Dayan Moshav

Last Friday afternoon, I traveled an hour or so north of Tel Aviv with my new friend Dafna.  I had been looking forward to this trip ever since I semi-invited myself to her family’s home, the Talmei Elazar moshav.  This moshav is located in northern Israel, where the air is crisp and fresh, and you can hear the leaves of the eucalyptus trees blowing in the wind.  I felt this special air as soon as I got off the bus, and was happy to leave the busy, chaotic streets of Tel Aviv for a couple of days.

As we walked from the bus stop I was already smiling and taking so many pictures (click here to see them all!).  Dafna gets to practice her English probably more than she would like, because I’m always asking so many questions.  She does a fantastic job of describing all the plant life I’m seeing—the trees, the sabres or the cactus as we know them.  Dafna is a great story-teller, and did such a great job of telling me all about how the moshav got started.  After the state of Israel was founded, the government asked her family members if they would like to start this moshav, and take advantage of the fertile land.  They agreed, and the moshav has nearly tripled in size since it was started over 60 years ago.

As we approached the entrance to this farming community, I was really getting excited.  The street is lined with palm trees and bushes full of gorgeous pink flowers.  Each house stands in front of a large grove or open space identified only by a small sign stating the names of its inhabitants.  

We passed old and very new looking homes and finally arrived at Ya’achov and Batya Dayan’s house.  

As soon as I walked in, I felt welcomed.  Although her parents do not speak English, I knew that we were going to connect through so many other ways besides words.  I was introduced to warm, welcoming people who immediately offered me something to eat. We spent some time getting acquainted and then I was quickly saying hi to new family and new faces as they trickled in through the open back door.  So nice to meet so many family members, and see so many people coming to visit and talk.  The numbers would only increase as the weekend went on.

Just before welcoming the Sabbath, I went for a stroll with Daf and Liron, her eight-year old cousin.  She wanted to show me everything—the swing set, her bus stop, she was beyond cute.  We each learned words from each other—me in Hebrew and her in English.   Echla hagid I said as I pointed to the most basic objects.  It was great having Liron teaching me new and fun things.

After our short walk, we all showered and were ready for dinner. I had been anticipating this first meal for awhile now, and I was even more excited after I watched Batya prepare all of the dishes throughout the afternoon.   

This is the point where your mouths will start to water.  I took the liberty of asking about a million questions and taking just as many pictures, so you will have both a written and visual description of these amazing dishes.  Ok here is the menu, and yes, this was only for dinner:

Olives from the tree in the backyard marinated in olive oil with jalapeno peppers, lemon, and garlic

Kuba or matzah ball looking food, soaked in homemade tomato broth

Roasted potatoes with olive oil and sea salt

Bulgar wheat with cilantro, salt, pepper, and olive oil

Whole chickpeas with green onions and olive oil, salt and pepper

Local, organic dover sole with celery from the backyard, parsley, cilantro, and tomato

Homemade hummus

Homemade dessert croissants topped with sesame seeds

Homemade challah that will make your mouth water

Marinated beets, and

A specially prepared cheese-bread dessert baked especially for me because Batya knows I love it.

As you can see, taste, imagine the food was  really great and even better because it was honestly prepared with love.  Batya loves to cook and to make people in her home happy and content.  Well, she absolutely succeeded.  As if her cooking wasn’t enough, she is also a pseudo-environmentalist.—in a word, my hero.  Daf tells me that her mom insisted on using compact florescent lightbulbs and saving every drop of water she could when they were growing up.   Batya turns the water off in between each dish she washes and I especially took notice as she placed a bucket in the sink to catch the water from washing the fresh vegetables from her neighbor’s organic garden.  She then re-used that water to quench the thirst of the very dry plants in the backyard.  Batya tells Daf, who tells me that there used to be a lot of water—the garden was lush, green and fertile.  Now, there is a definite water shortage in Israel and so every last drop counts.  It’s amazing how necessity will spur you to make big changes in your every day life. 

These water shortages and other difficulties also forced Ya’acov to make changes in the way he cultivated the land.  The land used to be home to many rows of organic veggies, wandering goats, and cows.  However, the demands of this farm became too much and now Ya’achov focuses his efforts on growing citrus (that's a grapefruit in the picture).   When I first met him, his smiling eyes made me feel welcome to ask any questions.  

He told me (well, he told Daf) that he sells his citrus to Prigat, one of Israel’s largest beverage retailers..  It’s quite simple—he grows oranges and grapefruit and then is paid by the kilogram.  The citrus is then used in the orange and grapefruit juices sold by Prigat (I sampled, its great orange juice).  Because he has been working with Prigat, he trusts them, but there is no union to represent his interests and make sure he is receiving a fair price.   However,  he seems content with this arrangement and takes pride in his groves, I can tell.  When I walked down the midracha—sidewalk in Hebrew- to the grove, I sampled the citrus and it was fantastic.  This is enough for him and enough that he has been able to provide for his family, who is always visiting with hugs, kisses, and warm thoughts.

Warm thoughts are exactly what I have of Ya’achov, Batya, and the entire Dayan family.  Toda, raba, raba, raba for the weekend and for welcoming me into your home.

Shalom!  

12 De Haas

It’s hard to believe that a week has already passed since I last posted about my amazing 12 day adventure.This past week has been full of exploring, fun activities, lots of walking, sun, the sea, and good food. While I don’t feel completely settled just yet, I definitely feel that I am starting to learn my way around the city and I feel that I am actually living here instead of only on a vacation.

So, I will be leaving the apt. I am currently staying in on Tuesday and venturing to a new one only blocks away. Here, I’ll stay for the rest of my time here with two Israeli guys I have never met. One I am told is studying culinary arts—that might be a match made in heaven—and the other is just beginning his studies, but I’m not sure what in. I am excited/anxious to get to my next apt. and meet my new roommates. But first things first…I must pay homage to my current location, 12 De Haas St.

This apartment is located in the area commonly called Milano Square, just off one of the main street Ibn Gvirol. Now, if you’re having trouble pronouncing that, don’t worry, I can’t either. It goes something like this—“Iben Geevrawl.” Ok, so Milano Square is beyond cute. Just across the street from me, there are three super great cafes with fantastic patios, big umbrellas, and lively Israelis. I spent a few mornings at the Juno Wine Bar sipping fantastic espresso and noshing on fantastic "mini sandwich" as the menu called it. After only three days, I walked up to find a table and one of the waitresses asked, “double espresso?” I guess I am already a regular.

If you journey just a few blocks down Hamaccabi, another busy street near by, you’ll find many more cafes, shops, a great all-natural bakery, and a supermarket. One of my favorite places already is a chain called Fresh Kitchen. They serve organic salads, sandwiches, freshly squeezed juice, and coffee all of which are awesome. I can definitely say that last Sunday, after feeling exhausted from the trip and looking for food that was fresh and not picked over by hundreds of hotel guests, the bulgar wheat salad, carrot-orange-ginger juice, and multi-grain bread was a nice change of pace!

After finding that nice organic restaurant, I decided I had to find an organic/natural foods grocery store. I already knew of one a decent store a ways away called Eden. Both Dafna and Orit tell me to stay away because its so expensive, but if you know me you know spending money on food is my jam. That being said I still wanted to explore other options. I ended up finding a great store called “Natural Market” on Dizengoff, another popular street in Tel Aviv. It’s much closer and has a great selection of fresh veggies, dried fruits, and all the staples. And, believe it or not I stumbled upon a Lakefront beer! Hard to believe that half-way around the world a small natural foods market would carry Lakefront, but I guess gluten-free beer is hard to come by here. I bought it of course and tried it, but I think I’ll stick to Stein or IPAs for now.

Speaking of beer, Dafna told me about this awesome beer market just South of Tel Aviv right near the beach. This was by far one of the best experiences so far. Dafna, Orit, and a friend from their apartment building, Udi, journeyed the “5 min” to the market to sample so many different beers. Perhaps here is a great chance to tell you all that Israelis do not know how to estimate how long it will take you to walk somewhere. 5 min. really means at least 30min. or even more. Anyways, on our journey, I stumbled upon a John Deere tractor! 

Everyone laughed after I told them I grew up very near the headquarters are, and so Dafna (my new personal photographer) of course made me pose. Ok, back to the beer. 

After arriving at the market we purchased three tickets for 15sh (about $3.90). All of the beer was Israeli and there was great music playing. Even though it was about 90 degrees, everyone was crammed around the stands drinking and smiling. I tried a dark beer and two IPAs. By far, the second IPA was the best. It was from a brewery called “Alona”, well at least that’s the best translation I can do. It was crisp, yet really hoppy and surprisingly smooth. 

After sampling beers we journeyed just a few feet away to the Organic Market. Uhhh yum! There were great looking fruits and veggies , and the best hummus. It was cooking in a giant black, cast iron vat of sorts—so fresh and still warm when I sampled. Of course I bought a tub, which came in a 100% biodegradable bag.  It's almost gone...whoops!

I ended this fantastic week with my first trip to the beach. It was totally packed. Saturday is the only day of the week that everyone has off from work, from school, from everything. It was so nice to sit in the sun, chat with my new friends, and even sit in the amazingly warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea. I can’t wait to go back.

So, tomorrow is the start of the work week here in Israel. Sunday—Thursday so all of the Jewish people can have the Sabbath on Friday and Saturday. I am already making plans for this upcoming week, so keep tuned in for more to come!    Also, please click here for more pics from this past week!

Shalom!

Israel in 12 days

Hi everyone!  It's been such a long time, I feel like I need to re-introduce my new Israeli-self. Ok, not really but it's so nice to be able to chat with you all again.

Right now, I am sitting at a quaint cafe across the street from my apartment in Tel Aviv, sipping fantastic espresso.  This area is commonly called Milano Square and its just off one of the main streets in Tel Aviv.  It doesn't feel as busy as it does more south, and plus just north there is a sprawling park.  Just west is of course the Mediterranean Sea.  Can't wait to go for a jog tonight.  

It is also fantastically gorgeous outside, like it is everyday in Israel.  Hot of course, but sunny and alive.  All the people here are always outside, talking, laughing, and eating amazing food.

I already love the culture.

I think its only fitting to start where I am now, and then take a look back at where I've been the past twelve days because it is the first time that I've really had time to reflect.  The past 12 days have been crazy--6a.m. wake-up calls to the same hotel food of freshly baked breads and a variety of salads and eggs (it was only good in the beginning) and sleep at 12:30a.m. after a long day of hiking, lectures, swimming, site-seeing, and much, much more  I really had no idea what to expect on this trip, except for the very basic activities I shared with you all in my last posts.  But, I can safely say that the trip exceeded my expectations.

In 12 days, I went all over the State of Israel (about the size of New Jersey in total, but the populated areas, meaning not the desert, are only the size of Rhode Island).  I landed in Tel Aviv, met the Israeli soldiers who would be traveling with us on our journey.  Having the Israelis was one of the biggest perks on this trip, without them I would have been lost.  Not only did they provide an interesting perspective on everything we did on the trip, but they taught us all about the culture in Israel, answered my many, many questions, translated Hebrew, and even read food labels for me.  Nir, one of my favorite Israeli guys, finally asked me, "What is it that you are looking for on the label?"  Even me, crazy-food-label-reader, has discovered that food is different in Israel.  High-fructose corn-syrup doesn't exist, its always sugar, many things are made with olive oil, etc.  Of course, the food is not all organic, but its starting point is so much better than in the U.S.  

Ok, moving on.  For sake of organization, the rest of the post will have headings and brief highlights from each city.  

Tiberius

We traveled Northeast from Tel Aviv to the city of Tiberius located right on the Sea of Galilee or Lake Kinneret.  We spent 4 nights in Tiberius.   In Tiberius I:

-hiked

-visited the old city of Zefat, where I met a fantastic Kabbalah Artist and ate the best falafel ever

*falafel is everywhere, its the Israeli snack of choice!

-went to an orthodox Shabbat service where I had to sit in a separate room from the men

-saw the most gorgeous view of the city and the Sea of Galilee (Hagit in the middle and Tiffany on the right were two of my closest friends on the trip).

Golan Heights
Ok, not a city but a location.  Here I:
-hiked
-went to an Israeli army base on the Lebanon border

*I think in between here and visiting the desert we went to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

These two destinations are worth noting because they, along with the many discussions with my new

Israeli-soldier friends, changed my view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict entirely.  For those of you who don't know, the West Bank is home to about 2.5 million Palestinians.  It is divided into three territories, all of which are enclosed by a security fence that prevents these people from leaving.  Only certain Palestinians may leave (farmers, doctors, students) with a permit and only at certain times.  I saw a small group being let out of the territory to farm their land outside the West bank borders.  

Our visit to the Gaza Strip was a bit different.  We visited a small village/town right on the border of the Gaza Strip, literally on the security wall.  This was really moving for me because the gentleman who spoke showed us missles he had collected from previous attacks, told us that he continued to live there with his family because he didn't want to let Hamas push him out of his land, and because he had faith that peace would come at some point.  I saw bomb shelters every 20 ft., a loud speaker system that gives the residents 20 seconds to get cover before a missle hits, and greenhouses full of cherry tomato crops farmed by the people of this village.  Not really a "normal life."  I'd have to admit it was scary to think that just sitting there we were in jeopardy, and even more scary when we hiked to the top of sand dune and I was yelled at to come down in the bunker just to make sure I was as safe as possible.  Here, I was told Hamas and the Palestinains are always watching.

Negev
This is the desert folks.  It was stunning.  Here I:
-rode a camel

-ate amazing food (some of the best I had on the trip) from a communal plate served by the Bedouins, drank tea sweetened with cardamon, and espresso from freshly fire-roasted coffee beans

-slept in a huge tent with everyone on the trip

-woke up @ 4a.m. for a sunrise hike to Mt. Masada

-traveled on to the Dead Sea where I floated in the oily water and rubbed Dead Sea Mud on my face

Tel Aviv

I was here for only one night, and saw the city briefly, but got to see Dafna and Orit.  I have been Skyping with them in the U.S. and it was so fun to see them in person!  

Eilat

This is a touristy town in Israel, very south on the Jordan border.  In this city I:

-walked to the corny boardwalk along the stunning Red Sea

-went on my most favorite hike of the trip where I saw 4 countries (Jordan, Syria, Saudia Arabia, and Israel) at once and the Red Sea.

Jerusalem

This was by far my most favorite city.  It was magical really--the air was crisp and beautiful at night, the entire city is made of white stone and everywhere you turn there is something beautiful to look at.  In the capital of Israel, I:

-went to the Kotel (Western Wall) twice.  This is in the "old city" and I assure you right out of the movies.  Orthodox Jews running to meet the Sabbath and running to pray at the wall.  I am not religious nor did I feel a religious connection when I was here but I felt a spiritual one.  

It is so pretty here. The light is perfect and highlights the wall and the millions of paper prayers folded and stuff into the 

cracks, and the gorgeous temple overlooking this scene.  Thousands of people pray here, the holiest of sites in Israel.  

-City of David--I walked through a water tunnel used to transport water from one location to another about 1,000 years ago.  Definitely one of the most fun parts of the trip.

Yes, this is getting long.  But I will leave you with a couple of thoughts:

Israel is a special and unique place.  Although I am anything but the world traveler, I know this is the only place where everyone (well most everyone) is Jewish.  Everywhere you go there are orthodox jews with payas (curls hanging down as sideburns), men with kipas, women dressed conservatively.  

Also, men and woman dressed in army uniforms with berets tucked into their shoulders representing all the different IDF units are a common occurrence.  The IDF is a people's army, a required service for all Israeli citizens, and most everyone sees it not only as an obligation but an honor.  There is a sense of pride and nationalism here unlike anything I've ever seen or felt in the U.S.  At times, this is a bit overwhelming and even odd because support of the IDF is so strong that you feel it isn't appropriate to question its actions. It will be interesting to see if this changes as my time goes on here.  

Alright, I hope that I did the trip justice and you are all still awake after reading/viewing this post.  I assure you more to come.  Thanks for reading as always--Shalom.