The Nature

This past week I encountered the creme dela creme of Israeli life: volunteering on a nature reserve. The five days that I spent in Yotvata, an area of the Negev about 25 minutes from Eilat, at the חי בר (Hai Bar) Nature Reserve made me realize just how accustomed I have become to Israeli culture, and therefore deserves it's own blog post. In order to capture the whole essence of the story, I will do my best not to leave any detail out. If you can, try to imagine my intonation at certain point of the story.

Day 1: Sunday April 10, 2011

um, anyone want to go to Yotvata?

Ok, so first of all, the trip to the nature reserve was set up for all the 10 month participants of my program. Out of the group of 15, only 4 of us ending up going on the trip and I have to say that the other people lost out big time. With 1000 shekels for food, paid bus tickets, and no idea what to expect, the four of us hopped on busses at the central bus station and started the 4 hours journey to the reserve. As usual, there are always complications, so Jodi and I were on one bus while Dante and Amy were on another. No biggie....except that Jodi and I really had no idea where to get off the bus. Let me add here that Israeli buses don't stop at every stop. You want to get off in the middle of the desert? You better be awake to press the stop button. That being said, it's no surprise that Jodi and I missed the not so well marked stop for Yotvata and ending up riding the bus a bit too far. No worries. We just got off the bus, literally in the middle of nowhere, and decided that we would either hitchhike back to Yotvata or wait for another bus to come along. Fortunately a bus ended up coming by and we successfully met Dante and Amy in Yotvata. We were told that we would be picked up around 2 by our "liason" (Zohar) at the reserve. At around 3:30, we finally get picked up and driven to the reserve and showed to where we were staying. Having no idea where we were, what was going on, what we were supposed to do, the four of us recognized that in true Israeli-fashion we probably wouldn't find out any details so we resorted to playing bananagrams and making dinner. At around 9 Zohar finally showed up informing us that tomorrow would be a normal day (meaning absolutely nothing to us) and so to be ready at 7. Awesome. We still had no idea what was going on.

Day 2: Monday

the four of us in front of our "apt"

Unfortunately, my first day at the reserve wasn't exactly what I had planned. I became way to close of friends with the toilet the whole night and all of Monday morning. Funny because the night before I came face to face with my worst fear, a snake, and when I went to tell Zohar about the situation, he informed me that if I am so sick that I start throwing up, he would be sure to take me to the hospital in the morning. Well, I did throw up, a lot, and Zohar did not take me to the hospital, but he did notice that I was in a state of distress. So while I was trying not to throw up everywhere, the rest of my group got to feed the predators, clean cages, and explore the many varieties of mice on the reserve. By the afternoon, I was pretty much back to my normal self and I got right down to business helping to rake and clean the pathways set out for the visitors of the reserve. At some point in the day, Amy, Dante, and the 1000 shekels made their way to a nearby supermarket to pick up the list of food we had decided was appropriate for the week. Now, 1000 shekels is a little excessive for 4 people and considering our organization doesn't make too much money, we didn't spend it all, but we did eat like kings for the next 4 days. Thank you, Tikkun Olam. So the first full day at  חי בר was an interesting one, and definitely an indicator of what the next few days would be like. Along with the 4 of us, there were 6 other volunteers that were there for longer periods of time working closely with the Israeli staff. So with 10 volunteers, there really wasn't a whole lot of work to do and I think that the staff was scraping the bottom of the barrel at some points. Oh, I forgot to mention, after the first night, the four of us realized that the next few nights would be a constant battle with the million of mosquitoes flying around our apartment. I am still covered in bites.

Day 3: Tuesday, Sand Sifting Day

Amy and I scooping poop

Apparently I am somewhat of a drill sergeant in the morning. When I hear that alarm, I am up and ready to go and I am relentless in waking everyone else up. I think that all those times my parents woke me up for school paid off- turning on the lights is so cruel. By 7 am we were dressed, breakfast-ed, and ready to work. Only one tiny problem- we were the only ones ready. Seriously people, 7 am is 7 am. So by 730 we followed עומרי (Omri), our leader for the day, to the night creatures room. Now, Tuesday is sand sifting day: aka scooping poop day! Get excited for this one! In the night creatures room there are small cages of mice and then bigger, almost like rooms, for bats, owls, birds, and other small rodents. Assigned to the owl cage, Dante fearlessly entered with a sifter and plastic bag and really showed champion skills in sifting poop while not looking the animal in the eye. Jodi and I had a bit easier task of cleaning one of the small rodent cages. Now when I say cleaning the cage, I mean were we literally in the cage. Gloves, face masks, dust pans, and sifters. That poop was not staying in the cage. So after one cage was conquered, I had no hesitation jumping into another cage to help Amy. I take my volunteer work seriously, even when it is scooping poop.
After our rigorous morning of volunteer work, we were informed that there was a fire drill that afternoon so we should probably just go to Eilat (imagine that in a thick Israeli accent). So with nothing else to do we hopped on the bus to Eilat, aka the Vegas of Israel (not so much, but apparently that's what it is called). As Amy and Jodi walked around the streets of Eilat, Dante and I got right down to business, first with frozen yogurt and french fries from McDonalds (it's ok to eat that when you are abroad) and then sat our asses right down on the beach. I mean I know that we live really close to Mediterranean Sea, but something about laying next to Red Sea was a nice change in environment. After a relaxing day in Eilat, the four of us caught one of the only buses headed back in the direction of the nature reserve. Now this is where the story reaches a new level. While on the bus, I called Zohar to let him know that we were on our way back and to see if he could pick us up at the bus stop. This was his response- "Oh uh, you guys don't know this because you are new, but we are all at the היף (beach) in Eilat, so uh yea.... -Oh ok, well don't worry we will just walk. -Ok no problem, bye." Ummm, wow Zohar, that's information that would have been helpful a few hours ago. Now the bus stop wasn't exactly far from the reserve, but it was dark, it was getting cold, and there are snakes and I am not ok with that. So as we walked down the dirt road and approached the reserve, we stood there to face a locked gate. Super! Only one way to get in now. Up and over the gate it was. So with two people over the gate (kudos to Jodi, climbing is not her forte), we stopped as the headlights of 2 cars shined upon us. No no, don't worry, definitely not the police. Of course it was a super religious family camping in the reserve for the night. One of the kids ran out to open the gate and the cars drove through, allowing Amy and I to just walk in. Now try to picture the setting here. Two people on one side of the fence in the reserve, two on the other, a religious family approaching the gate and all they asked was if we needed help. We told them that we were volunteers on the reserve, which I don't really think they cared about, and we were on our way. Sometimes I just love Israelis. Day 3= success

Day 4: Wednesday, Become friends with the predators.

oh hello bird. 

Dante and I hard at work

Having been there for 2 full days, we were pretty much professionals, so it was off to the predator cages we went. Some of the predators in the reserve include hyenas, wolves, foxes, leopards, owls, falcons, just to name a few. Obviously we weren't allowed in the all the cages, but in the ones that we did go into our main jobs were to rake the sand, clean up any remaining food, aka animal pieces, and replenish the food and water bowls. And in some cases we had to count the animals to make sure none had escaped. Standing in the bird cage, I kept noticing the the birds were landing on my head and trying to eat my hat. I mean it's understandable since there is a picture of a giant cookie on it, but seriously birds, I need that hat! After leaving no cage unturned, the four of us went back to the main area of the reserve to see what other work we could get our hands on. Oh, what's that? You want us to help the tortoise lady to sort pieces of grass. I mean, why not. So on the reserve there are a few different species of tortoises, so naturally there needs to be a specialist, especially around breeding time. I now have too much knowledge on tortoise relations, but don't worry I will spare all of you the details. After sorting through yellow hay looking for the few remaining green pieces, it was then that we realized  that the staff didn't exactly plan for our visit. Granted it was only 4 work days, shorter than most volunteers, but we still could have worked on a project for them or something. Anyways, by 2 pm we were done with work and told to go back to our apartment. In any other work situation this would be great, who doesn't like leaving early? But in this particular situation, we were there to volunteer and believe it or not, there isn't exactly a plethora of other things to do on the reserve. We spent a few hours reading and relaxing, trying to fight the pull of boredom and restlessness, but we finally hit the breaking point. A motto that developed for the week was that of "we're broken" meaning that we had comprehended the situation, knew we couldn't leave, and were just so confused most of the time. (An appropriate time to insert the phrase, "Welcome to Israel"). With nothing else to do, Dante and I decided to take a walk around. Finding nothing but chewed up animal legs, some bones, and a lot of unidentified animal holes in the sand, we retreated back to the apartment. After another round of bananagrams and a delicious dinner we cozied into our sleeping bags for our early wake up the next morning.

Day 5: Thursday, Is it noon yet? We need to get back to Tel Aviv!

worms? no problem

We made it to the last day! We were given the option to have free time to just wander around or to help out for the morning. Let's be real, we had basically spent the majority of the past 4 days with free time, so we spent our last morning back with our predator friends. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend their last morning cleaning up poop? But in all seriousness, it's really not that bad. I was told that it's better to clean up all that shit with just your bare hands, you really get to know the animal that way. While I didn't exactly want to bare hand poop, I do have to say that the last day I was pretty fearless (after I started screaming in the freezer because I almost touched a frozen animal leg, but I moved past that). I wasn't even grossed out to pick up leftover animal parts in the cage or cute the heads off of some worms- brought me back to the good old days when we used to go fishing. I think my highlight of the day had to be while cleaning one of the fox cages. As we cleaned, a group of Asian tourists were touring the tunnel and in their excitement to look through the glass to see some animals, they saw us cleaning the cage. Now, you would think that they would see us, maybe look for the animals for a second, and then move on, but oh no, they proceeded to videotape us. I don't think I could have asked for anything better. I did my best to throw out the peace sign as much as I could while I did my work. Now that I think about it, it concerns me a little that we were such an attraction, but as I told you, we were "broken" so I can only imagine what we looked like to the observers on the other side of the glass. I don't want anyone to think that I am saying anything against tourists, Asians ones in specific, but they do have a certain way about them. The rest of the morning pretty much fooled around and in true American style, made as many jokes as we could, obviously throwing in some crude humor for our Israeli friend to chuckle at. The jokes are even better when they are half Hebrew and half English. Zohar, who had pretty much been MIA this whole time, informed us that he would be there at noon to take us to the Yotvata bus stop....yea, we didn't exactly count on him to be there. Our bus wasn't until one, but we really didn't want to take any chances, or stay there longer than we had to. So when noon came and went, the nice tortoise lady offered to give us a ride. Rather than wait for Zohar to randomly show up, we piled into her small rental car and waved goodbye to חי בר.

Dante, Amy, and I ready to work (Jodi is taking the picture)

The bus ride back to Tel Aviv was pretty brutal and seemed to be a lot longer than the ride down, but we finally made it back to the city. All in all, the trip to חי בר was awesome. If I had a done a trip like that within the first few months of being in Israel, I definitely would have been freaking out by the end of the first day. So I guess you can say that I have grown a lot. I don't think I captured all of the insanity of this trip, but I did my best. I hope it was enjoyable.

Take that, half marathon!

As cars stopped in the middle of the street, not bothered by any traffic still continuing on their way, you could hear the sound of car doors opening as drivers stood out of their cars to pay their 5 minutes of respect to Gilad Shalit. On June 25, 2006, Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was captured by Hamas and has since been held hostage in the Gaza Stip. Hamas has refused any requests for visitation and the only communication so far has been three letters, an audio tape and a video that was released in exchange for the release of 20 Palestinian female prisoners. Currently, the parents of Gilad have set up camp outside PM Netanyahu's office, pressuring the government for the return of their son. The spirit of Gilad Shalit is held strong through the bright yellow ribbons waving throughout Israel and that I proudly have tied to my purse. The five minutes of silence campaign was held to represent the five years that Gilad has been held captive. I can't explain the feeling as I watched people get out of their cars and stand in complete silence to honor the now 24 year old soldier.

Sorry to start the blog of on a somber note, but witnessing this campaign, especially in the semi-religious neighborhood that I live in, had a great impact on me. 

After the trip to Maktesh Ramon, the group once again boarded back onto a bus to head down to Be'er Sheva and the surrounding areas. In this area of the Negev there is an abundance of Bedouin villages, both recognized and unrecognized. Standing on top of a hill, hearing the distant sounds of Bedouin children herding animals, I looked out to see the difference in surrounding villages. Our tour guide from the organization Bustan, explained to us the hardships faced by Bedouin people. An  unrecognized Bedouin village is a settlement that the Israeli government doesn't recognize as legal and therefore has no qualms with entering such a village and demolishing property. Unrecognized villages, not being part of the municipality, are unable to be connected to electricity grid, water lines or trash pick up. For those of us who grew up in Western society, it's pretty easy to see the benefits of being affiliated with the municipality and wonder why anyone would want to live without, what we consider, to be basic necessities. Speaking with members of these unrecognized villages shed light onto the Bedouin lifestyle and the importance of the nomadic aspects intertwined in their lifestyle.  

soap anyone?

We left the unrecognized village, bellies full of tea and coffee, and headed off to Tel Sheva to visit a recognized village and see the differences between the two. Now, I had mentioned before that a perk of becoming recognized was the availability of trash pickup. Unfortunately, most Bedouins have the mentality that if it's not on my property, it's not mine. Just imagine how much trash there was on the road... It was actually unsettling. Driving through the streets on the way to our meeting point, I felt conflicted that these people have the advantage of living on recognized land and the access to trash pickup, but do very little to make it happen. This is not to say that the fault is all on the residents, I can't imagine that the Israeli municipality is rushing to pick up trash in a Bedouin village. Anyways, our purpose at the village was to meet a local woman, Maria, who broke away from the typical gender roles and created her own cosmetics business. While waiting for Maria to arrive, transportation in the village isn't exactly reliable, we witnessed just how one milks a camel. And not only that, but we got to try fresh camel milk......yuck. Not my style, at all! To wash down the camel milk we were offered another round of tea. Don't mind if I do! Maria arrived and unfolded the hardships and rewards of her project. If you are an avid reader of my blog, you will notice the trend of speaking to empowered women. It's definitely amazing to hear their stories and it's especially amazing how candid they have all been with us. Creating a business or running for office in a male dominated society is not easy and it's awakening to hear their narratives. 

1.Crossing the finish line
2.Mari and I
3.The group and I after the race

Well, now it's the moment that you have all been waiting for....the half marathon!! Despite the recent happenings in Jerusalem, the first marathon in the fine city still occurred. Since the marathon started at 8 am, my friend Marissa and I decided it was best to spend the night in Jerusalem. Fortunately, I met an amazing friend at the leadership conference (Felix- pictured in the previous post) and he was so nice to let us stay at his apartment. In fact, he had a trip to go on, so when I arrived at his place I found a note welcoming me to the "Felix Guesthouse" accompanied with a nice arrangement of chocolate. I am certain that this is how every hotel should operate. Thanks Felix! Marissa and I woke up to a dark sky and the freezing Jerusalem weather, I guess you could say it woke us up before the run. Let me skip to the good part... the run was absolutely amazing. Jerusalem may be the hilliest place I have ever been. Considering that I trained in the predominately flat Tel Aviv, the hills definitely kicked my ass. At least the track was interesting! It was amazing to run through the city, but at the 2 hour mark, I decided it was time to hit the finish line. Running the 21 km (13.1 miles) in 2 hours and 4 minutes, I was pretty impressed with myself. Coming up to the finish line, I saw my friends waiting on the sidelines which gave me the final push that I needed to sprint the last few meters. Now Jerusalem isn't the most active city, but let me tell you, I was running next to some fierce religious women, donned in leggings and skirts. Talk about being bad ass! Finishing the race was actually an incredible feeling. May I just add that I did not walk once during the race, even when facing the toughest hill. As I waited at the finish line for the rest of my friends, I saw Mari Rubin cross the finish line. Mari and I have known each other since 6th grade- this just shows you how small Israel is. I haven't seen her in a few years, so of course I would run (literally) into her in Israel.  Along with Marissa, 2 other of my friends ran the half marathon. We celebrated with a trip to Holy Bagels- finally real bagels!! Let me just say, that walking to Holy Bagels was the most miserable experience. My legs actually hated me. In fact, they continued to rebel all weekend. The day after the marathon, after getting out of bed, I constantly found myself eating! What an excuse to eat! I couldn't deny my body food after burning off so many calories. All in all, running the half marathon was a great experience and although I won't be running one in the real near future, I'm sure I will run one again.

any resemblance?

Now, the week after the half marathon was Purim aka. complete madness in Tel Aviv. Naturally for such an occasion I chose to dress up as Goldstar- the pbr of Israeli beers. I have to give props to myself for actually making my costume by hand. One pillowcase, some gold fabric, a magic marker, and some pieces of paper later I had myself a goldstar costume. Not too shabby. Purim was crazy. It honestly is an excuse for the whole city to party. The main night, Saturday, was celebrated with a ginormous party taking over the streets of Florentin. I chose this night to not go out, but instead I watched the festivities from a friend's apartment. It was a lot nicer to be on a porch up above the madness then to be down trying to find my way through. Being 5 ft. tall doesn't exactly help someone in a huge crowd. I have never seen so many people parading through the streets in the most unusual costumes, some way more original than others. I have to say, that my friends stepped it up with their costumes. We represented housewives, minny mouse, the joker, thing 1 & thing 2, flappers, and of course sex, drugs, and rock & roll. I think the last time that I celebrated Purim was when I was 7 and I dressed up as Wednesday from the Addam's Family or the year that I was little red riding hood. Either way, it's been a pretty long time since I partook in the Purim celebrations. I do love me some humantashen though, or as Israeli's say it Ozne Hama (Haman's ears). My roommates and I perfected the recipe and had a constant flow of fresh cookies throughout the week leading up to Purim. I don't hate it!

Also, all my pictures are up on my picasa website, so reference those for any visuals that you may need. 

"Leadering"

Waiting at the airport train station at 5:30 in the morning to catch the once-an-hour train into the city, I yet at again pondered the poor public transportation of Tel Aviv. I looked up just in time to catch a group of Israeli soldiers making their way down to the platform and I remembered why I love this country so much. I have to say- that olive green can do wonders for anyone.

Nassor and I

Since back in Israel, it has been a complete ballagan (craziness) and it's been great. There are five new faces in the apartment, making this a full house of ten. Say goodbye to any quiet time, except for house nap time, but say hello to a lot of family dinners and cooking sessions. My volunteering schedule has pretty much stayed the same. I have started to help out in the office at Save A Child's Heart, which is basically just another excuse for me to head over to the house and play with all the kids. The Valentine's Day fundraiser filled up the bar of Mama Drama and helped SACH surpass the $30,000 goal, making it possible for 5 children to be provided with all-expenses paid heart surgery. At the end of February, my 15-year old friend, Nassor, said goodbye to the SACH house and was given the okay to head back to Zanzibar. Like the majority of older children, Nassor arrived in Israel accompanied solely by a nurse and any other children selected for heart surgery. I saw Nassor throughout his stay in Israel and was able to visit him in the hospital after his surgery. It amazes me how strong these children are. Being alone in a hospital after open heart surgery in a place where you barely speak the language would scare the shit out of me (excuse my language). Completely recovered and after almost three months of being in Israel, Nassor said goodbye to the SACH house and traveled back to Zanzibar. Feeling the loss of Nassor's personality in the house, it was to my great surprise that I received not only a text message, but a phone call from a number completely unknown to me. I don't exactly have the country code of Zanzibar recognized. Needless to say, Nassor and I have continued to talk via text and occasional phone calls (this may explain why my phone bill was higher than normal this past month). It is just amazing to me, that despite the language barrier and distance between us, Nassor and I have continued to stay friends.

Felix and I at Neot Kedumim

On the Sunday the 6th, myself and three other participants of the program went to represented our program in MASA's Building Future Leadership Conference. This week-long conference was held in the Jerusalem at the Young Judean Hostel aka. picture 500 gap-year and post college participants taking over an entire hostel complex. I don't think the kitchen staff was prepared for the gluttonous ways of Americans. I mean, free food for entire week? A full-time volunteer knows how to take advantage of such things. Throughout the week I learned useful tools to implement when turning my vision into a reality. The conference also provided an opportunity to sit in on different speakers and panel discussions. For anyone that knows MASA (and for those of you who don't- it is a super-Jewish organization focused on the instilling Jewish youth with tools to become Jewish leaders), you can understand me when I say that I tried my hardest not to drink the kool-aid and I think that I succeeded. I have to say, that the best day, despite the freezing weather, was the trip to Neot Kedumim aka Bible Land!! Neot Kedumin is a biblical land reserve located not too far from Tel Aviv, focused on recreated the physical setting of the Bible. The purpose of our visit was not only to take in the scenery, but to focus on team building skills. As part of Group 18 (the group I stayed with throughout the conference), I roamed around Neot Kedumim trying my skills at archery, candle making, and eating delicious "Bible" cookies. As heartbreaking as it sounds, I don't think I am cut out to be the next Robin Hood. After 5 days of the conference, I am proud to say that I am a future leader- I have a plaque to prove it for all those doubters out there. In all seriousness, it was unbelievable to see how much time, effort, and serious cash money that Masa put into this conference. It is nice to be believed in (and to be fed).

Leaving the conference on Thursday, instead of Friday, I got a good nights sleep in preparation for the first overnight trip of the semester: Makhtesh Ramon. On the drive to the beautiful crater of Makhtesh Ramon, located in the Negev, we stopped at...wait for it...get ready..... a llama and alpaca farm!!!!! Who doesn't love llamas? I don't know if anyone remembers, but when I went to camp back in the day, I had a minor obsession with the llama in the petting zoo, and the visit to the farm brought all those emotions back in full force. We also visited a lone farmer who settled in the Negev a few years back to create his dream of owning a goat farm. Let me just say that goat milk and I are not friends. I don't understand how people can drink it! After our farm-filled day, we finally made it to the Bedouin tent located in the center of the crater. After a delicious meal of fresh-made pita, poike, and a chocolate fondu dessert, we sat around the guitar for some soothing pre-slumber jams. Calling it a night early, we all crawled into our sleeping bags in preparation for the hike in the morning- this time, I strategically placed myself far from any known snorers. With our trusted leader, Reut, back in the front, the hike was a success.

Per usual, the internet has a mind of it's own and is not allowing me to upload any pictures. Another post soon to come!

[Sorry for the delay in writing, I had to spend the day at the beach]