Through the Desert

So after Rosh HaShana break, I began my first day of volunteering in Arad before I leave for the army on October 15th. We got to completely repaint a bomb shelter in the Ethiopian part of town and in the process, we got paint in our hair, clothes, skin, and also had a few paint wars. I'm still trying to get the paint out of my shorts. We also spent another day cleaning, raking, and picking up every single dead grass and leaf in the ecological garden behind the children's preschool here in Arad. On Thursday we had our first field trip. They took us to a city called Sderot. For those of you who have never heard of Sderot, it is a town about 1.5 km from the Gaza Strip that back during wartime, was raided with thousands of rockets. As a result, the government of Israel funded the city to turn every bus stop into a bomb shelter, and built bomb shelters everywhere else from children's playgrounds to outside houses. We met with current residents of Sderot around our age and heard their positions on the conflict and why they choose to still live there. We also met a woman who was evicted from her home in Gush Katif (northern part of Gaza) back in 2005 during the disengagement. All that remains of Gush Katif today is giant piles of rubble and sand.

On Friday, a group of about 15 of us were bored and decided it would be a good day to go to the Dead Sea. We all met up at the bus station and ended up spending about half the day at the sea. I also put Dead Sea mud all over my body for the first time (pictures coming up below). It is an amazing feeling being able to completely sit up in the water. On the other hand, it sucks when you realize you have cuts on your feet and your feet burn for 5 minutes straight. Overall it was a great day and I got to spend it with some amazing friends. Yesterday, we all decided to go on a hike to a viewpoint half an hour away from where we live. Besides taking a bunch of pictures over the edge of a cliff, a few of us decided it would be a good idea to try to hike all the way down the canyon on no trail whatsoever, just loose rocks and sand. After slipping a bunch of times, we finally made it to the bottom of the canyon, screamed crazy things to hear our echoes, and eventually made our way back up. Surprisingly the way down was a lot harder. Our dinner last night consisted of microwavable schnitzel, and some Israeli salad that I made for the apartment. Slowly but surely, I shall learn to cook!

 

 

For everyone observing have an easy fast and Gmar Chatima Tova.
צום קל לכולם וגמר חתימה טובה!