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Friday, September 16, 2011

Hitchhikers guide to walking alot

So Wednesday was my day off.  It is a good day to get off because the night before is pub night and everyone gets really fucked up.  I did not drink because I am tired, slaving in a kitchen for 10 hours a day and waking up at the crack of down can have that effect.  So Gabrielle and I decided we were going to go to Haifa for the day.  Haifa is a city on the west coast of Israel on the Mediterranean.  Originally Natalya, a girl from Colombia, was going to come with us but her day off got changed so it was just us two.  We planned on hitchhiking from the kibbutz to Haifa which would be an amazing accomplishment considering I have never done it before. (Hitchhiking is the most popular form of travel for us volunteers)  So we utilized a service provided to us, we went to the volunteer coordinator and asked her if any members would be driving to Haifa on Wednesday, she said no but one is going to Nahariya which is somewhat close to our destination.  She gave us his number and we arranged to go with him on Wednesday morning.
That morning we woke up, got some breakfast, and waited outside the dining hall for our ride.  A sense of anxiety overcame me and I was hoping that we did not end up seeing him and we would stay.  The thought of leaving the comfort and security of the Kibbutz to the alien roads and cities frightened me.  But he did see us, his name is Gavi, a very nice guy.  We talked the whole ride there, he served in the army and had some amazing stories.  Once we got to Nahariya, he dropped us off and we walked a little and started to hitchhike.  Using your thumb here means your are a prostitute, there is another way to do it which I was thankfully informed of.  After a surprisingly short amount of time, a man picked us up.  He did not speak very good english and we figured out that he was Arab.  He said he was going to Akko which is a city halfway to our destination. He drove like a maniac swerving in and out of cars and trucks on the highway.  He then proceeded to drive into Akko which we did not expect.  I was terrified, all I could think of was him pulling into a garage and me being swarmed by terrorist.  (HAHAHA I guess I was being a little melodramatic but hey, I come from a little town in New Jersey, I am new to this.) Never the less, he dropped us off near the train station.  It was bittersweet because I was out of his car, but now we were in the middle of some city and we needed another ride.  We tried for about an hour to no avail.  So we took the train, a convenient option seeing that the ride took us right into Haifa and rode along a beautiful wrote right next to the Mediterranean.
Crazy Arab guy who picked us up
When we got to Haifa we exited the station and walked down a main rode.  I noticed the side walk was huge and that cars were beeping at us.  After walking on that for a little we realized we were in the bus lane! We laughed alot at our own ignorance.  We came upon a street which led right up to the Baha'i gardens.  We stopped in a tourist information store and a nice old lady told us everything we needed to know.  She also informed us that the gardens were closed, the site of Gabo's eyes widening in surprise was very funny.  But she told us we could go up the mountain and look down on the gardens which provided a spectacular view.  So we got a bus, made our way up the mountain and got off at the main gates to the garden.  They let us onto the first terrace.  The view was magnificent, we could see the entire city with the Mediterranean and the Northern coast of Israel stretching out to the horizon.  We admired the view and then we were on our way.  We walked down a very long and windy street all the way down to the bottom of the mountain.  On the way some local woman invited us up to her apartment for some dinner.  Would have been cool but we were too scared to say yes.  So we wandered an arab community and explored some marketplace until we came to a Shwarma restaurant.  I thought the food was delicious but Gabo was less then pleased. So we went from there back to the bus stop and we agreed to go to the beach the guide lady told us about.  We got on the bus and it brought us to a junction, we thought we were lost and began to panic.  We asked some guys how to get to the beach and they told us what bus to take.  Surely it came and we ended up right on the beach.  It was on the other side of the mountain so it was a much different place.  It was like Silicon Valley with google, microsoft, yahoo, and many other tech companies with buildings there.
The view from atop the mountain
The beach is by far the best one I have ever been on.  The sand was soooo soft, the water was clear blue and warm to the touch, the waves were gentle and long.  I went in while Gabo chilled on the beach (he didnt have a bathing suit).  I was euphoric, I just marveled at the paradise I had found myself in.  After a while of being in the water, Gabo and I went for a walk down the beach.  We talked about life, our homes and cultures, and examined the peculiarities of our differnet languages (he speaks Spanish).  We were on the beach for quite some time before we decided it was time to head home.  Luckily there was a train station right near the beach so we went inside and got a train to Akko.  Once we got there we walked for a while and ended up getting picked up by some kid. He too spoke very little English and he brought us halfway to Nahariya.  We walked the rest of the way on the highway.  I was exhausted at this point.  Once we saw a bus stop we got on and went all the way to Xaxa, a Kibbutz very close to Bar'am.  The walk would have been an hour and it was dark at this point.  Cars were zooming by us and it was pretty scary.  We stopped and waited at a bus stop and of all people to come and save the day, a cop pulled up and offered us a ride.  He brought us right up the gates of Bar'am where we went inside and rejoiced at the completion of our journey.
We were starving so we went to see if there was any food at the dining hall, but to our suprise when we got inside there was a big volunteer meeting, we literally walked in when people were introducing themselves, so out of breath and completely surprised I introduced myself to the room. 
All in all the day was a great success, and I only spent around 30 US dollars on the whole thing, which is insane.
So there is my first adventure in Israel, hope you enjoyed it, and cant wait to tell you of many more.

Arab Marketplace
Jemma loves her job

My roommates has gone American History X

View of the garden from below
View from above the garden

The beach

John looking cool as hell
Our hitchhiking adventure begins

Gabo trying to hide his fear of being kidnapped by an Arab dude

Jersey shore ain't got shit on me
Walking on a road at night, pissing my pants

Suprise volunteer meeting

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