Hiking, kabobs, and sandal tans...

And I survived my first group trip. As the five rental cars hit the road with Anna and I screaming loudly in they way back of the minivan-true little kid style-the 26 of us headed north to Cesarea. (I think there is a reason why the two of us were confined to the bank of the van). *I'll just note that we left an hour and a half later than scheduled time, traveling in true Israeli fashion. This is one aspect of Israeli culture that I am having a hard time adjusting to. I guess I can thank my parents for instilling promptness into my every move. First stop on the trip, Binyamina winery. Of course 11 am is an appropriate time to bring a group of twenty somethings to a winery. After the tour and the wine tasting (I have to say being the wine connoisseur that I am, the wine was just okay), we set off to the Arabic village of Faradis. The trip there was a little hazy considering I passed out in the back on the van (a little wine and the hot sun= immediately passing out). 

Anna and I in the back seat of the van

We arrived at Faradis to speak with an Arabic woman who has spent the majority of her life sticking it to the man (literally, since the Arabic society is male oriented). Although her name escapes me at the moment, this woman has and continues to make an impression in her community as well as worldwide. She spent time learning about meditation and peace circles and now conducts these ceremonies with the women in her community. In Arabic societies, their "politicians" are decided based on clans or families. The men are nominated within their clans and the deciding factor directly relates to how many members are in the clan. With that basic description of the system, it should be clear that is impossible for a woman to be involved. Well, this particular woman did not feel threatened by this traditional process and she did the unthinkable; she ran for office. Despite her persistence throughout the village, she knew that the she would still hear one of the village men rejoicing in his victory, but this daring move made a serious impression on the sexist barriers present in this particular Arab society. 


After the Faradis village, we headed to our campsite located in the Carmel mountain north of Zichron Yaakov. The ecological campsite branched out from the most beautiful tree that created an oasis of shade from the hot sun beaming down on Mount Carmel. The trees branches, just barely skimming the surface, created a shelter to the woven mats, wooden tables, and tapestry-covered mattress that decorated the open floor. The owner of the campsite has dedicated his post-army life to living on the other side of the line- to live his life as ecologically friendly as possible. As he stood in front of us, he prefaced his talk by apologizing for his basic English, but as he started with "My mission is to create sustainability..." we all couldn't help but burst out in laughter. I wish my basic Hebrew included words like mission and sustainability... 

The campsite included a full outdoor kitchen, ecological showers and toilets, and a whole lot of hammocks. As the dinner crew cooked up a hot pot of turkey chili, the rest of us laid around, the smart ones claiming their hammocks for the night ahead. After dinner and eating a delicious chocolate and walnut bubke that my genius of a friend Katie had baked for the trip, we all sat around smoking nargila (hookah), drinking homemade tea from the local herbs, and singing songs to Leah's guitar melodies. This night could not have been more relaxing- special thanks to the massage circle. Thanks to the time limit of the generator, we all found ourselves curled up in our sleeping bags around 10 pm. Let me tell you, getting into a sleeping bag laid on top of a skinny hammock is not the easiest thing to do, but once I accomplished this feat I was ready to lay under the night sky. Laying in my hammock listening to my friends, with the bright moon shining above, the talk came to a stop and we all succumbed to the peacefulness of the outdoors. The hammock cradled me through the night, sheltering me from the falling acorns. Apart from the tense in my lower back, sleeping in a hammock was a clutch choice. I woke up to homemade coffee cake and a nice spread to make sandwiches for the day's hike. 

Ready to hike. 

Armed with sneakers, bandannas, and a whole lot of water (and an amazing hiking backpack), we were ready to conquer the downhill hike of Mount Carmel, leading into an Arabic village, and ultimately ending on the beach looking out at the Mediterranean Sea. After watching a movie about Baron Rothschild and his contribution to the land of Israel we strolled through the gardens that he generously and carefully created (the place that would ultimately be the resting place for he and his wife). What we saw of the gardens, due to a tight schedule, was beautiful and I hope to return and visit all of the different gardens. 
We hiked about 6 km down Mount Carmel, passing ruins of wine presses, eating Carob from the tree to hold us over until lunch, and trying to watch our steps as we stared out at the town below and out to the sea. Thanks to my new hiking shoes, I avoided falling down the mountain. 

Anna and I

After the hike we drove to another beach to relax for a bit then corralled back into the cars to head back to Tel Aviv as the end of Shabbat came near. Covered in dirt, still armed with our bandannas, myself and a few others went to this restaurant about a 5 minute walk from our apartment. For 22 sheckels, Anna and I split a chicken kabob sandwich, with our choice of delicious fillings, and an endless Israeli salad bar. This is now my new favorite restaurant- I can't deny endless pickles, eggplant, salad- and the fact that it opens on Saturday night after Shabbat has really pushed it to the top. 


This pretty much sums up the main events of the first group trip. Last week the majority of the group met for a pot luck Shabbat dinner that was delicious. One of the girls is an excellent baker and her challah is superb. She is going to teach me her tricks, so hopefully I will come back to the states being able to make something that somewhat resembles her challah. I joined a gym (tonight) and could not be happier. I need to work off all this hummus and pita somehow. Volunteering has been taking up a lot of my time and I am really happy with my placements. I spend a lot of time preparing for my English class and I love going to teach. My students are so eager to learn and are the nicest people. Here's one funny story from class for you: On the first day I went over introductions and how to express one's age. I have one student who is no doubt older than the rest and when I went up to him to ask his ask, he responded with 25. I think that he just repeated what the other students had said and didn't necessarily understand the concept of age, but my friend Marissa who had been helping me in class, burst out laughing as we explained to him that he couldn't be 25. His grey hair really gave this away. Since then, Mustafa, has worked so hard to keep up with the class and he always has the biggest smile on his face. The majority of my class is from Sudan but I have one student from Ethiopia. Two of the woman who are sisters, bring their children to class and despite the random screaming breakouts, the children have also become my loyal students. Except instead of writing exercises in the book, they prefer to draw all over the wall...in pen. They really keep class interesting. The other night I introduced a Beatles song and went over the lyrics with them. I'm trying to keep class interesting and the more classes I teach the more I realize how confusing English is! 


I would just like to point out that it is almost the end of October and I still have an extreme sandal tan. I love the nice weather, but I am over this tan line. I know this is a petty complaint, but that's what a blog is for, right?