The Beginning

Catchy title, eh? Yeah, that one almost took TOO much effort.


HEY!

Hello from Israel! Hope this *blog* (there's gotta be a better word out there for this) finds you all doing well and enjoying spring time. Or, whatever season it is wherever you are.

I arrived in Tel Aviv airport at 2 am, and of course, decided to sleep in the airport (what were my options, really?). Seeing as said airport is not as nice as Amsterdam's Schipol airport, with its lounge area and reclining chairs, I had no other option but to sleep on the floor by the elevators, right across from where people were going through security checks. I fell asleep until the coldness of the marble floor worked its way into my bones and forced me to look for other accomodations, this time, a free chair, forming part of the actual line of security check points, sleeping with my bag between my legs and and my upper body resting on said bag. It was amazing, to say the least. You can only imagine how well-restedly I awoke at 7 am due to an increased influx of outgoing passengers.

After changing money in the airport and not getting ripped off too much by the exchange rate slash commission, I made my way outside to the bus station area to wait. There, I was approached by a friendly American man who made a comment about my age that would later become the typical assumption I have heard every day since I've been here: "So, are you in High School, or.....?" Not even a second option, just that awkward trailing off that left me to inform and simultaneously surprise him.

I catch my bus, make another connection, and arrive at the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station, where, before entering the actual edifice, incomers are subjected to rather rude security searches. After that ordeal, I boarded another comma local bus to the section of town where this Kibbutz Program Office (KPC, let's call it, and actually, that's what they DO call it). Entering the Office, I was surprised by how small it was.....THIS was the funnel between the volunteers and the kibbutzim? I took a seat with 3 friendly South Koreans, and as we talked, I found out that they had been waiting for 3 days now to be placed at a kibbutz. They were staying in a local hostel and came to the KPC for the better half of the morning, every morning. Things were not looking good, here. They said some others had waited for a few weeks before being found a placement. So, I settled myself into a chair and prepared for a long wait. Hey, I had nothing else to do....may as well try and get some shut-eye in the office. Within the hour, one of the two ladies called me forward and had me fill out some paperwork. Then I went back to my chair, where we were soon joined by a British guy and a German girl, also waiting. Eventually, the little waiting area became quite full and things seemed even bleaker about getting placed somewhere with all this.....competition? wrong word, but similar concept.

20 minutes later, Bella points at me and says, "YOU......come!", so I did. She told me she had found a kibbutz for me. I was surprised, to say the least. She said, "It's in Ein Gev" (insert blank stare on my part)......"In the north" (sounds familiar)......."Right on the Sea of Galilee" (NO WAY! Are you kidding me?!?!), then she winked at me and said she had used some connections to get me placed there, since it's in, supposedly, one of the most beautiful areas of Israel. I had kinda been looking forward to desert area, since I've never lived or been in that climate, but hey, north is good, too. Especially since this kibbutz seems so 'exclusive', the way she was helping me. After we jointly completed all my necessary paperwork (visas, health insurance, signing my life away to something I'm not familiar with, the usual), she told me to come back tomorrow at 10 am.

So I spent the night in one of the crappiest hostels I have ever encountered, the cheapest one, at 12 bucks a night. I had a room with the three Koreans and the British guy, and as we were making pizzas in the tiny kitchen microwave, I realized I hadn't eaten in almost 20 hours, since my Istanbul-Tel Aviv flight the night before. Yowzers. I also didn't shower. Why bother? The place was filthy, I'd be cleaner now than after those bathrooms. The Koreans and Brit Boy still hadn't been placed, either, so we spent the day hanging out. It was really difficult/awkward being happy for myself and trying not to express it too much in front of them. Yarg.

Next day, after a complimentary breakfast, and being told by the hostel receptionist, who looked me up and down with an unhidden, pretentious look, "You look like child", I bade my farewells and headed off to catch the bus to the Central Station, searched again, boarded a new bus, which took me to Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee. I waited there at the station for about an hour, with loads of young Israeli military people who must have been on holiday leave or something. Everyone was dressed in army gear, and I've never seen so many large guns in my life. Guys sitting on the ground of the station, drinking bottles of Coca Cola, flipping through magazines, with AK-47s and the suchlike slung across them. I think I stopped counting firearms after it got to be over 60. It had just lost its thrill by then.

Finally, the bus came, picked us up, and I asked the Israeli girl in the seat in front of me to let me know when we got to the Ein Gev station, seeing as announcements were not made as to which station we were approaching, and even if they were, my odds of understanding them were slim to none. When we had gotten almost precisely half-way around the sea, it was my time to dismount the bus, and I was greeted by an amazing view: In front of me, hills that rose and sloped gently, green and lush, palm tree groves beckoning along the road. As I turned to face the other way, the kibbutz property, and immediately beyond that, the Sea of Galilee, with Tiberias, the city on a hill, looming in the background.

I'm not gonna lie to you, folks. It was pretty amazing. Combining some of my all-time favorite elements (hills, water, and palms), this looked like a little slice of heaven on earth. I was extremely excited to be there, and so happy it had turned out this way. I grabbed my gear and headed towards the kibbutz to get this thing started. I was so ready.

This was the good part.....the part, where in all ignorance, innocense, and inexperience, you think life really could be that amazing. But it's not. It never is. At least up until 15 minutes into my time at the kibbutz, I felt like this was simply wonderful. But at least I had that quarter hour.


And that's a feeling I'll never forget.



Now I'm boring myself with all this incessant typing. And you as well. And that's no way to keep friends. So, on behalf of what's left of our cyber relationship, I'll end here. More will follow, cuz there's plenty else that needs explaining.

Suffice is to say, I really hope you all are doing well. I wish I could say something cheesy like, "I love and miss you all!", but that's not true, cuz hey, I don't know who's reading this.


HUGS!

Welcome! Good Morning!

Howdy, Folks!

As you may have guessed from this blog, I've started a blog. Grrrr. Not exactly my cup of tea, but since I keep moving around a bit, updating people regularly has gotten to be a bit of a hassle, and has made me more negligent than I would like. I realized it might not be a bad idea to start a general information site when at least once a week I get the question, "So.....where are you? What are you doing? Still in China/Africa?".

First things first: the upcoming Israel trip (the one I leave on tomorrow).
Here's the run-down of how things sound like they might turn out:
My flight leaves tomorrow evening, Turkish Airlines (yes, the one that crashed, which one hasn't?!?!) to Istanbul, arriving in Tel Aviv the following early morning. My instructions, as per this Kibbutz Office I've been in contact with, are to take some public bus into the city, find their Kibbutz Office, walk in, and have an interview with them. About what? Who knows. Am I qualified to volunteer? Let's hope so. If not....what have I been doing with the last 3 years of my life?!?!?! After said interview, they will look up available positions on various kibbutzim throughout the country, and place me at one such kibbutz. This decision on their part could take anywhere from whithin a few hours after the interview to a few days thereafter. So, I could be arriving in T.A. and leaving that same afternoon/evening for my designated kibbutz, or I could be chillin in the city for a few days, taking pictures, and hopefully, making some friends. This Kibbutz Office also provides me with a 6 month tourist visa, and health insurance.

Get this: Shekels! How cool is that? I get to dabble in shekel-ery whilst there!

About the kibbutz (from what I've been told):
If you want more information, you should google or wikipedia "kibbutz" and read what it spits out. I know I did. But here's the gist of it: a kibbutz is a community of anywhere between 150 and 300 people, aged 18 to 35, living and working together in rural areas. In exchange for labor (6 days a week, I'm told, with the Sabbath being our day off), we get a room with 2 or 3 others (I'm hoping same-sex), 3 meals a day in the community canteen (back to college days?), and free laundry service (woohoo!). The goal of these kibbutzim is to live and work with others (both natives and internationals) to "till the land" or something like that.....they're very much ecologically friendly, usually attached to orchards (the labor will mostly be manual), boosting Israel's economy (perhaps). Since it sounds like we're destined to be in the middle of nowhere, there should be no cause for concern for my safety whatsoever. So please, sit back and enjoy my ride. After about a week I'll probably be wishing I were a bit nearer some tension, but at least I'll have the hot weather to battle (finally!). I'll also look into camel renting/racing.

That's the story so far. Not much to tell, but hey, I haven't even left yet. That's what this is for....to keep you updated as things happen. Hopefully. Since this blog is strictly for informational purposes, I would really appreciate it if you didn't post any comments. What's the point, anyway? That's not to say I don't want to hear from you, but we all have that thing called FB, so if you read something here, please comment/message there. K? Thanks!

Also, it would be in your best interest to take most things I say with a grain of salt. But you already knew that. That's also partly why you're reading this.

Well, folks, it's been great. No, really, I enjoyed typing at myself, wondering what it's all about.

Thanks for tuning in. Have a wonderful life!