Thursday afternoon, the fun really began. I packed for the night and boarded a bus headed to Tel Aviv with Miri, and Lainie and Sarah followed on the next bus. When we reunited in Tel Aviv, we found Sarah in a state of extreme sickness. She remained in this state for a long time in the basement bathroom of the lovely new Tel Aviv train station and finally we made a group decision to get her some medical attention. We were a great team-Miri and I handled logistics, transportation, insurance business, while Lainie was more up close and personal with Sarah. We went to one hospital, and then to a clinic more suitable for the situation. The clinic was beautiful and I marveled at not only the efficiency of socialized medicine, but also the modern facility and super nice bilingual staff. Miri and I crocheted kipport and read TIME while waiting for several hours while Sarah was expertly cared for and rehydrated. I went to get her prescriptions from a nearby pharmacy and passed the chicest restaurants and clubs on the walk there...literally gorgeous, glamorous places. I was amazed that we had chosen a clinic in such a posh neighborhood!
Around midnight, we joined 15 more Nativ girls at a delicious Mexican restaurant in the city and ate up. Then we went to the apartment we had rented for the night and got ready for a night out on the town. The group of us girls walked around, toward the beach, stopping and talking with people on our way and playing little games. We ended at Mike's Place, a very American live music bar on the beach, and it was really fun and loud. I got home around 4 am!!!
I left the apartment at nine the next morning for my solo trek across Tel Aviv. I walked for almost an hour, guided by Zionists past (in the form of street names), and finally reached the seedy old bus station (there is a new one and it is clean and nice). I found my way to a bus headed toward Beer Sheva, befriended a soldier originally from France while waiting, and finally got on the bus to Beer Sheva. Once there, I met up with Meir, we got 3 shekel ice creams from McDonalds for breakfast, and took the next bus to Yerucham. That afternoon was spent grocery shopping, napping, and preparing for Shabbat.
We joined the hip religious crowd at shul that night at the Bnei Akiva minyan, where my host family davens. It was a really cool Karlbach service, mixed with Sephardi traditions. After the service, we walked home with a few of my host siblings and waited for dinner to start. Dinner started around ten and ended really late, but it was delicious and fun and my host family is so great. I was really glad Meir could spend quality time with them also.
The next morning we woke up late. Very late. We had breakfast and lunch back to back and both were delicious and successful meals. We spent some time in the park after lunch and then hung out with a few Nativers who were also home for Shabbat, and we had seudah shlishit with Debbie Golan, the founder of Atid Bamidbar and my "boss" for the website. Debbie's husband grew up on the kibbutz where Meir's brother lives now, next to Meir's brother's girlfriend's house, and Meir's brother's host family on kibbutz is the the brother of Debbie's husband. What a small world.
On Sunday, we rose early to catch a bus headed up north for our last Nativ trip! We were supposed to have lunch in a Druze village on Sunday but there has been violence in that Druze village because of some controversy over a pipe going through town so the Druze food came to us instead and we ate in a park, which was also very nice. Then I toured Akko with the group and it was quite beautiful. We slept at a gorgeous guest house on the Mediterranean at Rosh Hanikra, on the border with Lebanon, and it was fantastic. There was a hot tub!
The next morning, I boarded the bus headed toward the "hard" hike option of the day, Nahal Amud. It was such a long hike and it was really hot and sunny out. I got a bit complainy, I'm afraid. But no matter, I finished strong and enjoyed myself. We stayed that night in the Golan and it was soooo nice. The rooms were set up kind of like a camp cabins and the air smelled really sweet. I loved it there. The night was uneventful but fun and I got to sleep early!
I chose the "easy" hike option on Tuesday, which was a great call. We walked through the Banyas nature reserve in the Golan, complete with waterfalls, streams, and ruins! So fun. I didn't really feel like exerting myself again. The whole Nativ group joined up for kayaking down the Jordan river, which was awesome of course. I kayaked with Liza and we beasted, there was even a part with rapids! After the kayaking, we all ate delicious delicious pizza there. From the kayak place, we went to Katzrin to explore a winery!!! We learned how they make the wine, saw the oak barrels, and then had a WINE TASTING! It was great. We tasted three wines, two white, one red. One of the white ones was very very sweet and I didn't like it that much. It was an awesome experience and it made me really happy that Israel has such a glamorous and sophisticated industry (the wine is really good not just by my standards but just in general it is good wine), also it doesn't take that much wine to make me really happy if you catch what I'm saying so I think the glass or so that I consumed probably contributed to that.
We stayed that night at Kari Deshe guest house on the Kinerret (literally on the beach) and it was lovely. Dinner was on our own in Tiveria and I enjoyed a relaxing evening at a nice restaurant. I totally crashed when we got back to the rooms after such a great day!
Wednesday was the big day, the HARD hike. The Yehudiya. The best day of Nativ.
The day started with 6:30 am services. Breakfast. On the buses. Off the buses. Walking in tall thorny grass. Descending. A waterfall, pink flowers, lush greenery everywhere. Walking along the river on stones and boulders. Waiting for the group in front of us. Taking the 8m ladder down into a pool of water at the base of one of the falls. Swimming. Climbing. Swimming. Climbing, walking, rocks, boulders, itchy grasses. Just as my sneakers were starting to dry off, we had to cross the river again and my foot slipped. So much for that. More walking. More stream crossing. The walking continued for hours along the river. Finally we reached a pool with two waterfalls, and every other hiking group was gone. We all dove in and sat in paradise for an hour and a half or so. We ate lunch, swam with the fishes, sat in the waterfall, dove off cliffs. The hike ended with another swimming adventure (Yossi took our packs and threw them in before us and we jumped to catch up with them), and a really steep boulder uphill. It was amazing.
We got home, showered, changed, barbecued on the beach. Then we headed to natural hot sulfur springs to calm our aching muscles. Best day of Nativ. I slept very soundly that night.
Today we got to sleep in a tiny bit and then headed off to natural pools. The water was crystal clear, there were little caves you could swim in, and it was deep enough to dive. The water was the perfect temperature, it was completely sunny and clear out, everything was just amazing. I didn't like the food and I kept cutting my feet, but what can you do. Overall, amazing. The bus ride home was fine, I slept, and finished my book, inappropriately called Dork Whore but really a fascinating and intelligent read about an Israeli/American girl traversing Asia after serving in the army. Great great book, very funny.
Tonight was our last dinner as an apartment--we opted for the classic pizza. We had fun and crazy times as always, and we're planning our acts for the Nativ talent show and starting to pack. Packing is giving me really panicked feelings about Nativ ending. I don't want it to end, I'm panicking. That's where I am right now. More later. Lailah tov!
it really does sound like you had the best day(s) ever.
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