We ended our day at the Bedouin Tents. To be clear, Bedouins do not actually live like this. The ones that don't make their money giving American teenagers camel rides and tea tend to find more illegal means of sustenance, ranging from stealing from kibbutzim to trafficking drugs and women from Egypt. Anyway, we learned about the polygamous Bedouin lifestyle from a real live Bedouin, who had a nice sense of humor about it (can you guess his gender?), and he entertained all of our prying questions (he's going on his fourth wife and he has 13 kids). Then we ate a hearty Bedouin dinner in a freezing cold Bedouin tent, braved the cold drizzle outside for a little campfire, and turned in for an early night.
In the morning, we found out that flooding had closed off our planned hike for the day, so a group of us decided to tough it out in the rain and cold on a different hike. There was a lot of rock climbing involved which made it really mentally challenging as well as physically challenging, which I really liked. The hikes tend to bring out the best in people, especially some of the boys that you wouldn't expect. Not that I wouldn't expect Max to be encouraging, but when I was losing steam on a long uphill, he made a really inspiring speech about how rewarding the view at the top will be, and he was right, and it was really nice. People also just help each other a lot and are very considerate, which I like.
From the hike, we drove to Kibbutz Ketura, which is about 30 minutes north of Eilat. We got oriented in the guest house area, saw some baby animals, and got ready for Shabbat. Shabbat was nice, services were really pretty, we had some learning programs but nothing intense. I had been feeling a little under the weather so I went to sleep shortly after dinner and skipped the tisch.
Saturday morning services were led by Nativers and they were lovely. Then we got to walk around and see the algae factory and the date palm orchards, which were beautiful. There were donkeys in the orchards roaming free who ate the weeds around the trees so everything was done without spray. It was a really great afternoon. I napped for most of the time and then I visited the baby camels and the baby cows and the baby horse. I think my personal heaven will be filled with all types of baby animals.
On Saturday night, we split in half again and some people played soccer against kibbutz teenagers and my group went to Kibbutz Lotan for a relaxing evening, and we learned how to do shiatsu massages! It was really fun and both groups had a good time. Sunday was a chill day, and I did a little crafts project in the morning and then we all went to sand dunes in the afternoon. The sand there is not from quartz so it is extra fine and so soft and fun to play in. There was quite a bit of horseplay and tackling and diving into sand dunes and it was all great fun.
On Monday morning I went for another hike with half the group. It was very scenic and fairly easy. We got to Eilat in the afternoon and went to Kings City, which was a very shitty but very funny little amusement park. I was with fun people and we laughed at the shittiness but the problem was that it actually cost Nativ a lot of money! I felt bad when I found out the admission price afterward, but what can you do. Our boat was cancelled because of weather so that was our alternative activity. We were free for the evening after that and I had some nice pizza on the boardwalk and walked around. The next day in Eilat, the determined Nativers woke up at the crack of dawn to climb Har Shlomo, which was a long and rewarding hike and included a lot of rock climbing. On the way down, Miriam broke her foot and the logistical nightmare that ensued was actually one of the most incredible things I've witnessed. Two Nativers volunteered to stand on either side of her and hold her while three Nativers raced down the mountain to get a stretcher from the bus, then two more stayed halfway down to meet them along with Yossi, the guard, and another Nativ staff member. Most of us finished the hike in four hours but it took Team Miriam a full seven, and they had to eat lunch at a very late hour. It was very amazing how everyone came together. I was not a part of Team Miriam so I am only able to wonder at how they did it, since there were parts where the drop was vertical and the only way to climb down was to use hooks that were stuck into the side of the mountain.
We had lunch at Hallelujah and then I napped the afternoon away because the hike really knocked me out. I had dinner with Nativ and then strolled the boardwalk at night with friends. The trip was not at all what Nativ had planned, but still it was extremely fun, relaxing, and interesting.
The day we moved to Yerucham lasted for what felt like approximately two weeks. The morning dragged on because of a hospital run and we were about two hours late to start our bus trip, and it was also the day of Yerucham/Kibbutz split which was naturally a stressful/emotional time for all, especially me. We took a bus break at our usual Yellow/Aroma proverbial oasis and then we were on to Be'er Sheva to "eat lunch." We ended up getting there around 3:45 pm to get a mumps booster shot instead. Good times.
Yerucham's twinkling lights and palm lined streets welcomed us around 6 pm when we finally arrived in our new desert home. The unpacking process continues to this moment, two and a half days later. Apartment living is rough. One shower is hard to share among nine girls. I don't like it when the kitchen sink pipes spew water onto the floor. I don't know what to buy at the grocery store in order to achieve a minimum level of health. There are gangs of feral cats waiting at the dumpsters where we have to leave our garbage.
I need to go help the mold removal team in my apartment before Shabbat starts. Can't wait for all the "don't worry, everything turned out fine" that will hopefully come in my next post!!!
Wow, a lot of news in this post! I still don't quite understand how poor Miriam got down. Is she OK? And, if 9 girls are sharing a bathroom, I hope hope hope you have a cleaning schedule. The apartment sounds rough, and I really will wait for the "it's all ok now" Love, Mama
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