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| JFK airport |
Okay, so now I will split up my blog post into day by day experiences:
Tuesday, October 1st
We went to the Palmahim beach near
Ashdod. We swam in the soothing
Mediterranean Sea, and had some nice big waves to play in. The 21 or so of us who came on the first
plane met the boy and girl RA (they are super friendly, talented, and great), our
director for the year, and the executive director. The Kivu students also
bonded with each other, and we figured out configurations we like to call “Jewish
Geography.” Basically it was really easy
for all of us to find connections with each other and to have many mutual
friends even if we didn’t all live close by.
This is because Jewish camps and programs often include people from many
states/countries.
We later took about a 3 hour bus
ride to Sde Boker in the Negev Desert (Southern Israel), which is the pleasant
kibbutz that the first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, resided on for his
last years.
The second plane (with 28 other
Kivunimers) got delayed 3 hours at JFK, and then missed their connecting flight
from Istanbul-Tel Aviv, so they ended up arriving at Sde Boker at 3:30 AM on
October 2nd. THAT MEANS THEY WERE TRAVELING FOR 3 DAYS!! Although they spent 7 hours in the Istanbul
airport, they were able to bond a lot and from what I heard, they concluded
that it was worth the unique experience.
Wednesday, October 2nd
We woke up, had coffee, and gazed
out at the picturesque crater right outside our hostel that shows the magic
found in nature. If you strive to be an
explorer or like to read, I suggest you check out the book by John R. Stilgoe
called Outside Lies Magic.
The founder of Kivunim opened up
with a beautiful introduction about how we are starting here in the desert in
order to appreciate the vastness of the world, and how there is meaning behind
everything we open our eyes to. No
matter what one’s individual beliefs are, all of us as humans are intrigued by
the greater universe in which we live in.
We
then went for a hike at Ein Avdat, which had a beautiful natural spring and was
a nice hike to climb. We climbed up 90⁰
ladders and definitely toned our muscles.
Once we got to the top, we ate all kinds of fruit, which is very tasty
in Israel.
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| The beautiful spring |
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| What a captivating reflection |
Thursday, October 3rd
Today we traveled to the Ben Gurion
University National Solar Energy Research Center to learn more about the intention of natural energy and how it plays a role in Israel and globally.
We then hiked in the great crater
of Mitzpe Ramon, which was quite a strenuous but super fulfilling hike. It was
a lot of climbing, slipping, and a few times I thought I was going to fall down
the crater walls. There is soft
sandstone on the bottom of the crater, and hard limestone that keeps the outer
walls strong and durable. There are
flash floods present in the desert and hundreds of years ago floods brought
down some of the walls and brought the sand stone with it. The craters change over time, and there are
many layers of stone from different times.
A long long long time ago, the volcanic eruptions began molding the
craters, and since then it has been evolving. When flash floods occur today (which is rarely), they form water areas in the crater called wadees. Sometimes there are waterfalls too, but the current would be way to powerful for people to swim in. We also learned about the rich variety of
wildlife present in Mitzpe Ramon at night as well, and in the daylight you can hike up the whole crater without seeing one living animal.
We then went to a museum nearby, where we learned about the first
Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, who was killed in a 2003 NASA mission. He was a heroic and passionate man who followed his dreams and inspired people to do what they love in life, without wasting our precious opportunity for living. We watched a movie about him in one of those dark rooms, and once the movie ended, the screen and curtains opened/lifted up to expose us to a huge semicircle window showing us the whole multidimensional vista of the Mitzpe Ramon crater. I am so very appreciative for being able to experience Kivunim and the incredible connection I am making with the outdoors. There is definitely magic found outside, and I know this year I will be inspired by nature in different places around the world. In the beginning, nature preceded humans, and the simple yet complex/intricate system of nature has taught humans a lot and led us to our own creations inspired by the natural world in which we live in.
That night we had a intellectual
discussion about the books we read prior to Kivunim, and how people can
transform history, but how history also has a powerful ability to control
people. Many students expressed their ideas in a scholarly manner, and it was then that I really realized how intellectual and talented this body really is. These students will surely motivate me to become a better thinker.
Many of us that night went to spend time out on the cliff of the crater, looking up at the stars, and feeling the breezy ambiance around us. The stars are so vivid here in the Negev, in fact we saw the famous October planet, Venus, making an appearance!
Many of us that night went to spend time out on the cliff of the crater, looking up at the stars, and feeling the breezy ambiance around us. The stars are so vivid here in the Negev, in fact we saw the famous October planet, Venus, making an appearance!
Friday, October 4th
We woke up early to go on this
marvelous 5 hour hike to Nahal Akev. We
climbed straight up the crater to the top of the cliff on the opposite side of
where we were staying.The other day we were able to see the view of the crater from one perspective, and being in the crater, and climbing to the opposite side gave variation and allowed us to see the world from different angles, which is a major take away from the Kivunim program.
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| The path we initially climbed up |
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| Climbing up it |
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| The Sde Boker hostel is on the opposite side of the crater we hiked up. |
Once we got to
the top we could see the hostel we were staying at. It was a beautiful view, and we kept walking
on the flat mountain top until we went to a Beduoin tent for a snack. The Beduoin community consists of truly
extraordinary and inspiring culture. The Bedouin people have been living a life of simplicity for thousands of years now in the desert in which they reside. Living in tents and in an arid climate, they know how to work the land. They
are the most welcoming people I will probably ever meet and they fed us tea,
humus, pita, and other kinds of wonderful food.
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| Bedouin wife making pita (traditional woman cover mouth to anyone other than her husband) |
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| Socializing and eating good food |
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| Bedouin husband |
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| The tent from the outside |
After spending some time with
the husband and wife we kept walking through the desert until we got to an
amazing cliff. See I am afraid of
heights, but this experience is really helping me overcome my fear. I am so proud of myself because although it
may be easier to look down and focus on where I am stepping thereby avoiding
the amazing views, I have built up the courage to look up and around me in every
direction to take in as much natural beauty as I can. This place is truly a natural
phenomenon. There then was a very small
walkway right next to a cliff in which we all had to cross. I am amazed that I did it and did not think
twice about my actions, yet every step I
took was also with deep intention (kavanah).
You see, when I am in Israel, I feel like I can do anything I set my
mind to, and my goal this year is to really keep my eyes open, my body moving,
and my mind thinking. We then
walked/crawled/hiked down the mountain on a thin snake path kind-of-spiral
thing until we arrived at a spring.
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| Yes, I survived this literal cliffhanger! |
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| I am holding this jerry can (filled with water) like a baby |
We
swam for a few hours and really bonded and had fun as a Kivunim body. The water bed was filled with algae so it was
a slimy feeling to sit in the shallow area- and it was almost impossible to
stay sitting in the shallow end without sliding down the algae slopes into the
deeper end. A lot of people jumped off a
small cliff into the water and it was super entertaining. It was quite a
wonderful and once-in-a-blue moon type of experience. I bonded with one of our Israeli guides and
we talked a lot about nature and hiking.
It is always nice to connect so well to someone who comes from the
totally opposite side of the world.
After spending the day in the sun, we took a huge jeep back to our
hostel (but before then I went pee in the desert!!!). It was a very bumpy ride, as we were riding on trails that were
very rocky in the crater. Once we got to the actual road again (45 minutes or so later; the bus to the crater there took us 10 minutes), we
went up to the top of the crater in a spiral-like way. When we got back it was time to get ready for Shabbat! This Shabbat is called Rosh hodesh Heshvan, which is the beginning of new month in the Hebrew
calendar.
Kivunim experienced a Kabbalat
Shabbat together at the cliff lookout. Peter Geffen, the founder of Kivunim led
beautiful services in which we prayed with The Koren Siddur – a modern orthodox
prayer book. Coincidentally in Summer 2012
when I went to a three-week BBYO Judaic institute conference, we were able to
take home either a reform, reconstructionist, conservative, or orthodox prayer
book of our own, and I chose The Koren Siddur because I was interested in
learning more about a Jewish denomination different than my own. I brought this prayer book with me, so it
made me very happy to be using it for a greater purpose instead of it just
sitting on my shelf at home. It is going
to be so cool to bring this siddur (prayer book) to every country I travel to. The melodies and prayers at the cliff lookout
was so beautiful and inspiring, and although I do not know the prayers to the
same extent that some other people on the program do, I feel like I can follow
along, and find a way to contribute to the service by singing what I do know. I am excited to master new prayers this year,
and although I consider myself more of a cultural than a religious Jew, I find
it necessary to know the prayers and understand their deeper meanings so I can
preserve Jewish customs and traditions for my children, grandchildren,
etc. As we prayed in the last minutes
before the sun went down, I saw the different ribbons of blues put in the sky
as if a paintbrush did it, and the warm colors brought in the soft and
welcoming evening of Shabbat.
During Shabbat dinner, I sat next
to Peter, which was really nice. He is
such a special man and he is definitely an inspiration of mine. A worldly man, I can really learn from him
and strive to think from many directions like he does. We practiced the various Shabbat rituals,
before and after eating dinner, and we also sang some fun secular songs to feel
the happiness in the air. Once of the
songs we sang was “Somewhere over the Rainbow.”
After dinner we had Oneg Shabbat,
which is a time for dancing, singing, eating and having a lot of fun. Many teens who went to the same Jewish camp
growing up led it, singing songs, and teaching us different variations. We also have this super super musically
talented boy on this trip, who is one of the greatest musicians I have ever
been around. His voice is beautiful, and
the way he teaches us songs and melodies is so effective, therefore giving us a
profound experience.
Saturday, October 5th
In the morning I went to Shabbat Tefillah:
the experiential/alternative service. We
had discussions about our belief in G-d, and what it means to believe in
religion. It was a very interesting
service.
Shabbat was very relaxing and we
had much free time. I walked around the
kibbutz and watched the boys play basketball. When walking around I also saw a
lot of kids and adults riding bikes, which makes me want to rent a bike once I
get to Jerusalem. I think biking is one
of the best man made creations, because it gives you such a natural,
reflective, but also manual experience.
I also wrote in my journal a lot about different experiences I have had
thus far on orientation.
Later that night we had Havdalah,
which is the conclusion of Shabbat and is very meaningful to me. Typically, people all form a circle and sing
nice sweet melodies. We also smell
spices and light a braided Havdalah candle when the lights are off, creating a
very special atmosphere.
Sunday, October 6th
Today we had a session on Photography
through the Lens of Frederic Brenner in which we looked again at the pictures
in Diaspora: Homelands in Exile. It is cool to learn about Judaism in
different places around the world and how many people do not realize how
diverse the people in the religion really are.
Later on we met with Dr. Clinton
Bailey, the expert in Bedouin culture.
He used to live in America, but he then moved to Israel and has since
dedicated his life to Bedouin culture.
In fact, it was Paula Ben-Gurion who directed his life to go check out
Sde Boker, because at the time Bailey was looking for a job, and he bumped into
Paula one day who told him that her and her husband were starting a school in
Sde Boker. Ben-Gurion then told Clinton
that he probably could get a job at the school as an English teacher. So it was
at Sde Boker that Bailey grew intrigued by the Bedouin culture and decided to
devote his life to something so extraordinary. He has written many books, and has even about
1000 oral Bedouin poems in Arabic, wrote them down in Arabic, and translated
them into English. Just think about that
for a second: and American born man is so fascinated by this culture that he
was able to learn Arabic, know so much about their culture, and pretty much be
the spokesman and advocate for the people.
There are recognized and unrecognized Bedouin communities in the Negev,
in which Clinton knows every Bedouin person that he has ever encountered, which
is a lot. He probably knows more Bedouin
people than the Bedouin people themselves will ever know, because many of the
people stick to their tribes and communities, and that’s who they know. In Israel, the government is talking about
potentially making one main Bedouin area, as opposed to all of these towns
scattered around the Negev. It was
interesting to learn so much about the Bedouin culture even just spending one
day with Clinton.
He also showed us the graves of Paula and David Ben-Gurion,
and we put rocks on their graves out of respect for the first Prime Minister of
Israel, who made the modest decision to spend his last years helping to build
up Sde Boker in the Negev. We also met and bonded with Amal Abu Sif (our Arabic
teacher). She is a very smart woman who is an influential character in Muslim
society. She has spoken for the UN
before, and really believes in coexistence between the Jews and Muslims.
Monday, October 7th
Today we went to a K-8 Bedouin
school, and the kids were so very precious and passionate about learning. They are happy to go to school, and it was
truly amazing to see smiling faces on every single one of the children. Many of them have big goals, like to be a
doctor, engineer, etc. They sang us
songs, and the director of the school showed us to different classrooms. The kids definitely liked to giggle and they
were so excited to see us—I bet it was overwhelming for them at first, because
they never have visitors, let alone from another country, but I think our
presence really inspired them to grow up and work in professions that we will
probably soon work in. The teachers in
Bedouin culture believe they are friends with the students, not just
instructors, and they have a very special relationship with each other. Bedouin schools are very new in their
cultural history, and it is amazing how successful and progressive their
education already seems to be. There is
a 6:4 girl to boy ratio as well, which is a very interesting piece of information. Also, these kids and the Kivunimers instantly
connected and language was not a barrier, because communication is not just
oral, it is also based on physical relationship. But nonetheless, although it was easy to communicate
with the children, hearing them speak beautiful Arabic has inspired me to learn
Arabic even more. They sang for us and
we went outside to plant trees for the school, and played a game of soccer with
them (soccer is such a universal sport).
I am totally satisfied with our visit at the Bedouin school, and I hope
all these students follow their dreams throughout their meaningful lives.
We then went to Ben Gurion's desert
home Tzrif, and learned more about how the modest man had the main dream of
establishing a Jewish homeland. Then we went to Avdat, which was a place of ancient ruins that we so great to explore.
We spent the night at the desert
home of an inspiring Bedouin man named Abu Jarabia. Jarabia has three wives and
about 15 children. We also met his
righteous brother who served in the Israeli army. Although he was an Arabic Bedouin man who was
part of the minority in the army, he still felt an obligation and meaning
behind serving. While I was listening to
the presentation, a Bedouin toddler came up to me and motioned to me that wanted
to go on my back as if I was his mother and I was honored to care for him. He was
this adorable child with big brown eyes, and interacting with him showed to me
that language is not a barrier and tangible interactions sometimes speak louder
than words.
The family also made us delicious
soup, schnitzel, and other types of Middle Eastern food, and they entertained
us in this colorful Bedouin tent. The
cloths and the padding we sit on are all pretty patterns which make me happy
because I love variation. After listening to inspirational anecdotes in the
tent, the family told Peter how appreciative they are to have us come and visit
them. Peter answered by saying “No,
thank you,” because it is the Bedouin people who help teach us about a unique
community. In the end, both parties benefit from the encounter, and we both
learn about cultures that are different from our own. Peter told us that this experience with the
Bedouin people served as a great introduction to the diverse encounters we will
have with people while traveling during this year.
After dinner we got in our evening
clothes, and roasted marshmellows in a bonfire while drinking tea to keep us warm.
We had about 10 different people play songs on the guitar while we were
all around the fire and it was so special—even some of the Bedouin men hung out
with us and played the guitar. We sang
together as a unified community, as a global peoplehood. There was also a beautiful view of the city
of Beer Sheva (the only metropolitan area in the Negev), and the city lights
were twinkling from miles and miles away.
This night was just one of those times when I say to myself, “I love life.”
We slept in this shack warehouse
type of thing—all 51 of us. We slept in
silk liners inside a sleeping bag on top of the Bedouin style cushions, which
was an experience I am so happy I had.
It reminded me of camping, but the fact that we were in a different
country just made it even better. Our RA sang us a lullaby to sleep. Some people were very uncomfortable and
nervous to be in this living condition for the evening, but it was one of the
first Kivunim experiences in which we felt challenged to get out of our comfort
zones and be fully immersed in a different culture that is also reality—even if
at first that reality is unknown to us.
Oftentimes as tourists people will go places without fully throwing
themselves into the foreign culture, but if we want to learn how other people
live, I truly believe it is necessary to become a keen traveler who takes in
everything around them, including experiencing a new way of life. To get the most out of experiences, people
really have to live in the moment and keep all of their senses open. Although not every moment may seem preferred,
life is a quilt of different feelings and reactions, and so we should be
exposed to things in which we first think may seem awful. After this year, I believe I will truly
understand the “don’t judge a book by its cover” type of saying.
Tuesday, October 8th
The next morning we traveled to
Beer Sheva to Ben Gurion University, where we met with the first Bedouin woman in
Israel to receive a PhD. Her name is Dr.
Sarab Abu Rabiah, and she spoke to us about challenges for Arab women
(especially Bedouin women) to have the opportunity to study at a higher
educational institution. But in the
midst of challenges, her main point was to be very respectful and also follow
your dreams. Follow your dreams, be the
best person that you can be, etc.—I always thought that educators just said
nice mantras like that to encourage us to work hard—but really, now as 18 year olds, it is really time for us as individuals to achieve what we want to
achieve. Peter told us that 18-25 are the golden years of a person’s life in
which their cerebellum and brain cells are developed enough and also efficient
enough to learn much more than any other age.
It really makes me realize how important it is to take care of myself
during my “golden years” so that I can produce as much as possible in a way
that I feel best reflects my dreams and intentions.
After Rabiah’s inspiring talk, we drove
to Tel Sheva, which is another Bedouin town. We met with the founder of “Desert
Daughter Cosmetics,” Mariam Abu Rakeek.
She was the first Bedouin woman to get a college education outside of
Israel. She went to England to study
marketing, and was fascinated by Lancôme, Estee Lauder, and other beauty lines
there. Her grandmother was an organic
village healer. Mariam’s entrepreneurial
mind adopted all the formulas from her grandmother to then create a
revolutionary business of selling organic cosmetics. Peter made a comment about how she is like
Bobbie Brown in America, which made me smile because my dear mommy back home
works for them! She was a beautiful, righteous,
and inspirational woman whose main point was that everybody is a beautiful
individual, no matter what they look like.
Her dream is once day to make her company an international business, but
not losing the natural organic touch.
She does not want a global business that makes products in factories,
her dream is for women around the world to organically make the cosmetics in
their areas and sell them to people nearby.
Mariam receives pretty good business now, but at one point she was in
debt and owed a lot of people money. She
promised to pay it off and did, and it taught me how being an entrepreneur is a
tough enterprise in which you have to be very dedicated and loyal to following
through with your ideas.
The
last thing I want to say about these two righteous women is that they spoke perfect
English. Think about these women for a
second who came from very little in an environment where many women were
illiterate, and the fact that they are so competent and defied all odds is
incredible.
We then drove to Masada, explored the museum, and stayed in the hostel. We reflected on our wonderful week of
orientation, and we realized how fortunate we have been to have such amazing
people on this trip with us, students and staff alike, and how the people we
will be meeting this year will really help mold us into the people we want to
be. We will give back to the people we
will meet, but they will also give us the priceless gift of inspiration and
wisdom, like the Bedouin people did for us this past week.
Wednesday, October 8th
We woke up at 4 AM because
today was the day we would be hiking up Mt. Masada to experience the beautiful
sunrise on the top of the ancient creation.
It was a glorious experience, and the hike up in the dark starlit sky
took about 45 minutes. As we kept
walking up, the sky got lighter and lighter, and eventually we saw the
beautiful Dead Sea in the background. I have definitely gotten better with
heights over the course of our 4 hikes this week, because I didn’t think I
would fall off the mountain this time like I used to think would happen prior
to this trip. Once we got to the top, we
sat on top one of the walls, and dangled our little feet out into the cool
morning air. 45 minutes later our dear executive director arrived at the top with his daughter, which is super inspiring because he has one prosthetic leg. We stayed on the mountain for a little bit and explored the palaces and the holy sites there further, and we took the cable cars down.
After Masada, some of us went to float in the salt concentrated Dead Sea, and appreciate the last moments of our Kivunim orientation before heading to Jerusalem.
After Masada, some of us went to float in the salt concentrated Dead Sea, and appreciate the last moments of our Kivunim orientation before heading to Jerusalem.
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