Beautiful People

---

I must say, each day is big. Real big.

Classes have started, and I have to say they are now full on.
Lets see... where to start. How about here:

Last Friday, we all took a "field trip" down to Eilat for a ecological boat ride around the gulf of Eilat. Eilat, as a city, is not much to speak of. In fact, it is overpopulated and touristy, and dont even start me on how detrimental its overdevelopment is to the environment (I am, afterall, studying the environment here!). But the coral reefs in Eilat are some of the best in the world. And its amazing, as this one body of water connects four countries. From the boat, we were floating in the middle of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Man, that is loaded.

After our boat ride, we visited Kibbutz Lotan, a kibbutz quite close to Ketura which prides itself on its environmentally sustainable technology. We explored a place called "eco-kef" (meaning eco-fun)... basically a jungle gym made of trash. Hurray for reuse.

We learned about building from mud and straw, which is more sustainable and energy efficient than wood or concrete. We even made a few of these mud bricks ourselves (yummy!). Then, the highlight, I think, of the tour was the composting toilets. Thats right. The kibbutz takes human waste and makes fertilizer from it. Imagine... we use 7 litres of water per flush- that is a lot of water saved!

So I'm on my way to finding the solution for global warming... I know Boston could certainly use it (80 degrees or something a few days ago? Kids, this aint good!).

I spent Shabbat on the Kibbutz. On Friday and Saturday I went to services, and wow, to be praying in Israel! The energy is amazing. The kibbutz is mesorati, "traditional," which means basically that its practice is that of conservative Judaism. So in public places we are shomer shabbat, though people may practice what they like in their homes.

Saturday afternoon was spent playing in the sand. A whole bunch of us went hiking out into the dunes and we cartwheeled and did headstands and buried each other. We lit the finjan and drank turkish coffee until the sun went down. Pictures will be forthcoming.

I also went for a lovely scuba dive the other day down in Eilat. I played with the rainbow fish... petted them in fact :-). They felt like jelly. And they didnt seem to mind. Its too bad that there are so many divers in Eilat, as it is ruining the coral. While the fish are brilliant, the coral, is, well, dull. But I guess few things compaire to the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia...

So my days are real big, as I said. Each one is filled with heated discussion, hugs (so many loving people!), amazing food, dancing, frisbee throwing, swimming in the pool, or just lounging in front of the dorms drinking coffee and chatting. The other night Ashraf, a beautiful Palestinian from East Jerusalem, made everyone dinner "al haesh," over open fire. At the risk of sounding sentimental (well, maybe I am too late for that), I really see us as a special group of people. I have done quite a few group programs before... but never have I felt such community despite such diversity.

More adventures to come....

P.S. I forgot! Shimon Perez is coming to talk with us (the institute!) on Friday!

P.P.S. Its now 99 degrees Farenheit. And five o clock at night.

---

Photos

Boat Ride:
Yours truely sporting the best team in history's logo!

The car made out of Trash
On kibbutz Lotan. Yes, that's trash under there. Its just covered with mud and paint :)

The border to Jordan
Across the street from the kibbutz.