Our trip to the Galilee

It has finally gotten cold in Tel Aviv…and by cold I mean 60 instead of 80. It doesn’t sound bad but after six months of summer, temperatures in the 50s and 60s is absolutely freezing.

Last weekend we went north to the Galilee. We set off early in the morning and headed to the Sea of Galilee (aka the Kinneret). When we got there we went canoeing on a little tributary that was created by 2 dams. We canoed around for a few hours admiring the beautiful scenery and watching the wildlife. We saw mules (or donkeys; it’s unclear), we thing they were wild…is there such a thing as wild mules/donkeys? We saw cranes and turtles too. After canoeing we drove to another spot on the Kinneret and chatted about the water situation in Israel. Long story short, there is not enough, there is rarely enough. We ate lunch there and helped a crab get free of a net. His name was Pierre, he was caught in a fisherman’s net. The fisherman we borrowed pliers from didn’t seem to understand why a bunch of silly Americans were trying so hard to set free a silly little crab. We were successful and we watched Pierre scurry sideways home to his family in the sea.

From there we went to Tsfat. Tsfat is considered the 3^rd or 4^th most holy city in Israel. It is the birthplace of Kabalah and Kabalat Shabbat (the first part of the Friday night Shabbat service). By the time we got there everything was closing for Shabbat. It was still neat to walk around a bit. It’s a beautiful city! On first glance it looks like Tsfat has a big beach crowd, but it turns out they were all just coming or going to the mikvah. The mikvah is the ritual bath. Men go there to purify themselves to welcome Shabbat. We talked a bit about the city then headed to our home for the night. I don’t remember what it’s called, but it was a cool place. It was sort of like a kibbutz but not exactly. We made yummy dinner, like always (we are actually quite talented in the kitchen as a group), then we had a short Kabalat Shabbat service. After dinner we had an impromptu karaoke session. We sang Disney songs and Broadway songs and had a great time. After the fun was over and it was time to go to bed, Emma and I got lost looking for our room in the dark. It gets very dark in the middle of nowhere at night. All the trees look the same so we got very confused. We were worried we would have to walk back to Tel Aviv. Eventually we did find our way to our beds and sleep. In the morning we woke to lots and lots of rain.

But we decided to go hiking anyway.

We hiked next to a stream. It was beautiful. It turns out there are actually some places in Israel where it is green. The weather was perfect…it was like New York in September. While we were hiking it started raining again. It didn’t matter too much because we were already a bit wet. While trying to cross the stream, I of course missed a stone and stepped in the stream so I was pretty wet. Then I fell through some branches we were walking over and got stuck in a hole. Thankfully Sara was able to help me pull myself out. Unfortunately, the branches were prickly so now my leg is all scratched up. Like my mom, I am a real klutz. Despite the rain and mud ( I was covered in it by the end), we had a great hike. I think it was my favorite one so far.

All in all it was a great trip.

Pictures to follow

December

I can’t believe it’s already the end of December, my fourth month in Israel. I definitely don’t feel like a visitor anymore. My Hebrew is improving, I have a routine, a schedule, and places I frequent.

December 10 is Human Rights Day. It is the anniversary of the Human Rights Declaration being signed into creation. In cities all over the world there are marches to call attention to human rights issues in those places. Tel Aviv had a big march in the middle of the city. The group that was most represented there was the refugee and asylum seeker population (well really just asylum seekers ‘cause Israel isn’t granting refugee status to anyone). There were probably a thousand asylum seekers marching for their rights through the streets of central Tel Aviv. It was great to see!

Yesterday we met with an Israeli artist who does a lot of political commentary type art. He did a mocu-mentary about a Gaza solution. His latest project is a mosaic. After speaking with him a bit, we helped with his mosaic. It was lots of fun but really hard. I really like art. I think I may forget grad school and become an artist. I want to be a glass blower. Now I just gotta figure out how to go about it. 

I wonder if there is a class I can take