Parent's Circle - Family Forum Weekend...In the middle of the week!

Shalom! As of today, I have been in Israel for a complete 3 weeks! I'm sorry for the delay in posting, however classes are just now getting into full swing and this weekend was dedicated to a workshop which took up a vast amount of time.  This workshop was designed as part of our Peace-Building and Environmental Leadership seminar, and was run by a group called the Parents' Circle - Family Forum, or Israeli Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace.  It was the first of a new set of seminars which focuses on developing each person's personal narrative, and then sharing those narratives to bring a humanity and sense of mutual respect to the conflicts in this area of the world.  We were all required to attend this session, which lasted all day both Friday and Saturday. 

At this point, it is probably a good idea to share just whom makes up my fellow students, and the places in the world they come from.  About 34% of the students are North American, with one from Canada and the rest from various parts of the United States. We have both a western (Washington and Montana) and eastern (New York, New Jersey, North Carolina) presence, however here we are all simply Americans.  The other students are from a variety of places, including Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, South Africa, the Kyrgyz Republic, and of course Israel.  We also have a few students that although they were born in one country, have been moving around the world since a young age, and are in a classification by themselves due the sheer amount of world travel they've done.  In age our group ranges from 20 years old to over 30, with most people between the ages of 22 and 27.  It's strange though, the differences in age are not as obvious as perhaps they would be in a different situation; I believe since we are all taking the same classes, and have the same goals, the age differences are simply not as important.  Not only do we vary in age and nationality, our academic achievements also differ.  There are several of us who are undergraduates doing a semester abroad, myself included, however there are more of us who already have a bachelor's degree, or a master's degree, or haven't completed any college at all.  The one thing we all have in common is a desire to learn, about the environment and about each other.  This diverse mix of individuals is one of the most fascinating groups I've ever had the privilege to work with, and so far it has been nothing except fun and educational.  If I stop and think about the people I am surrounded with and the opportunities which present themselves through interacting with them each day, I am always struck by how lucky I am. 

The workshop this past weekend drew out our differences and highlighted our lack of knowledge in certain areas, and challenged the ideas which we harbor about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  It was facilitated by a pair of women who had both lost loved ones in the conflict, one an Israeli and one a Palestinian.  They shared their stories, which were different in setting, but so very similar in suffering.  Over the course of the two days, we analyzed our own lives, including which emotions represented our history, the dates that we considered important to our own narratives, and finally a few of us shared the complete narratives, from each person's own perspective.  It was shocking and sad to hear the tales of checkpoints and violent police from the Palestinians of our group, and the tales of rockets raining into border towns from the Israelis were equally so.  It highlighted an essential difference between myself (and presumably all the American students, however I will not talk for them) and my classmates: I have never had those experiences, and I pray that I never will.  There is no doubt that what has shaped these personal narratives have made these individuals stronger, and in a strange way I admire the way life continues for both Israelis and Palestinians through the occasional violence.

Another part of the weekend was a dual lecture by two historians from the region, one who is Israeli and the other Palestinian. They each went through the early modern history of the region, and then highlighted the differences in narrative which have developed.  The most fascinating part of these dual narratives, I believe, is the differing language used by each faction.  An example of this is the date which Israel was declared a state, which Israelis celebrate but the Palestinians refer to as 'Nakba', or 'catastrophe'.  The lesson of listening to these two stories together at the same time was to teach that each narrative is legitimate, and that histories are not set in stone or absolute, but change according to perspective.  Another side effect of these lectures was the discovery of what knowledge wasn't known prior to this weekend.  As an American, I was in the unique situation of being able to watch as Palestinians learned about the lingering societal effects of the Holocaust hanging over the Israeli collective psyche, and the Israelis heard the Palestinian side of the story, of the immigrations and loss, which had not made it into their school history books or the news.  It was a great learning experience all around.



Another weekend is approaching, and there are no workshops planned.  In fact, most people are taking advantage of the free time to go home or travel, anywhere from Tel Aviv, to Sinai, to Jerusalem, the West Bank, or Jordan.  I am staying on the Kibbutz with some other people, however we have our own plans, including a potluck dinner on our lawn and a possible night hike, since the weather has been so nice and the moon is beautiful.  A trip to Eilat may come on Sunday, but that is still only a thought at the moment.  I can't wait to see the rest of Israel, and hopefully fall in love with all of it as I've fallen for this desert!  Until next time, shalom!

10-10-10, World Work Day, Acacia Trees, and a late update on Kibbutz Lotan

Hello again! I figured that so much has happened in the last few days, and so much has gone unmentioned, that if I posted twice on one day with totally different topics, perhaps it would be okay.  I'll start with the machon's trip to neighboring Kibbutz Lotan, and work forward chronologically from there.

On Thursday, the day after I arrived at Ketura, the entire group took a trip to Kibbutz Lotan, another kibbutz only 5 minutes away by bus. In fact, it's so close that young residents on one of the kibbutzim will hike to the other for the rotating "pub nights".  Kibbutz Lotan makes eco-friendly and sustainable living its focus, and incorporates innovative ideas like "aboveground landfills", composting toilets, and wastewater wetlands into the kibbutz's design.  The pictures in the slideshow beneath this post highlight some of the cooler aspects of Lotan, including the playground made from old car tires and trash, covered in mud.  Fun fact: when you oil mud construction with old vegetable oil, it becomes impermeable to water, and more similar to cement than mud.  Lotan always leaves 'peepholes' into their creations, either with plexiglass or just not covering an area with mud, to show the truth of what is underneath such cool shapes.  Lotan has also designed a composting toilet in the area, and has built a classroom underneath one, to show how human waste is composted into fertilizer for trees in the area (no vegetables yet, but not because it's dangerous; compost is recommended to sit for a full year, after which point everything bad is gone.  Kibbutz members simply don't want to deal with the idea just yet). As you may see in another picture, Lotan also has a working solar oven, which is constantly working.  Out here in the desert is the perfect place to have one, and there were cookies baking the day we went.  And yes, the entire thing is recycled and reused materials. Lotan was such a cool place, and it was fascinating to see some of the ideas we've talked about at IC in full fruition out here in the desert, the perfect place to put them in action.  I did some mudbuilding myself on Saturday, when we build a table over by the other dormitories, the caravans.  Pictures will come later, since it takes so long to upload them.  After the Lotan trip on Thursday, we got back on the bus and drove down to the Samar sand dunes, south of Ketura. There we learned a bit about the desert ecosystem, and how due to sand mining for construction, some of the great dunes are coming under threat.  To help raise awareness, we attended an informal "demonstration", which was really a family event where we made kites out of recycled materials and tried to fly them. Mine flew!...for about 5 seconds.  But such is life. After a sunset on a sand dune, we drove back to Ketura. 

After another day or two of orientation and getting used to my new living arrangements, classes have started! Today, on 10-10-10, 350.org has sponsored a Global Work Day to combat climate change, and even those of us in the middle of nowhere are doing our part! Since the idea of simply foresting the desert goes against the philosophy of preservation and naturalness of the area, we decided to try to support a indigenous tree population which is currently in decline, the acacia.  Each student now has a little bag hopefully containing some acacia seeds, which we'll pamper and spoil rotten until they germinate and become large enough to survive in the desert.  It is a great idea, to work alongside people from all over the world to try to bring carbon dioxide levels down.  This was just a great start to the semester.

Well, that is the complete update.  Now that I'm up to speed, I can try to create a more stable posting schedule which doesn't include multiple postings per day! If you have any questions about living out here, or about what I'm doing, please feel free to leave a comment. I'd love to at least try to answer them!  Shalom!

P.S. - Did you know the Middle East has some of the best quality nuts in the world? They definitely are in a completely different league than their American-grown counterparts. I'm enjoying a few as a write this. :)

Kibbutz Ketura and the Arava Region: An Overview

Shalom! My room is unpacked, my classes picked, and my first load of laundry is piling up in my closet, and so I figured it was about time to give a more in-depth picture of the program here at AIES and its location in the world.  As some readers of this travel blog already may know, the Arava Institute of Environmental Studies is a program which uses the environment as a bridge between cultures and individuals in conflict.  Students take a full semester of credits as well as participate in a “Peace-building and Environmental Leadership Seminar”, or PELS.  This entire course of study, including classes, living arrangements, and activities, is designed to help the participants learn how to be peace-builders and leaders in the future, with the environment as the focus.  It was this incredibly unique outlook and mission which drew me to the Institute.

The Institute (or as we call it here, the ‘machon’) is located within Kibbutz Ketura, a first generation kibbutz 30 minutes drive north from the southern Israeli city of Eilat.  The machon is only a small part of the kibbutz, however I have been told that it is something the permanent residents here are very proud of.  A kibbutz by definition is a group of people committed to communal living, and pooling of resources.  As an American, I would call it a commune, but that isn’t quite accurate.  What sets Israeli kibbutzim apart from American communal living situations is that there are actually laws and policies in place which specifically regulate the kibbutzim.  They are official institutions, and under the ‘kibbutz’ categorization there are several different types of living arrangements.  For example: As I understand it, a commune is a commune. People live together, pool monetary and other resources, and participate in a group industry such as farming.  Under the title of ‘kibbutz’, there are many variations, including kibbutzim that do not share resources, but instead are very privatized, and some kibbutzim that are still very collective in nature.  In short, a kibbutz isn’t necessarily a particular way of life, but does have  a particular legal designation.  But now on to more interesting and less confusing topics!

Kibbutz Ketura is one of the more collective kibbutzim, and its members eat together, worship together, and all take some role in the operation of the kibbutz.  As students at the machon, my classmates and I are part of the community, and utilize things like the community dining room, laundry facilities, pool, and basketball courts/soccer field.  As we wander around the compound, we run across permanent residents doing the same thing, and using the same facilities.  We try to respect their home, and they put up with us for the semester!  We aren’t the only group on the kibbutz, either.  There are numerous groups here at any given time: people traveling, volunteers, machon interns, military traveling on leave, and young Israelis here for their compulsory year of service.  We at the machon are incredibly lucky, since we have our own small compound on the outskirts of the kibbutz, which is absolutely beautiful.

A little on why I think it is so magnificent.  We are nestled in the middle of the Arava section of the Negev Desert, with the Jordanian mountains to the east and a small range of low mountains 40 minutes hike to the west of Ketura. Because of the location between two sets of mountains, the sun sets very early in the evening, and it is dark by 6:30 PM.  The upside to the loss of daylight is the view of the surrounding kibbutzim and the Jordanian villages across the border, which can be seen better at night than during the day.  When I see the lights at night, it strikes me just how populated the desert is. 

Nighttime is also the time with the best temperature.  It drops to the low 70’s, upper 60’s Fahrenheit,  and with the constant breeze it is simply heavenly.  During the day the temperature has been reaching the upper 80’s easily, with the ever present breeze.  It is so dry here, however, that you don’t feel the heat as you would in the eastern United States, and so temperatures this high don’t feel overwhelming.  Unfortunately, that same phenomenon also increases the danger out here in the desert.  It is so easy to get dehydrated, and the worst part is, it really sneaks up on you.  I’ve already had one encounter with dehydration, and I’ve been here for all of 4 days; needless to say, I’m being much more careful.  The risk is worth it, though, to experience such an awesome area and program.

So that is the basic overview of Kibbutz Ketura and the Arava region where I’m currently living. I was unsure if I would enjoy it when I first arrived, since it was so different from where I’m used to residing, however I really am enjoying it.  The pictures in the new slideshow beneath my entries are of my room, and my Kibbutz Lotan (a neighboring kibbutz specializing in eco-tourism and sustainable living) visit last week.  I’ll discuss that more in a later post, perhaps today or tomorrow.  Until next time, Shalom!

This is the first official blog post from Israel!  I’m still getting settled in, so this will be just an overview of what the trip was like.  For the future I’ve got ideas for posts all lined up, including such topics as: Israeli “motorcycles”, the irony of the desert landscape, and differences in water sourcing and use compared to the United States. It promises to be fun; Stay tuned for more in the weeks ahead!

                The trek to Israel started with a 2 hour drive to Newark Airport, New Jersey, and lugging suitcases through check-in with my parents.  They stayed with me until about 2:15 PM EST, when we decided it was time to go through security.  I weaved through the security line, looking back at my parents, who hovered on the next floor up and were watching. After a minor hangup (I didn’t know I couldn’t put my external hard drive on top of my laptop) I passed through just fine and waved one last time to Mom and Dad.  Then I was off to my gate.  Interestingly, flights to Tel Aviv have an additional level of security, solely surrounding the specific gate.  I had to surrender my carryon bag for another search, and I was wanded down, presumably to check for hidden weapons.  I passed through quickly and with no trouble, and after almost 50 minutes of waiting, we were allowed on the plane.  My seat was arguably the worst on the aircraft: last row, aisle, right next to the galley and bathroom.  Due to this placement, I didn’t sleep much during the flight, despite my attempts.  However, I was seated next to some wonderful people, one who was Israeli going home, and the other who is a graduate student also studying in Israel, but not in my program.  Despite a late start, the plane landed right on time, and I was quickly in line for the Passport Control booths.  Eventually I presented my passport, and was allowed through in a matter of a minute, since I already had my visa to study for an extended period of time.  I picked up my baggage, slung my backpack on my shoulders, and set off for the next step of my journey, the train!

                I grabbed 200 NIS (New Israeli Sheqalim, about $55 US) and followed the signs to the train station, where I used an automatic system to buy a ticket for 14 NIS, which for a 20 minute train ride, isn’t bad.  The train came right on time, and I was waiting for the doors to open and take me to the Central Rail Station/Savidor-Merkaz.  Of course, no trip is perfect, and so something had to happen. As I was lifting my rather heavy suitcase onto the train, my foot slipped and I fell between the train and the platform.  It was more a blow to my ego than my leg, but another passenger helped me up and I proceeded to my seat.  With all my luggage, I got many looks, and not all of them were pleasant, but such is life. Needless to say, when I got off the train, I had learned my lesson. I was much more careful.  I will most likely have a lovely bruise for a few days, but I have internalized the rule the British put so eloquently—Mind The Gap!

                The train made it to the Central Station, and I made it off safely, and out of the main terminal.  I hovered just inside the exit turnstiles debating if I could really make it through, but figured after 15 minutes I would just have to make the leap of faith and try it. I barely squeezed through, and met up with one of the Institute’s coordinators just a minute later.  From there it was a flurry of greetings and boarding the bus to Jerusalem.  From the seats of the bus I could take a leisurely look at Tel Aviv and the approach to Jerusalem, however I have to admit my tiredness won out and I slept on the bus a great deal. We picked up more students in East Jerusalem, which I can only describe as “old”. Not old in a negative sense, but in every good sense of the word. It was old in such a magnificent way it is difficult to describe. I look forward to travelling to Jerusalem again, taking pictures, and then communicating the feel of such an ancient city. 

                We left Jerusalem and rode south, down some scarily twisting roads and into the true Negev Desert.  Before we entered the Arava area, we stopped for lunch at what I would call a rest area; a couple of food places, bathrooms, and a small store for forgotten necessities (which I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything that important yet!).  There I had my first taste of Israeli food: Falafel without the falafel.   Who knows why they didn’t have the trademark fried chickpea balls, but I got instead salad, humus, tahina, and pickles in a pita.  It took some getting used to, but by the third bite I was hooked.  Now I actually need to try the falafel!  After another 2 hours of driving, we pulled into Kibbutz Ketura around 4:45 PM local time, and moved right in. The attached pictures are of my room! My roommate is an American, going to a private college in Pennsylvania, and so far, we’re getting along fine.  We had dinner as a group and played an initial icebreaker game, and then we were allowed to go to bed. Thank goodness for that, because I was exhausted still, even after napping on the bus. Today we also had a packed schedule, which I'll go into in a further post. It's almost 2 AM here, so I'm going to bed!  Shalom!