First blog

Right, so where to start. Many of you received my first and only email so far. I can't quite remember where there brought you to chronoligcally, but I'll basically just go from start to finish here anyway. I'll try and maintain this blog throughout the rest of my travels, fingers crossed.

So like I said things were slow at first. It is clear that it takes some time to get used to such independence and an absolute NEED for maturity. However, its hard to dwell on that seeing as things have picked up so much. We are now blessed with a really fantastic group of volunteers. Its a real culture mix, as if things weren't interesting enough without the opportunity to meet such a varied group of people. The camraderie obviously starts on the field; work can both bond and break but ultimately has brought us all together as a group. It helps that we all seem to thoroughly enjoy it. If for some of you the thought of dragging pipes and sprinklers all day long isn't quite your ideal vacation, then perhaps being in the great outdoors, bathed in sun and soaked by irrigation is. Let's not forget we are literally in touching distance of Gaza. We've seen rockets, heard rockets, heard machine gun fire, found exploded rockets in the fields and are constantly in shot of the rumble of tank tracks on the army road which snakes through the fields. I enjoy it all though, the hard work, the excitement and the new experience. We work with an extremely relaxed and sociable group of people. Fortunately there is a relatively young bunch of guys who've just left the army who we've befriended. They are great people and a handy Hebrew lesson. Amongst other things they are gracious hosts too and have tried extremely hard to make the experience a memorable one. The same goes for our boss Adam. He certainly works us hard - a week of 12 hour days left us slightly disillusioned, but with trips to the beach and free beer we can't complain for long, even despite outbreaks of bird flu on kibbutz. Googlewhack our kibbutz, Ein Hashlosha, and find out about the thousands of turkeys we had to slaughter. Worrying times but all is well now.

The kibbutz itself is a pleasant, at times strange place. The community thing seems to make its members extremely happy, friendly people; this place is just obsessed with irrigation though. Dotted around the place are bits of agricultural art, and every garden has its own mini irrigation set up. Its a quaint, pretty little place though. Even the dogs are shared and roam about the kibbutz all day and night. As i mentioned it boasts its own pub, pool, shop and more. We've now taken to smoking shisha down in the disused bomb shelters as well. The days of feeling there was nothing to do have long past. A short bike ride away is also a lovely reservoir on which we love to fish and make fires. Much closer to the experience I imagined I'd be having. The surrounding land is just beautiful and I love walks along the dried up riverbed and the like.

Some special occasions have arisen which I can't fail to mention. Every Friday on some neighbouring kibbutz is a bar or a club. We have visited two, Nihrim and Urim. They are strange affairs, I'm still not quite used to seeing a bar slap bang in the middle of a cow shed plus smell. They are however a barrel of laughs. All the Israelis know eachother as its a provincial affair so no holds barred. Can't say I've taken to Israeli music YET but we'll see. Harry managed to get absolutely wasted 3 weeks in a row, the third of which actually took place on our own Kibbutz. This fell upon The Purim celebrations. We hosted a really amazing night in the canteen which we helped set up and take apart throughout the course of the night. Harry and I were the last 2 on the dancefloor. Its by the far the best night I've been to so far in Israel, Ein Hashelosha knows how to party. The imaginative theme of cross dressing produced some interesting results as you can see somewhere on this page. Only 3 days later and still recovering, the Thais on kibbutz threw their own massive party. I imagine they were feasting off the buffet for days after, not to mention the alcohol. Based on my perception of the Thai people so far I can't wait to arrive - they are unbelievably kind and giving, and soooo much fun. I wasn't quite up for semi naked table dancing but maybe next time...

Anyway, we've literally just got back from our 6 days off travelling. Six of us, Harry, Hannah, Rhys, Reuben, Josh and I decided to travel North, visiting Haifa, Akko and Tiberias via Tel Aviv. It was an incredible few days and my first experience of real travelling. Searching out hostels, wandering for hours through city streets and back alleys, "seeing the sights," I won't forget it and each place had something to offer. I was really taken by Haifa. It is an amazing place with a unique set up. It is geographically and socially tiered: it moves from the port at the bottom, upwards through the Arab quarter, right up to the wealthy area at the top of Mt Carmel upon which it lies. Slap bang in the middle are the stunnig Bahai Gardens and Temple (do see photos). We spent a day just wandering through the streets, absorbing the sights and smells, and the next day, on a hangover, walked up the mountain with a full pack to the topmost garden. It was a stunning stunning view. This was followed by a day in the Arab town of Akko. Our great Hostel in Haifa was contrasted by the most basic of bases here, but it all works. Its a very genuine, interesting and historical place. It is also the place that even Napoleon wasn't able to break and invade and we walked upon the city walls that stopped him. We also visited the Al Jazzar mosque and browsed the buzzing Arab market where we bought our Shisha pipes. Five times a day we were overpowered by the Arabic prayers which were broadcast over loudspeakers, a haunting sound accompanied by a hushed silence on the street. Then another coach journey to Tiberias on the beautiful Sea of Galilee. We were disappointed to see that it was actually quite dead. Its more of a resort and we were obviously a bit too early in the year, but its a lovely setting all the same and we celebrated Harry's birthday as best we could with the help of our best friends food and drink. We arrived back yesterday and after our first day back at work I feel I will really cherish this last month on kibbutz.

Anyway, thats all I feel I can muster right now, I'll fill in the details for most over a pint when I'm back. Will update blog asap.

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