Good Times

Well today we had are second to last tiul (trip) of the program. Well I will include links to the places we went or at least will try. First we went to Lohamei Hagetaot a Holocaust museum of sorts but it mostly focuses on the fighters in the ghettoes. Its located on a kibbutz of the same name. We first went to a section that was made for the children and some cool stained glass pieces based on drawings kids from the ghettoes. We then walked a bit around some cool corridors with mini replica type houses, its hard to explain exactly but I think thats the best I can do to describe it. After that we went to a room that was based on an orphanage ran by Janusz Korczak (Henrik Goldschmit). He is a very amazing person and you should read about him but I don’t want to write to much about that but he has an interesting story. We then went to another room the had a big table that had these huge books on it with lights at each one to read but they were flexible and i pretended like they were microphones which was funny. After that we went into an exhibit to see pictures from inside the Warsaw Ghetto and such. We finished our time in the basement with a decent size model of Treblinka and Board that was light up with all the work and death camps across Europe. They was a lot of details I skipped over but it was a nice museum. We then went to Nahariya for lunch. I had some Shwarma in pita and some ice cream and went inside a weird cheap store where everything was made in china and was super cheap, it reminded me of a ghetto smaller Walgreens of sorts. We then headed to Rosh Hanikra. Its a kibbutz and also a super amazing historical place along with amazing views. Its right on the border with Lebanon and we got like 60 metres from the physical border thats on the other side of an army base. We took a cable car down to the grottoes that have been carved out by the waves crashing against side of the cliff for thousands of years. The British made train tunnels that go through the main rock formation in the 40’s. The people fishing was cool to see. I  don’t have a lot to say besides its somewhere that I would recommend everyone to go and visit. We then saw a few memorials for people before 1948 that participated in an operation to blow up some bridges and then a monument to people that were lost on a mission by boat to Lebanon. That was it basically. I liked this trips low key atomosphere and its good to get outside the kibbutz and see new places. Tomorrow is the last day of the week and I plan on being productive this weekend so I’m looking forward to it. Check out the pictures for sure too on facebook and here!

Breaking Point For Some

Once I again there is a good gap between my blog posts. I’m not sure how it ends like that but it does and I will try to improve but I always say that so who knows. I just took a shower and its always mentally refreshing for me after a long day here. I believe a lot of people have reached their kibbutz ulpan breaking point. About 6 or 7 people have left on their own accord for various reasons. Thats interesting by itself but you get the feeling after three months it has become a grind. Work is boring but I have a new boss so thats something at least different to mix things up. Some dude I think was mad at me at work or was just talking I’m not sure cuz he spoke way too fast. I picked up words but couldn’t put anything together. I am buddies with some of the workers at the factory including an eccentric Ethiopian man who loves american rap music. The other day I overloaded myself with Hebrew and I think I am just recovering from it. We found out the dates for our written and oral exams. The oral exam is the 6,7, or 8th of December and the written test is the last week of December. Zak and Ally are coming and the day I will be able to see them is Saturday the 17th I believe. I will have to see them, then probably catch a train and bus combination back to the Kibbutz late that night. I will try to see if someone will want to come with me from the ulpan. The next week I have a goal of thinking about what I will do after the ulpan because I don’t want to have to rush and have nowhere to go after and such. The Internet has gotten real bad the past few days except for by the coffee shop and the ulpan office so its really bothering some people. There is so much going on back home in many ways and I just wish everyone well about everything. I went to this big international party that was kinda for Halloween. There was like 700 people there almost all non-Israeli (if you dont count olim chadashim) and was in like a warehouse type thing and was pretty cool overall but not my cup of tea. I shaved and just left a mustache for the party and there are some good pictures I will look back on and question what I was wearing. I have kept the mustache and its no shave November so its gonna stay like this for a while and I’m not sure how its gonna end up but I figured why not. It gets cold here at night like no joke. I wear my sweatpants and a hoodie at night and I’m totally fine but some people are complaining about the cold like its a lot colder than it is. The past few days I have done my homework in the office. I don’t want to be in the moadon or my room totally ant-social and being the office allows me to hear some hebrew and to be up on all the gossip and its a good time. I like all of the office staff I think for different reasons but they can be grumpy at times but they have had a rough 3 months so far so its understandable. I wonder to myself how long it will take me to learn Hebrew like to certain levels. I have put in a lot of work and everyone is very nice and says I am the best student in my class and learning fast but I feel there is so much to learn that it can overwhelm at times so I just have to step by step go at it. I’m gonna post this then lay down and rest up for another day on the grind. Tomorrow is the last day before the weekend and I am looking forward to it for sure.