Christmas craziness!

This post is long over due but I feel I have been really busy and very hungover and therefore unable to write in a comprehensible way. Considering I am in a Jewish community we definitely managed to create some kind of Christmas spirit here.

Me, Rosie and Garam: coffee & sunshine on Christmas!

On the 19th of December it was my room mate, Garam's 25th birthday and it was also the kibbutz 63rd birthday party. As the tree toppling storm was over  we had a BBQ! Lots of beef and kosher chorizo as well as the usual hummas, pita, salad and free red wine!

Garam is a cocktail queen so we had wine at dinner followed cocktails and some dancing round the house. Most people went to bed pretty early but it was her Birthday so I stayed and made sure she had fun. Then it was Friday and we had to go to work...horrible hangover at work number 1. 

Friday evening the Jewish Philippinos who live and  work on the kibbutz had an Xmas party on the 20th, which was funny. I arrived a little late and they were all on the dance floor moving in synchronised rows. I only heard one Christmas song but the place was decorated pretty well.  There was loads of delicious Asian food and cake and more drinking. They also played a party game which seemed to have some interesting rules. It seemed like musical chairs but spiced up a little. The guys stood in the middle holding a cup? between their legs and the girls dancing around and when the music stopped the girls had to put a straw into one of the cups a guy was holding. I am not sure exactly as I was sat at the back in order to avoid being coaxed into joining in.

Later there was the usual dancing the night away at mafia and then Saturdays day of rest.
Okay time to skip to Christmas eve.

Forgot to take photos but this does the trick!

Me and Rosie have decided we are making Christmas dinner like we would have back home for all the volunteers! I got Rami to order us a turkey an  then did an improvised version of Nigella's ingenious way to keep the turkey from being dry  with the species I physically managed to sniff out in the kitchen, as they are all written in Hebrew and everyone else had gone home. I did get chili powder up my nose and in my eye at one point was not a pleasant experience. We even managed to get our hands on sausages and bacon to make pigs in blankets.

So you would think the other volunteers would be appreciative but due to cultural differences on Christmas eve this was not the case. Turns out the rest of the world apart from the UK does Xmas dinner on Christmas eve. I sat down to eat lunch with everyone on the 24th and all got was people moaning at me as to ask why we weren't having dinner that evening. I was a little pissed off to say the least. The Brits were cooking so everyone else  would just have  to accept we would be feasting on Christmas day. Not my most diplomatic (in fact a little colonial) of moves but turns out I needed the whole day off work to cook the thing anyway!

Eventually we got over that drama and we all had a few drinks to pass the evening. Then it was time to wake up hungover and cook for 20 people! At 10am it seemed like a mammoth task and coffee was needed before any planning or cooking was going to happen.

I think we made about 4 or 5 trips to the Cobal to buy ingredients but it was going well.

Dining hall looking festive thanks to Garam!

Although we both felt drained of energy and started to get a little nervous towards the end in case things just didn't taste good.  But after 6 hours slaving away in the kitchen making all the trimmings, desert and lots of turkey basting. 7pm arrived. Everyone enjoyed the food even if there was a little bit of tension between a few of the volunteers. Guess even when you not with your relations you can't have Christmas without an argument!

The night ended with free tequila shots in the Mafia. Thanks Tony!

Boxing day was not such a fun day at work but I did have a fun evening! Horrible hangover at work number 2! Hope you all had a great Christmas too or a great ordinary week of you're  Jewish :p

I've had a bit of a detox since no drinking and ventured my poor football skills onto the kibbutz football field on Friday to burn off some of the Christmas excess.

Oh and one last thing if you ever need any illustrations or cartoons The Whole Hogg is the place to go!

Merry Christmas

Just a quick post to say Happy Christmas to everyone I am unbelievably tired but 20 people are about to sit down to eat the food that me and Rosie spent all day making! Hope it tastes good! Will give you a more in different depth post after I get some sleep. Hope everyone has had a nice day.

Kibbutz economy: Why the hell aren't we getting paid on time, again?

 For the past month or so we as volunteers have not been paid on time. We are meant to get 500 shekels at the end of every two weeks. Friday should be pay day or Sunday at the latest (the first day of the week here) but due to the quirks of the kibbutz money system this hasn't been happening. The smokers in the house are going nuts about this. Cigarettes are super expensive so they are pretty much always desperate for pay day. I tend to manage to have enough money survive on even if we get paid a few days late.

All the members of the kibbutz and the volunteers get paid from the same bank account ans the problem is there is only one single person on the whole kibbutz who can take money out if that account. I was informed yesterday that they are now also managing the kibbutz factory as well as all the money. If this guy is too busy to go to the bank on the day we are meant to get paid then you get an angry house of volunteers.

Before credit cards apparently the whole kibbutz had major headaches. Any time a kibbutznik wanted to buy like a durable good, say a fridge, they would have to get the one person with the access to all the  money to come with them you to buy it in the shop. There also used to be problems with families getting into lots of debt as there was no one really policing it. Anyone who managed to live within the money they got paid by the kibbutz were supporting the over expenditure of others. Now a days they have that under control with people reviewing people's expenditure on a regular basis but It inevitably slows things down a bit by the sounds of it.

Still to not have pay taxes, worry about health insurance, your kids education, saving for a pension, it all seems like a pretty good deal to me.

In other news the weather is bloody cold here! Was 3 degrees yesterday. I know you Brits out there will be calling me soft, is probably icy as hell over there right now. But when you combine that temperature with no central heating  and a massive storm that causes a blackout all night. Oh and windows that are not built to provide any barrier against the cold and wind.  Brrr! I did not bring enough winter clothes for this. 

Jerusalem even came to a stand still due to snow earlier in the week!

The Dead (Sea) Healing

I had a great Sabbat this week on a trip to the Dead Sea organised by our volunteer leader, Yogev. We rode on camels in the middle of the desert and went for a float (not a swim) in the super salty sea. We were

meant to go on a short hike to a Roman fort too but, due to a football injury, Yogev didn't make it on to the trip to be our guide.

Almost everyone on the  bus from Ein Hashlosha (We went with a few other kibbutz volunteers in the area) was hungover from their partying at Mafia on Friday night.  Thanks to my antibiotics and managing to sleep through the night I was feeling pretty dandy on the bus while everyone else, apart from the two German girls who had stayed off the booze too, dealt with the morning after. In the kitchen we had also made some cookies to take with us so I went down the aisle offering biscuit to everyone on the bus. Although I had to do it discreetly cos supposedly we weren't meant to eat on the bus.  From the dirty look I got in the mirror from the driver I am pretty sure I was rumbled but he said nothing.

It took about two hours for our bus to reach the desert. By this point my bladder felt like it was about to

Such long eyelashes!

burst and my first thought as we drive on the winding road through the massive sand dunes with only a few goats frolicking about on them was I really hope this camel place has toilets.  Going to the loo in the middle of the desert would not be good.  There is no where to hide!  Tourists would see your arse for miles.

Of course being one of those must do tourist activities there were toilets.

Don't they look like they might bite?

I liked the camel ride. A lot of people didn't enjoy it too much as they thought it was pretty uncomfortable but I felt pretty good sitting on Lady Humperdink (we named our camel). Being on their backs was fine but when it came to standing anywhere near their faces I got pretty scared. They have big teeth and spit..  So much so when Rosie tried to take a picture of me with a camel I ran away as soon as it moved its head in my direction and kept looking at the camel not the camera out of paranoia that it would attack at any moment.  Hence the not so great photo.


At the Dead Sea I was also pretty fearful.  I still had the big cut I had got from snorkeling on my foot that wasn't fully healed and I new the Dead Sea with its

This is much safer. 

34% saltiness was going to hurt so much.  Lots of expletives came out of my mouth walking into that sea but I did manage to get in there and lets just say my foot wasn't the only thing that burned.  I wasn't in there very long as eventually the pain just gets too much but I was floating on the top in less than a meters worth of water.  It was crazy.

The cut on my foot is also now completely healed.  No more pain and the skin isn't red raw anymore. Magic of the Dead.

The Dead Sea

Homesick and a broken dishwasher

I had my worst night on the kibbutz on Friday. On Thursday I got the results from the swab of my throat the nurse took before I went to Eilat. Turns out I have Strep throat infection so I am on antibiotics for 10 days. Hence no drinking for me as I don't want to weaken the effects of the penicillin. Will be so nice not to cough all the time!

As everyone gets drunk on a Friday I was prepared for it not being the best of evenings but it was worse then I expected. For some reason people went crazy! There are two kinds of people here. The 18 and 19 year olds who are pretty much straight out of school never lived away from home before and the over 20s who ars escaping stressful jobs or unemployment and generally trying to figure what to do with their lives. Friday night the children kicked off. The house was a mess on Saturday and I was super angry as someone had tried to wake me and anyone else who was trying to sleep up at 5am.

It was like being back in university halls of residence all over again. I really wanted to

New experience..Putting my hand in a Calf's mouth..

teleport my way back to Whitley Bay to have a chilled evening with my friends. More than anything that night.

 The next day I sunbathed in the 30 degree sunshine, helped clean the kitchen Rosie took me to see the baby cows, went a bike ride, ate lots of chocolate and ice cream and escaped the house tension at the soldiers house. Saturday wasn't so bad.

Then this morning I got angry again as someone had eaten almost a full pack of salami I had sitting in the fridge and just left me the empty packet there. I got to work to discover the dishwasher was broken which made work a difficult day too. That probably doesn't sound like such a big deal but when you're cooking food for over 100 people that is one he'll of a mountain of washing up.

Things can only get better and they have! Rosie and I did a workout and I went for a run after. Feel so much better for it. Then I watched the zigiest movie with a few other people in the tv room. The rest of the evening I have been on Skype catching up with my mum and dad, which is always nice.

Snow in Whitley Bay, Sunshine in Eilat, 34 degrees in Ein HaShlosha

Earlier this evening when I went to the Cobal I watched a video of the snow falling in Whitley Bay ( Where I lived before I came to Israel. It is on the North East coast of England for anyone who isn't familar with the UK)  a week or so ago.  One of the kibutzniks ex husband lives in Whitley Bay would you believe.  I have met her briefly before but today we had an in depth conversation about the joys of Newcastle and Whitley Bay, as she has never been to visit. Even said she might think about taking her kids and flying back with me in July, which would be so cool! 

This is the hottest winter I have ever experienced it reached 34 degrees today!  Crazy desert weather.  I do miss being able to see the seasons though.  Autumnal orange and red carpets of leaves, and being jammy when you manage to get just the right amount of layers to stay warm despite the chilling wind. 

Ein Hashloshaians on the beach!

My weekend away in Eilat was lush.   On the Friday we left the kibbutz at 6:30am got to Eilat around 1pm.  That's cos it takes 3 buses to get there.  It's actually only 2 and a half hour drive away but public transport is cheap here so cant complain.   The four of us who went met up with Debra and some of her friends from the Go Eco project she is working on.  We all stayed in the same hostel and spent the day chilling on the beach and the evening getting drunk at the hostel (of course) on beer and Garam's great tasting punch/cocktail.  Then we headed to a night club and owned the dance floor with our moves, as you do.  

Let's put my hand in front of Alex's face

The next day we went snorkeling   I've never been snorkeling before and its such an unnatrual thing to do so takes a bit of egtting used to the whole breathing on through your mouth but I saw so many cool fish.  one of them was massive! It's definitely something I want to do again and it only cost me 6 shekels!  Bargain!  we rented two snorkels between all of us.  

I also managed to injure my foot, scraping it across a rock.  I just ignored the ropes that told me I'd reached the shallow bit.  Genius. Now I have a nice big graze on my left foot as a reminder of Eilat. 

Me and Garam and the amazing Negev sunset 

On the Saturday evening most of the people that had come along with Debra went their separate ways. It was just the four of us from Ein Hashlosha and Debra and her two fellow volunteers at the nature reserve Kay and William.  We all went back to their place at the nature reserve in the middle of the desert.  

Whilst there we saw them feeding the animals, went on safari,  had a bbq,  danced around a campfire.  Had a really nice chilled night. It was also ultra quite aside from the music we were blasting.  There were no sounds of bombs or things blowing up.  It was kinda strange as we have got so used to here stuff going off around us all the time.  

We spent the night camping in tents, which for me was a bit of a mistake.  I was (and still am) ill at this point.  I was feeling so much better i think the snorkeling had even helped clear my sinuses but it gets pretty cold in the desert at 2 or 3 in the morning.  I woke up at 3:30am my ears were frozen and I had such a bad head cold.  I felt like I was so close to being rid of this cold and then I went and made it worse.  I did go and sleep in side after I woke up but the damage was already done.   Noted camping in desert and being ill not a  good idea.  

Here's some of the animals:

I also finally borrowed someones computer so all my photos from Tel Aviv football game, Jaffe sunsets and a few more from Eilat are now online.  You can check them out here if you like: Israel Photos

New Brit brings first rain storm!

Wow I haven't posted anything in over a week. I have been off work these past two days with a bug an  right now I am trying to keep myself awake so I can get a normal nights sleep an  go to work tomorrow.

My last post I talked about the big volunteer meeting. As a result of that we got invited to go to a Rock n Roll party on another kibbutz last Friday. 6 of us went along from Ein Hashlosha an  two guys from kibbutz Reim. We had mattresses to sleep on in the kindergarten so we were set to drink and dance the night away. Unfortunately the DJ was rubbish. He even left at one point and they just played dubstep but we still managed have fun playing drinking games and amusing ourselves.  It was a change from the Mafia and nice have some different people to drink with.

Amazing acrobatics

Oh yeah last Thursday the kibbutz had a free trip to Jerusalem for the knights festival. They had these amazing acrobatics doing a performance. There was a crane with a ring with a drum kit and drummer inside hanging from it and then below that was like a metal sphere cage with three female performers doing absolutely amazing stuff all suspended in mid air. This was the highlight of my night as I got a bit tired cold and grumpy towards the end of the night. I managed to lose everyone in the massive crowds and had forgotten to bring a jacket with me.

Me and Cory before losing everyone.

We had a new girl arrive on Sunday! A fellow Brit! I got back from playing a game of football with 3 other volunteers and 4 guys who live on the kibbutz and she was here. The football game we lost terribly. 8-4 I think was the final score. We were doing well to start of with but seemed to get steadily worse but it was good fun.

Later that evening it rained! Really rained. The whole time I have been here it has drizzled for about a minute one day and that was it.  I had almost started missing the rain. Felt like home for a second haha except it wasn't bitterly cold at the same time.

It's great to have another British girl back in the house some things just don't translate to other countries.

I am off to Eilat with Garam an Alex on Friday to meet up with Debra who was my room mate from Manchester and the first volunteer I met on my arrival! She is now working on a nature reserve and we are visiting to celebrate her Birthday. My first holiday taken on the kibbutz I better not still be ill!