A Weekend By the Kinneret

I've realized that I'm not that good at keeping up this blog thing. I thought I'd want to sit down and write about everything that's been happening, but I guess I'm almost to busy doing to remember to write a bit here and there. There's a lot (as always) to catch up on and I don't want to sit here for hours recounting everything that's been happening so I'll break it up (as usual) and hope that those who have been waiting for the following posts will enjoy reading them!

Yesterday, Emfish, Amit (an Israeli counselor from camp who lives in Jerusalem) and I drove up to the North near the Kinneret to visit Ruvik, the head of the aquatics program at camp. He had been bugging us to come visit him the whole semester and we finally made time to do it, and I'm really happy I did because I think it's been one of the best experiences I've had since I've been here. Of course it's always enjoyable to visit places in and around Israel, to go hiking, to see the cities and experience the nightlife, but it's another experience entirely to be with people who know the history of the area and who have lived there their whole lives. When we got up to the north at around 1 in the afternoon, we met Ruvik on the Kibbutz and followed him as he dropped off his eldest granddaughter to his son's house on a nearby Moshav. Moshavim and Kibbutzim used to be very different villages, but it has become harder to distinguish between the two aas kibbutzim have shifted from totally socialist/communal areas to more independent ones when it comes to the people who live on them.
After meeting his son Ofir, Ruvik took us to a place on the Jordan River where you can rent canoes. Of course, he knew the owner and along the way ran into a lot of other community members he knew. We took two canoes, Emily and Ruvik in one, Amit and I in the other, and had a very nice, relaxing time, canoeing up and down a part of the Jordan. All along the banks you could see garbage left behind by the people who had celebrated Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day) there along with campsites, people fishing, and just lounging around. As we turned around and headed back to the banks of the river, we were welcomed by the beautiful sounds of a band. It was a mixture of jazz, folk, rock, and almost rap, with one guy singing and playing the flute, another singer, a woman who sang and played tuba and trombone, a guitarist, drummer and bassist. We sat, listening the music, while enjoying a cup of tea that was steeping on a nearby fire. There were kids running around all over the place, one who was naked especially caught my attention. He was definitely enjoying himself running around without a care in the world, hopping from rock to rock. It seemed like a great communal place to come enjoy the banks of the river, go for a swim, use the swinging rope to jump into the water, listen to music and just chat.
After we left, Ruvik drove us to the place where he teaches sailing on the Kinneret. He is a PE teacher for the local, private school that all the Kibbutzim in the area send their kids to. He has been teaching there for over thirty years. The grounds of the school itself are gorgeous. There are flowers all over the place and as you walk along the paths, you pass one-level buildings that serve as classrooms. There's a bomb-shelter, but, as he explained to us, when he was in school there, there was only a bunker that they used to jump into every time there was an air raid. It's so amazing that he went to the school and now teaches there. When we returned to the kibbutz, we met his wife, after which we took a bunch of communal bikes and rode around the Kibbutz. I'm forgetting something- an explanation of the Kibbutz we were staying on. Kibbutz Degania Bet is one of the oldest Kibbutzim in Israel. It is right next to Kibbutz Degania Aleph which is the oldest, I believe. Degania Bet turns 90 next year, Aleph 100. Ruvik's great grandfather was one of the first people to build the kibbutz. His grandparenet, parents, and he were all born on the kibbutz. Thus, the best place to observe the generations of the kibbutz, to get a feel of who lived there, was to visit the cemetary. He brought us to the graves of his great grandmother and grandfather to show us the difference between the two graves because his great grandfather was one of the first founders and his great grandmother came half a year later. The graves are labeled differently- the grave of his great grandfather said "one of the first founders of the kibbutz" and his great grandmother's just referred to the group of Halutzim (pioneers). We then showed us the grave of his father. It was amazing seeing three generations in the same place, which, I must say, is placed where you can see the most spectacular view of the valley where the Jordan used to run, which is now green, lush, and fertile. We continued biking through the kibbutz to the cow barn. He tried to give us a taste of fresh milk but the spout wasn't working. It's ok though, I got to see the cows being mechanically milked. They manually attach metal suckers to the udders and when the cows are done they follow a path along the barn by themselves because they know there is food awaiting them at the end.
Outside of the barn, we picked these delicious berries called "etz tutim" (tree strawberries) which look a bit like blackberries/raspberries but don't taste quite the same. We continued on, seeing the different houses of the kibbutz, passing through one of them where new houses are being built for people who want to live on the kibbutz but not become members. Apparently it's a new way for kibbutzim to make money because they can't make enough themselves. Times are definitely changing for kibbutzim.
We went back to Ruvik's house and relaxed until 7 and then walked over to the dining hall to have Shabbat dinner. We sat at a table with Ruvik's sister, her husband, her daughter and son-in law, their baby, and Ruvik's mother. Four generations at the same table! WOW. We enjoyed a good meal, chatting, after which we returned back to his house, relaxed a bit more, and then went to a local bar/restaurant on the Jordan, close to where we had been that afternoon to grab some drinks and talk. That was pretty much the rest of the night. We returned back to the kibbutz and I stayed up until 12:30 to register for classes (5:30 pm EST) and then hit the hay.
Today, Emily and I woked up at 11:30 and about fifteen minutes later we were on the road to the Golan Heights. Ruvik took us, with Amit at the wheel, through the Golan to the Golan heights where we got to see some of the most spectacular views of the Kinneret, Israel and Syria. Accompanying everything we passed and every lookout point we stopped at was an explanation of the history of the area and how it connected to the fight for the land. We passed by a valley in Syria where Ruvik pointed out one of the seven bridges that Hagana and the other groups who fought for the independence of Israel blew up so that no one could come in or out of Israel during the war of independence. They never repaired it. It's an interesting feeling driving on a winding road right next to the border of a country like Syria. There isn't a neon-colored line separating the two countries, no big tanks or men with guns, just a barbed wire fence with a bit of no-man's land in between. On the other side of the road were hills that are still covered in land mines.
It was getting late in the afternoon and we were getting hungry so Ruvik took us to his favorite falafel place in Masadeh, about an hour from where we were. The place was swamped with people but the food was delicious! Falafel, Lebaneh (soft goat cheese), pita, hummus, tehina, fulla beans, salad, and pickles. Mmmmmm Israeli food. Our next stop was a place I had been on birthright, which was an army base in the Golan heights from which you could see a large part of Syria. Ruvik and Amit pointed out the place where 12 Israeli tanks had defeated over 400 Syrian tanks during the Yom Kippur war. It was so important to defeat them where they had, because if they had failed, the Syrians had a direct route right down to the Galil with nothing to stop them. Amit pointed out one of the nearby Hills called Avital, which is the base for a lot of Israeli intelligence, but no one knows what goes on there. We continued on our little trip, Emily and I fell asleep in the car for a bit, and were woken up when we came to our last stop- the Northern part of the Jordan. After we got out and walked around a bit, we headed back to the Kibbutz and stopped at Glidat, the chocolaterie, named for the woman who started making chocolate on the Kibbutz. She learned in Belgium and brought it back to Israel. Emily and I got ice cream and I bought a sampling of chocolates to bring back to share with my friends here. I haven't tried any but I'm sure they're going to be delicious.
Over all it was a fantastic trip. Relaxing. Informational. I got to see a lot of what I'd seen before but from a new perspective. I would not mind coming to live on the kibbutz for a couple months, working, biking around, hiking, and just being with Ruvik and his family. It was nice meeting them and realizing who he is and where he comes from. It made me think of him differently.

That's all for now. My next update will be going back about a month now to Ultimate Peace. Mom, I know you're waiting for it. I promise, it's coming! (along with my Greece update)