First few days in Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha!

Soldiers in Tel Aviv central bus station

On Thursday, after one final coffee and croissant, I set off on the bus ride to Ein Hashlosha. It took two buses to get here and by the second one it was just me and a whole lot of men  and women in uniform.. A definite reminder I was heading towards the Gaza strip.

I arrived around 3pm which meant most people had finished work and were around in the volunteer house when I arrived.  When I approached the house there was a woman lying in a hammock out the front. I went over and checked out I was in the right place and was greated by an English accent and a northen one at that!

The house for 16 volunteers!

I put my stuff in the room I share with the 
English girl and a Korean girl and met all the other 15 volunteers. It was a quick succession of names I had no chance of remembering. There is a good mix of nationalities too making names even harder to remember. There are a few guys from South Africa, Mexico, Spain, America,Japan , South Korea, Paraguay, Germany and us Brits of course. I've probably forgotten one but as you can see it's a big jumble of cultures.

Some photos from my walk

Thursday and Fridays the kibbutz has an evening meal on offer for everyone.  So we headed down to the dining room for some food. The food was good! Spinach cannelloni type thing with lots of salad and some bread.  Later a few of us headed down to the woods just outside the kibbutz gates for a bonfire with a few beers and a guitar. It was a good time. Nice and chilled and got to hear some amusing stories. I did hear my first, and only so far, bang out here. A missile going off somewhere in the distance. Bit scary.

Unlike nearly everyone else I didn't have work yesterday so I spent the day having a wander around the kibbutz and sleeping a little too much..oops. 

After another delicious meal in the kibbutz dining room Friday evening kicked off with wine, beer and bbq. Having dinner and a bbq may sound glutinous but I was glad I wasn't relying on the relatively small amount of bbq food to support my alcohol consumption.

I had left it to late to get to the shop as it closes at 2:30 on a Friday but I didn't realise

Farming equipment

this till 3pm. So I was reliant on the generosity of my fellow volunteers. One of the guys owed me a beer from the previous evening and so we shared a bottle of wine.

Later on a group of us headed to Mafia. Mafia being the kibbutz pub/club. Basically a bunker with a bar, loud music and a dance floor.  Aside from the hangover the dancing was fun. They played lots Latino music, (due to the Kibbutz South American roots I'm guessing) which is always good to dance to.

Today has been filled with eating schnitzel, the only thing available from the kitchen on Sabbath day. I also helped another volunteer clean the kitchen so it was safe to cook in there again, which involved a lot of washing up. The sink has now been refilled with dirty plates..didnt last long.

Tomorrow is my first day at work. I'll be working in the shop, which isn't too strenuous but I do start at 6:30am. So I best be off for some shut eye.