want to have a kitty. I might buy a cat bowl for use when I’m at Kibbutz Barkei, perhaps.
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I didn’t realize how tired I was until just now. I wish I had voted on naptime.
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I sat with Ryan at the Jewish Journey activity; he described the different categories that progressed him to where he is today. I made an alphabet, and decided that as somebody’s name floated to the foregrounds of my mind I would write it down. A few individuals came and talked to us as a group about why they chose to make the move to Yerucham following the army. What they had in common was they spent a year in service, working and building communities and buildings, shaping young minds and such.
Yoni only had a half an hour to talk, but I think he has laid out some foundations that will effect my fundamental thought-line for a while; people come and they are in Yerucham to help out and that is great and wonderful and all--but then they leave; because their military service is over, or (like us) they are only there for a short part of life, and move on to the next people in need. What kind of life is that for the people who are told they're not good enough to stay around? What does that do to a persons psyche? The Brain Drain phenomenon--the curse of the world's intellect.
I don't think this will change my life goal of moving every two years until I am 40-ish, but it definitely hands me food for thought. (Excuse the cliche, por favor)
Day 3 of Iron Lead
[Note: I am officially changing people's names to letters unless they are good friends/give me their permission; apologies if it gets confusing and hard to follow. I shall try to make it manageable]
New Years Eve.
Finished our paintings on the bomb shelter, fell in love with two puppies. Y is trying to find them a home, and I’m going to ask at the Kibbutz if there is a policy in relation to this…
There was an argument over at the brushes, and people weren’t helping to clean them off. I was chatting with Y. I could be considered a guilty party by wide collaboration.
Met this Y today, a very sweet girl from a town up north. She has a dog, but they found two brothers in a trash bin, and have adopted them until they can find them a home. I may be taking a bus to Beer Sheva back here so I can take them to Kibbutz Barkei. It’s about time that the challenges and changes that happen in life occur because I want them to, not because they are forced upon me. Also can be read as: Time to take charge of my life. But that’s a bit cliché.
When we were at Ben Gurion’s grave after the hour-long walk on this path-thing, we saw ibixes and Israeli soldiers. Both were like children at the zoo, it was very cute; the ibixes because they are so used to humans being around them, the soldiers because they all jumped into the picture once they saw "the Americans" wanted a picture with the soldiers.
There are eight members of this one species of leopard left in the Negev. They are all tagged, but they are probably the last generation because they are not reproducing. A while back, the cat and dog population in a town like Yerucham started to go down, and one night a man woke up in his house to find the leopard there. He grabbed it under his arm and called the proper authorities. The thing is, the leopard was skin and bones and because it was so weak it could not chase down its natural prey, the ibix. They fed it, nursed it back to health, and let it go back out.
There is Israel the people, and there is Israel the land. The Negev is the land. --Someone in the group said that
In the Negev is where the state of Israel will be challenged. --Ben Gurion said that
בנגב ייבחן העם בישראל
--In Hebrew
I really love the desert down here. I could see myself living here if there were less religious prominent in every aspect of life. I wonder if I could convince the synagogue group to all move together to a suburb of a small desert town? I could be a major fan of NOT living in the city. It’s so relaxed, and everyone knows everyone; if you like the people and are very content with yourself, it could be a manageable movement.
Tetis is the place we walked through to get to Ben Gurion. Nahal Havarim is where we walked.... I don't know which one it is!!
I love those dogs. I should have taken pictures.
Eshai said he would give 20 shekels to anyone who jumped in and took a picture with all the soldiers. Lo and behold, we have front-page paper material.
After we came back, there was free time, and dinner. Then off to the races! Or, I mean, the bar with David Broza. For about the first hour we were out on the dance floor in a small group with room to move and groove. Jocelyn is quite the dancer. Oddly enough, I kind of liked David Broza.
Day SIX?? Lost in the Continuum!!
Somewhere around the 6th day we made a warehouse (salvation army style) look like an IKEA store and painted a sign to make it presentable. The concept for this project was the warehouse had many donated items that people walk in and take things and leave a donation of what they think is the appropriate value-- however, if the place doesn't look like a real store, people are more likely to walk in, take what they want, and leave. The guy who runs the warehouse also runs the soup kitchen where we were working, and both are run completely on donations. We ate at the soup kitchen for lunch, and it was nice knowing that even though we were probably eating the better food coming out of there, we (JNF/Kakal) were also contributing a large donation.
In the צהריים we were at the JNF forest cutting down the extra branches of trees and pulling out brush. It is something proven by someone at someplace that trees grow, and when they're too long and touch the ground, it's basically like handing fire a key to the forest and saying "here, take my forest that i spent the last 60 years growing. All yours." Anyway, I got scraped up pretty good. We were vicious. And we found a chameleon.
The perfect caption for this was what he actually said: "We are going up there". This is halfway through our hike up to Ben-Gurion's gravesite. There was a beautiful cave-like hollow near the entrance where the Bedouin and the nomadic people used to store water during the rainy seasons, and cover them up so that only the people who knew of the storage facilities could use them. The Bedouin people are amazing trackers, and this is one of their notsowell known keys to their striving livelihood. Of course it is different now with plumbing, etc., but... it was fascinating to see. Unfortunately, I wasn't in a picture and I didn't take one with my own camera, so you will have to come and see for yourself. 
Maybe on a nice rock....
Nitsan and I got the idea stuck in our heads that we wanted to donate blood. So we did. Successfully. Well, I managed to. Nitsan's was not as fortunate as I. But check out the passport, man! Tel Aviv Magen David hospital's the shit. The good kind. 
A few beautiful people. I was petting their chins. I don't believe they minded that much at all. Who wouldn't want me to scratch their (non-existent, in some cases) beard? This was Dani's I'MNOLONGERASOLDIERWEEEEEEEE party. It was quite the party if I do say so. 
I got overjoyed at seeing Ofer, handsomestest guy in the world..... and he let me sleep with Tigger!!
So we were doing our part to help out at this beautiful Jerusalem park area that people have been treating as their personal trash dump the past decade or so... We were lending our strength and will to be dirty. All in good fun! Check out me. I was hoeing. Heee. Totally all based upon my manly strength, too. 
Outside of Yerucham was this farm run by a single man; he has four daughters, but they have all moved out of Israel except for one, who stays home out of illness. Our personal do-gooder had met him, started helping him out, and then moved on to the farm to help out full time, so again we were lending our expertise. Although, our Yemenite bus driver was the one who finally taught us how to do this right. After all, we were just a bunch of American kids; not one of us grew up knowing how to till a field, or had to do so in order to partake in the Zionist dream. It was quite an experience to be yelled at by this Yemenite man in Hebrew; even the most innocent things he said came out as being yelled, or argued. His most important rule though: Don't get the mud on the bus!!
Little me, hard at work. Why am I always hoeing? This hoeing thing, it ain't hard for me. 
Our own personal stylings.....