Being Me: Long Time No Write

Howdy All,

So you may be asking yourselves, "What has Ethan been up to in the Holy Land?" But have no fear, because I will tell you.

So, because I have a lot to talk about, I am not going into detail for some of the things. We have had two more Wednesday trips off of the kibbutz. First we went to Kibbutz Lotan (http://www.kibbutzlotan.com/), which is a Reform Kibbutz just down the road from Yahel where we learned about eco-living and were given the opportunity to help them out with some of their projects. Lotan is a really cool kibbutz who, aside from some farming and agriculture, has a whole branch of environmental work. We learned about their eco-huts made of mud, we learned how to make mud bricks and seed balls (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed_ball), which are a cool invention to cut down the waste of seeds in a region that doesn't get much rain. Karmiel was really fun and interesting, and they are definitely setting an example for how Israelis and Jews around the world should try to play their part in the world community.

Our last trip was into the Negev once again. We visited a huge crater at Mitzpe Ramon, which was really cool, but even cooler as we rappelled into it. We visited Sde Boker, where David Ben Gurion, the first Israeli Prime Minister, is buried, had a beautiful hike, and got one last chance to soak in the beauty of Southern Israel while living there.

This past weekend, we had our Kibbutz Closing Seminar, which was exciting looking ahead, but also sad because the whole group will never be together for a long amount of time the whole year. We had lots of fun activities, educational sessions with some of the Netzer tzevet (staff), and had a lot of time to prepare for the next step of our journey through Israel. We ended the weekend with a big poike, which is a traditional Israeli cooking method on a fire. We sat around the bonfire for hours and enjoyed some relaxation before breaking off onto options.

On Sunday, we had a long drive from Yahel to Jerusalem to drop off the group of people who are going to be hiking on the nation-wide Israel Trail, and then the rest of us made our way up North to Karmiel. We were all very excited to arrive to civilization and the first night, we met our program coordinator and went over some first night things. All 15 of us are living in one house, so we had a chance to move in and get situated, and make some group decisions about responsibilities in the house.

Monday morning, we got started with orientation. So far, we have met tons of people, visited many possible volunteer locations, and had a chance to set our bearings in Karmiel. It is a beautiful city with about 52,000 residents, many of whom are Russian immigrants. We visited a place called Kfar Yeledim (Children's Village), which is an incredible village for foster children, where families live with as many as ten foster children. We also went into the neighboring Arab Village, Madj el Krum, where we will be teaching English once a week in the schools. We have learned a lot about the city of Karmiel, its surrounding areas, and our volunteer options. I am very excited to actually get to volunteering and I will write more about my choices as soon as I figure them out.

Tonight, we had a very special opportunity. We attended a final ceremony for Gadna, which is a one week sampling of the army. Many of our host families' children were participating, so we drove out to a nearby army base to watch and support. It was really cool to watch, and it was very special, especially when everybody joined the soldiers-to-be in uniform in singing of Hatikvah, Israel's national anthem. It was a moment that I think I will remember for a long time, because, speaking for the whole group I think, we really felt part of the Israeli society and our connection with the Jewish people was dropped right in front of our eyes for those few minutes. It is hard to put into words what I felt, but it was special.

Things are going great in Karmiel. I love my host family already, they are so nice and welcoming. With just one visit to their home, I already feel comfortable asking them about anything and in our first meeting, we talked about A LOT... from serious topics such as Israeli politics to simple things such as curfew for kids. They are really nice, and I look forward to fostering an even better relationship with them in the next 3 months. I also really like my house mates from Netzer. While it could easily be a zoo living in a house with 15 people, we all get along nicely and keep up our responsibilities. We appreciate how well we work together, especially after hearing horror stories of the past.

Thats it for now... as I do more here, I will go into better detail. I'll post some pictures, although more pictures of Karmiel will come in a few days.

-אתן

Learning how organic human waste is made into compost

The final result of our seed ball class

This is what went into seed balls

Seed ball directions

Making seed balls

The final result of making mud bricks

Two of the really cool mud houses on Lotan. These are where teen volunteers on their Eco Program live

Some Shnatties at Sde Boker

Mitzpe Ramon

Bus Security Guards Double as Rappelling Experts. Who Knew?

Our first group shot in Karmiel. Right before we met the Mayor

There is cool painting all over the city. This is just some windows along the street.

Fun rooftop sculpture

Monkey's are strangely human when you feed them. This one was really nice... he likes peanut butter and chocolate sandwiches. (This was at a zoo where disabled people have a chance to work... and it is one of our volunteer options)