on farming, expectations vs. reality, and the beauty in thenot-so-mundane

I'll freely admit that when planning my Israel adventures, I completely romanticised the idea of working on a farm. I read too much. I kept thinking of that passage in Anna Karenina when Levin is ploughing the fields and, through the repetitive motion, reaches a state of meditative transcendence. I thought of the nature-driven poetry of Wendell Berry; of Steinbeckian narratives of redemption through hard work; I even thought of Walden Pond, for Christ's sake.

In reality, there's nothing romantic about being covered in hay and smelling like goat shit for the better part of every day. Farm work is unforgiving; jobs are either done right or wrong, and if something is done wrong, it creates twice the work to be done. The days are long and contain multitudes. A farm is its own microcosm, and life outside of it begins to feel distant. And nettles hurt. A lot. 

But in the end, it also turns out that the sun-dappled, big-picture vision that I anticipated wasn't really the point. I had expected my life to be a light leak-filled Super 8 film, but really, the vibrant, messy, exhausting existence that it turned out to be was something I'll treasure infinitely more. 

My old art teacher used to groan whenever a student wanted to paint a sunrise or sunset. Overrated and overdone, she would say. It's boring. I've always agreed. I'm a fan of paying attention to the small moments, the kind that get lost in your memory if you're not careful, resurfacing only much later in bouts of déjà vu, if ever. 

So here's to those small moments. Here's to a cup of mint tea on the veranda at 7 in the morning. The solitude of walking through the hills up in the cow pasture. Getting jumped on by baby goats. A beautiful, half-wild horse trotting through tall grass. Breaking the pre-dinner moment of silent reflection with a "L'chaim!" and a sip of wine. Biting into a just-picked carob pod. Listening to Daliah read Roald Dahl stories in Hebrew to her grandchildren. The silvery full moon peeking out from behind an olive tree. Getting into bed and falling asleep nearly immediately, tired to the core. Here's to living and working in one of the most gorgeous locales I've ever seen. 

It's not glamorous. It's not sepia-toned. But nestled into the jumble of Turkish rugs, lavender bushes, firewood, bales of hay, sore muscles, and dirty socks, Goats with the Wind farm possesses its own special brand of magic. And I feel very lucky to have gotten to share in it. 

I've said goodbye to the farm for now, but I'll be back for a bit next month before I leave Israel. I could see as soon as I arrived that Goats with the Wind has a magnetic pull on people, and I understand the magnetism now. 

אהבה

M

For more info: 

http://www.wwoof.il

http://www.goatswiththewind.com

Beit Lechem

a few days ago i had the opportunity to spend the day in bethlehem, and it was beyond worth it. i was able to experience another side of the complicated, inherently multifaceted issue between the israelis and the palestinians. i don't know that i'll ever have a handle on every side of the conflict as it's constantly changing and evolving, but venturing into the west bank was unforgettable, not least because to enter meant passing through a police checkpoint.

having spent the previous week and a half in israel, it was jarring to see pro-palestine apparel, signage and graffiti everywhere. 

speaking with our palestinian bus driver made me feel sad but hopeful. he reiterated the same sentiment that i've been hearing a lot lately, from everyone including my new friends in the IDF- that the people, the average people, on both sides, want and pray for peace, and that it's the extremists and the politicians who impede it. while this is an oversimplification of the situation, it's been interesting to hear the same words out of the mouths of people from all walks of life. 

aside from that, though, it was also fascinating to see the christian religious sites in the town. it's easy to forget, at least when the overwhelming majority of news from this area revolves around conflicts between the other two major religions, that this is also a holy place for christians- one to which thousands of people a year make pilgrimages. viewing jesus's manger was as crowded with forceful tourists as the mona lisa. 

once again, i don't have much wifi/much time. on monday evening, i arrived at the organic farm i'm working at. it's hard work but very rewarding. currently, i'm on a 24-hour sabbatical in tel aviv, using the free wifi at the (beautiful) museum of modern art. soon i'll be meeting up with some friends to hang out. i have to return back to the farm on the early side tomorrow, though, because the bus system stops running on shabbat- and in any case, shabbat on the farm is apparently absolutely lovely. 

until next time,

xo

m

birthright

far too exhausted/busy to write anything coherent about what has been one of the most fun and jam packed 10 days ever, so i'll the photos do the talking. advance apologies for a post that will most likely be atrociously formatted- blogger for ipad is a bit of a challenge to work with- although infinitely better than the iphone app! 

we spent the first few days in the stunning golan heights. The scenery was spectacular and climbing to the top of har bental to not only see views of syria and jordan but also to hear distant explosions from the syrian civil war was fascinating.

our next stop was a day trip to tzfat, a hillside town full of kabbalah mysticism.

and then it was onto tel aviv, where we saw independence hall, rabin square, and enjoyed some precious free time.

a day later, we drove to jerusalem. seeing the old city and the western wall at sundown was beautiful, if rather chilly. the next morning we toured yad vashem, which was very different- more informative but less emotionally stirring- than dc's holocaust museum. whilst there, we had the privilege of hearing anne frank's best friend speak about her experiences. we picked the right day to visit! 

we then went south into the desert, stopping briefly in sderot, a village 800 m from the gaza border, to tour (and play in) a bomb-proof indoor playground that the jewish national fund constructed several years ago. all of the play structures were sized in order for kids to be able to stop playing and move to the bomb shelter in the back of the building in under 15 seconds in case of attack. 

we spent the night at a kibbutz near be'ersheba, and the next morning we set off for a long day of adventuring- a hike, a camel ride, and a night staying in a bedouin camp.

the next morning, we woke up at 4:30 and did a predawn hike to the top of masada in order to the see sun rise. we were the first group of the day to climb it, and the view made the ungodly wakeup time worth it. 

from masada, we drove to the dead sea, which was quite an experience! not sure if the mud actually did any skincare miracles, but slathering it on and floating in the water was a lot of fun. 

after the dead sea, we returned to jerusalem for the final couple of days, where we wandered machane yehuda, hung out on ben yehuda street, paid our respects at har herzl (basically Israel's version of arlington national cemetery), celebrated shabbat, and enjoyed our last hours all together. 

finally, after havdalah and dinner on saturday evening, we said our goodbyes to each other at the airport- but only after exchanging our info on whatsapp, snapchat, and instagram, and promising to have reunions in new york, boston & dc someday! luckily my goodbyes were made a slight bit easier by the fact that i'm staying in israel longer because I didn't have to say farewell yet to the 7 young israelis who accompanied us for all 10 days and whom we all became close friends with. i made them promise to come meet me in jerusalem and tel aviv from time to time to hang out, and i am gonna hold them all to it! 

i also didn't have to say goodbye quite yet to three of the americans from my trip, because we all shared a cab back into jerusalem that evening and stayed in a hostel together for 2 days before heading out on separate adventures- they're going to petra via eilat, and i'm heading north to the galil. yesterday, we all went on a tour of bethlehem that our hostel offered. getting to visit the west bank was a once in a lifetime experience- passing through the checkpoint, seeing the border fence, reading pro-palestine graffiti, and talking to palestinians about their opinions was something i won't forget. israelis can't enter the west bank without a permit, and likewise for west bank palestinians for israel, so it was interesting as an american to have the privilege of being a fly on the wall observer of both areas. I have a lot of photos of bethlehem, but that'll be another post- i need to leave in about 20 minutes to go catch my bus to the north. 

until next time,

אהבה

m