Wed. October 5
"I had a dream. I irrigated my nostrils with saline in teaspoons.
Just began our desert trip today. Our first top was S'derot, a community right alongside Gaza that experiences constant rocket attacks from Al Qaeda and Hamas and etc.
This guide, Noam, is a photojournalist who explained Israel's situation and reiterated why we shouldn't sympathize with palestinians because of all the 'human shield' tactics they use. 97% of rockets are fired from civilian-occupied territory. But this guy, Noam, was self-righteous and very much a braggart: 'yo...I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and spent two weeks with orangutans and saved starving nuns in Tibet...be my friend on Facebook.' That kinda thing.
Then they brought us to this community center for victims of terrorism suffering from Post Dramatic Stress. Our "tikkun olam" project was to beautify their office/bomb shelter with nothing but tape and spray paint. Mind you, I've never vandalized, and the only other time I've worked with spray paint was for my Egypt project when I sprayed a Barbie sarcophagus and Rebecca Han painted our tree.
But we split into groups (basically the capable, willing Bezalel Kids). I made a mural with a couple of other kids of a Hamsa watching over the city.
We went to our hostel to eat dinner and then headed to the VILLAGE OF PEACE.
Here's the story behind this place:
This guy in 1968 Chicago had a vision of all the Brothers moving back to the "Promised Land". But they needed to do it the way their ancestors did. So a group of them moved to Libya for two years and then worked on a kibbutz (they pronounce it Keee-boooz) for a couple years to learn hebrew. They then built this communal village in Demona that is vegan, artistic, and damnnnn fiiiineeee.
The Elder of the community is a tap dancer and singer. He did a number for us to the tune of "When the Saints go Marching In".
Another woman was a fabulous gospel pianist. A 14-year-old girl sang in Hebrew and moved some of us to tears. We African Danced. It wa so invogoratingly beautiful. The Highlight of my trip so far. I kept on thinking of Dad. I want to live there and be happy with them and eat fried tofu and okra."
their album was even reviewed on Pitchfork! 8.4! http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11481-soul-messages-from-dimona/
Thursday
Just left Sde Boker. Went to the Ramon Airforce Base. Saw some planes. Talked to a pilot about his job. It seemed as thought he took his job casually. He showed us a video clip of an air boming in Gaza last night. He dropped a bomb and described his job as fun.
Friday
Yesterday was a great day. Visited Ramon Crater--a magnificent pit that looked like the surface of Mars. It was encrusted with all different colors of natural sand: clay green, sugar white, mauve, taupe, rust red. They gave us glass bottles to collect different layers to make sand art. Then we arrived at our Bedouin home where a caravan of camels was waiting for us. They are quite beautiful, strange, stupid creatures. A Bedouin man led us over some desert hills.
Cliche desert experience, but very worthwhile.
A bunch of us sat around a circle of benches. There was a fire pit with some coals that seemed slightly hot, so i put some dry palm leaves as tinder on it and made a fire. Judith brought her flute....Nathaniel, his classical guitar, and we had a "kumzits".
Later, we met Salaam, a real Bedouin, who shared a Bedouin folktale, some songs played on a traditional hand-harp-like instrument, and traditionally-ground Bedouin coffee.
We feasted for dinner on mattress pads on the floor. They brought out giant aluminum saucers heaped with israeli salad, hummus, pickles, olives, vegetable rice, grilled lamb kebabs, and fresh flatbread until I couldn't move and used the mattress I was sitting on as a place to stretch my stomach.
As it got darker and cooler, a bedouin boy pulled up to the tent with a cart of baklava, kadaif, and Bedouin coffee and tea.
Our madrichim led a desert night walk. We were not allowed to talk. We meandered through the tent village, past the camels, and into the hills. I have never seen so many stars in my life. Niro, our (gay?) tour guide, tried to make some symbolism with taking 40 steps on our own to find a private place to meditate and ended up lecturing us on how to make art (Israelis love having that power over everyone...being the only one able to talk in a group of people condemned to silence.)
I sat there, in solidarity, my neck craned up towards the sky. I felt insignificant with infinity of the sky above and the hills around me. I felt lost, but any time before this, lost would have been connected with fear. Now it is connected with wonder, and excitement because I have an incredible opportunity to find my way to where I am meant to be.
After counting 5+ shooting stars, we returned to the tents and had another kumzits by the fire. I went to sleep on a dusty foam pad in a sleeping bag that might have been washed. I dreamI lost a molar as I was working in a law firm. And for some reason, the loss of my tooth led to the promotion of a woman at the firm. Everyone thanked me in Bar Mitzvah-chair-lifting fashion for losing my tooth. I then dreamt I lost a lot of valuables and was looking in all these tents and dunes to find them.
I woke up a little earlier to pee at 5:23 AM and realized the sun was rising. I walked out of the camp and saw the sky pinken and the clouds begin to glow with morning light over the camels.
I went back to bed and was much amused by the sound of 50 people sleeping. It sounded like a snoring breath storm.
Breakfast was at 6:30. A bedouin woman kneaded and rolled and cooked fresh flat bread over a hot iron bowl. An arab man made giant griddles-ful of omelets.
Now we are on a bus destined for Eilat. I would love to sleep except they have really annoying music playing over the loudspeakers. This trip is GREEEAT!"
Saturday
On the bus on the way back to Jerusalem. So, after I last wrote, we had left for Eilat to go on a hike and then snorkling. The hike was up a mountain. I thought since I hiked Yehudia in the Golan with Crocs, then this would be just fine. I got a bad blister on my left foot, and the problem was that the trek was sandy and Crocs have poor traction, so I slipped and scraped my hands. The view from the top was incredible, though. We supposedly could see four countries from the summit.
We then began the treacherous decent downhill to the shore to snorkel.
The view from the goggles was incredible. I had never in my life seen anything so breathtakingly clear. Colorful fish. I could be submerged underwater forever without taking a breath. My dreams of becoming a mermaid were almost realized! I felt graceful but at the same time constricted by the lifejacket that was chafing my armpits.
Before shabbat, we arrived at Kibbutz Ketorah, which is supposedly the richest kibbutz in Israel. They raise cows, grow dates, and their biggest revenue comes from a special algae which they grow for the Japanese to make male enhancement pills. We had a nice dinner in the Hadar Ochel and brought in Shabbat the traditional kibbutz way. The kibbutz had a swimming pool which was sooo refreshing. After I swam, I took a nap on the lawn with the kibbutz dog.
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