Yofi!

Ok, so I'll just continue where I left off and continue on to more recent events. Hopefully I can get caught up soon. So, after taking a five hour nap I got up and took a shower in preparation for orientation. Israeli showers are very different from American showers in that the actual shower is not separated from the rest of the bathroom. There are drains in the bathroom floor that one uses a squeegee to push the water into. So, I took my shower and went to orientation where we had Israeli pizza. I personally had a really good piece with Israeli goat cheese. Much to my chagrin we passed a McDonalds on the way to the classroom where we met, yuck. I got my phone, jet-laggedly stared into space, and got to know some of my fellow OSP-ers. Finally we got done and walked back to campus. I think our path was kind of circuitous but fortunately we found our way back to the "Gate of Peace" and eventually back to Meonot Gimel (our dorms). After that I walked around the dorm complex for awhile with a guy from our group. There is a computer lab,a laundromat, a grocery store, and about 4 pubs all in or next to the dorms. We saw Coca (a very overpriced bar) and a lot of cats on our walk. There are feral cats ALL over Be'er Sheva. The story is that during the British Empire's days in Israel they introduced a ton of cats to help control the rat problem. As per the law of unintended consequences, the cats have become a bigger problem than the rats. The cats are all relatively tame and don't bother anyone, they're just everywhere. Anyway, I went back to my room and fell asleep almost immediately. I did, however, wake up at 3:30 in the morning. I left my US cell phone on that night and funnily my phone started ringing at 4:00 AM. I tersely took the call and then proceeded to call and check in with home.

We had to be up by 7:00 (?) the next morning to go on our first Ulpan trip. We took probably a 30 minute drive into the Negev. All along the way the landscape was dotted by Bedouin settlements. The romantic days when Bedouins lived in cute little tents has passed and these days they live in dilapidated trailers. C'est la vie. We arrived at the nature reserve after stopping to buy food at a gas station in the middle of the desert that smelled like cookies. We hiked up and around a BEAUTIFUL limestone canyon. At first the hiking wasn't too rough but towards the end we actually had to scale the steep cliff and in the hot, hot Negev sun. When I got to the top I just kept thinking, "I'm hiking... in a desert... in the Israeli desert... in August." It was a bit surreal. We all ran for the highly airconditioned bus and took a short 5 minute drive to Ben Gurion's grave. He and his wife's graves are on an impressive vista overlooking the Negev. Ben Gurion's reverence for the Negev was highly impressed on us the entire trip. Ben Gurion believed that Israeli's future lay in the Negev, that the desert could be made green. The Negev is important because it seems to be the only uncontested portion of land that Israel has. However, I feel that the costs of making any desert green outweigh any benefits. I feel it's just an irresponsible use of a very precious commodity.

However, we payed our respects at the grave and went up the the kibbutz around Ben Gurion's grave. I got my first taste of kibbutz food, which was actually quite good. It's slightly heavy, but good. After that we went to see the Ben Gurion's home in the kibbutz Sde Boker. We toured around his house and saw and exhibit. He was quite a reader which a appreciated and enjoyed looking at what books were on his bookshelf. Finally, we proceeded to the kibbutz Mashabim (sp?) where we spent the rest of the weekend. The accomodations were quite nice and there was air-conditioning and a pool!!! We went to the pool, napped, welcomed the start of Shabbos, and had another kibbutz meal (more schnitzel!). At one point we went out to the desert on the edges of the kibbutz and stared at the stars sans light pollution. I think it may have been the most stars I've seen since my Up North days. This kibbutz was equipped with a pub and so the group headed over and bonded. I drank Goldstar (Israeli beer for only 9 shekel on tap). I had some really amazing conversations covering religion, philosophy, identity, politics, relationships, etc. I also got to talk to some Israeli kibbutznik. Finally, after a really enjoyable night, we attempted to head back to rooms. The kibbutz was a pretty large one though and it took us about 45 minutes to find our way back. I talked for about another 30 minutes before actually going to bed. Once in bed I completely konked out.

I didn't have to wake up until 10:00 the next morning (thank God!). We then had more orientation, more schnitzel, and more pool time. I was pretty grateful for the pool time, it was the most relaxed I'd been in a while. We said goodbye to Shabbos and drove back to BGU. Once there we embarked on a fruitless mission to find falafel. We ran into a really funny (slightly sketchy) Yemenite who offered to make us all pancakes on another occasion. After a lot of wandering we ended up at Munchilla, a restaurant/hookah bar right next to the dorms. I had an Israeli style hamburger and then hung out and finally went to bed.

I'd really like to finish relating the past few days but I really should go study Hebrew before bed. I'll have to finish the saga tomorrow.