Kibbutz Life, Caving with Unruly Brats , Psycho Drivers

We spent the weekend at Kibbutz Hatzor, the home of Paul's mentor (Jay and his lovely family) from the Israeli Ministry of Education.  I'd heard about kibbutzim since I was a young child and learned of Israel and it's being seen by many as "The Land of Milk of Land and Honey"  After 5 weeks of city living (honking horns, loud voices and vehicle exhaust),  it was a delight to come to what seemed like "Eden".  We saw and smelled wildflowers, heard birds singing, and yes, the smells of farm life, horses, and cows.  Hatzor  as most Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism. Over the last decades, most Kibbutzim have been privatized and no longer practice communal living. Less than five percent of Israelis now live on kibbutzim.  Jay invited us this weekend as it was a holiday Tu'bishvat,  the day that marks the beginning of a "New Year for Trees." This is the season in which the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle. We watched the young planting trees in this Eden that was once not quite so lush before the Kibbutz was founded.

Jay and his wife Tzippi were extremely gracious and hospitable.  We ate very well and finally had our hottest showers to date! Noa became friend with their lovely daughter Hila (pronounced Heela).  She was darling and it was great to see Noa and her communicating as Hila is studying English and as Noa can only bless things, not speak the language other than basic greeting and counting to 10:-)

Other Kibbutz photos are of bomb shelter turned into a nightclub, famous Israeli Sculptor Ze'ev Karisher, Original Kibbutz building and new, Wild flowers, me with freshly picked maracas. We attempted to see Ashdod on the Mediterranean coast, not an easy thing to do in a sand storm. This morning we drove to the Sorek Cave, the largest and most beautiful in Israel.  My tour book said there would be tours every 15 minutes and in English!  The drive up to the cave was gorgeous (weather was crystal clear).

As we parked we saw BUSES, argh. We heard SHRIEKING boys, and lots of them.  We waited for them to buy junk food, ice cream (yes it was before 10am) as the same lady sold entry tickets. These were Orthodox boys (all male schools), and all boys, completely out of control.  I asked about tickets for the English tour, the crabby woman said "NO ENGLISH TOUR", I asked when the next tour was "TWENTY_FIVE MINUTES", I said; tour book says English tours every 15 minutes, She said "ONLY HEBREW, 25 MINUTES and  75 SHEKELS". I asked if we could go on our own (not with the obnoxious boys who looked like 4th or 5th graders).  Lady said "YOU GO WITH THEM, NO ENGLISH 25 MINUTES"  I told Paul I could not do it.  We decided to to walk the lovely path towards the cave (Secretly I knew I was going to see that cave, and not with obnoxious boys).  We saw an earlier group who was just about to enter the cave... OK, it was a mixed group of secular 3rd graders, but we did NOT PAY... we snuck in:-). First you have to watch a 15 minute film... all in Hebrew, after three minutes we heard a girl barfing... we were getting what we paid for. These kids were also boisterous, taking photos of the film with cell phones and texting, and shining flashlights at each other. We hung behind (you have to be with a group as the cave is very rare/ delicate, etc).  It was amazing and worth every Shekel!

The trip home was almost uneventful... driving in Israel could make you religious.  We were on a very busy NARROW road with a lot of car and truck traffic.  EVERYONE in Israel is an impatient driver, a man in a small blue car took this to a new level. He would pull out into oncoming traffic and when another vehicle would come almost nose to nose with him, he'd pull over to the LEFT and into a parking space or onto the sidewalk.  I do mean that he was on the other side of the street from where he should be driving.  When all the opposing traffic subsided, he would jam back into our lane of traffic.  He performed this stunt more than a dozen times over the course of a few kilometers.  All in all he got TWO cars ahead... OY VEY.

DANGER, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU EAT TOO MUCH HALVAH!