if dogs run free

It turns out there are a few important things one should know about Israel, particularly about Kibbutz Gal On. First of all, every evening at 7:30, there is what we call "bird rush hour." This means that every single bird within a mile radius takes off from whatever tree they happen to be on, squawk a lot, and fly to wherever it is that they sleep. The second thing one should know is that milk comes in plastic bags. This is problematic if you do not like milk, particularly if you do not like touching milk, as opening a bag of milk is nearly impossible to do neatly. Third is that industrial sized cleaning supplies have not been introduced here. This one is applicable when you have to cover for somebody and volunteer in the dining hall, and are handing a toy-sized broom and mop and instructed to sweep, mop and wax the entire place. The side note to this one is that Drano also doesn't exist here. You may recall that the shower in the bathroom has no barrier between it and the rest of the bathroom. Well our drain is clogged so not only does the water puddle at our feet, but at this point, it overflows into the bathroom, under the door, and into the rest of the room. And as an additional side note, I can't remember if I've mentioned this before or not, but an uneven bathroom tiled floor is impossible to squeegee out. Fourthly, "r"s, or "resh"s, if you will, are very difficult to pronounce and even if someone tells you that they will help you practice and won't make fun of you, they are lying. The fifth, and one of the most important, is that they love music that was popular ten years ago. Case in point: there was an Ace of Base music video marathon on TV yesterday. The sixth thing is that on Kibbutz Gal On, there is a pub called the Silo Moo Pub, and this is because it is actually in a silo. A silo is "a structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store grain or fermented feed known as silage. Silos are more commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, wood chips, food products, and sawdust." It looks like a windmill without the windmill. You go through a tiny little door into a tiny round room that is a pub. They have lots of salsa music and pictures of French prostitutes on the ceilings. A side note to this thing is that when you go to the Silo Moo Pub you get a chance to see cows at night, because you're at the refet, the cow barn, and it turns out that cows sleep lying down.

The last thing you should know is a little less funny but was told to me bluntly by an Israeli two nights ago, and that is that, "not all Jews are equal." You'd think that since we're in the Jewish home country, we would learn how to be accepting and not oppress our neighbors, and although I of course am, and always have been, aware of the inequalities and injustices here, it was still moderately shocking to hear it stated quite so nonchalantly, and he demonstrated no interest or belief in the possibility of change.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Wednesday we went to Tel Aviv to check out some of the internship options that we will have this year. I was floored at how many people give so much in the community, how many people devote so much of their time, money, and life to causes that they aren't a part of to have it look good on a resume, or to make themselves feel better about being a rich homemaker. These are people of limited means themselves, who truly believe in the causes that they work with, and in the power of giving. Particularly those Israelis that work with at-risk Arabs, and well-off Arabs that are a huge part of the organizations themselves, astounded me with their dedication to and belief in equality, education, and peace. I'll keep you posted on exactly what I decide to do.

That afternoon we went to the beach! At first I was so relieved and at home to see the ocean and lay in the sand, and then I got a little bit homesick for San Diego, but it was okay because I remembered that there are no sharks here. I took a nice nap, and then we ate a hummus, veggie, pita, and french fry platter that was one of the greatest things ever at this cafe that had the tables literally on the sand. The cafe was putting up a screen to show a "eat-in" movie when we left, but we wandered around and found a lovely fountain next to a falafel stand that my friend Taryn found out sold shots of Vodka under the table. And by shots we mean plastic glassfuls. It was a nice break from the kibbutz, and also sort of a tease.

Last weekend we had free, so I went to Jerusalem to stay with Jordyn and celebrate Suzy's birthday! We took what turned out to be a fantastic bus ride from Kiryat Gat to Jerusalem, and met some funny soldiers who talked to us about penguins, both the animals and the Orthodox. We spent the afternoon hanging out on Jordyn's balcony, and then when Suzy left for services, Jordyn and I baked TWO cakes! One was a marble cake from a mix, and when we swirled the dark parts into the light parts it looked like a passion fruit. We also made a "healthy" chocolate cake where we had to boil down apples instead of oil. This worked out well until we thought the batter was too soupy so we added lots more flour (kemach) which unfortunately we found out only made it extremely dense when it came time to taste it. "A" for effort, though. Oh, and there was a frosting we made from scratch! We thought we would spread it on the top and let it drip "artistically" down the edges, but it didn't really work out. Delicious nonetheless. On Saturday morning we watched ants move pieces of food, which now that I write that seems like we had smoked or something, which we definitely hadn't, but it seemed more reasonable to do at the time. Then we took a lovely stroll into downtown Jerusalem, and then back to make a delicious pasta dinner before heading back down south (drom).

Once we got back to Kiryat Gat, I used some excellent Hebrew to tell the cab driver that we needed a larger car for the four of us from the bus station, to stop at the train station for one more, and then to Kibbutz Gal On. So we met Uri. He was nice, and then he told us that knew a "k'tzar", shortcut, to our kibbutz. This involved the Israeli agriculture. We ended up on a dirt road in the middle of a field, and we kept driving, and then he excitedly turned to me all of a sudden and shouted, "sabra!" (cactus!) and lo and behold, there were cacti, as if that were supposed to make me feel better. There was also some excellent Alanis Morrissette on the radio, and I was sitting in front, and kept turning around making half amused, half worried faces at my friends in the back seat. If it were the United States, I would have been gravely concerned, but for some reason it seemed okay. Finally we drove up to some cows and Uri told me that we were at Kibbutz Gat. I said, excellent but we want to go to Kibbutz Gal On. And he said, this is Kibbutz Gat. And I said, they have nice cows here but I live on Kibbutz Gal On. And he said, okay. And we got home safely.

Other than that, mostly life is just ulpan, and, oh yeah! I started running! I've never run before in my life, and actually I (thought I) hated it, but turns out running a few miles in the fields every evening is amazing. The views are unbelievable, and it's nice and windy which is a change from stuffy hotness on the kibbutz itself. This weekend we're staying around the kibbutz and going on a hike tomorrow evening. Hopefully we'll finalize the Tel Aviv roommate situation in the next few days, because we're moving next Friday (a week from today)! We'll spend the weekend settling in, do an urban ulpan on Sunday, and then have off until Wednesday night for the holiday. We'll be back on the kibbutz Thursday and Friday to finish cleaning up and go to our goodbye party, and then in two weeks from today I will officially be a resident of Tel Aviv. Word.

Peace, love, and better internet access.