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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Rounding third base, heading home

So my trip is coming to a close, I now have 4 more work days to go.  Its an odd feeling, I remember so distinctly unpacking me bag, readying myself for an adventure. And now all the sudden I am packing up ready to move onto my next.
Lets recap whats gone down recently. So the other weekend me and Brad and Jason (Aussies) spontaneously decided we wanted to go to a nature party we had been told of the week before.  A nature party is pretty self implied, but its a big scene in Israel, where a bunch of hippies gather in a random field, put together a massive sound system, and do drugs and dance all night.  So we thought that sounded good enough for us.  Also the only reason this was an option is because my friend Sunny (asian) sprained his ankle a couple of days before a planned hike we had.  The hike would have been epic, a 50 mile, 3 day hike.  But that went down the drain when Sunny came crashing to the ground.  So Me, Brad, and Jason found a ride, took a bus, took another bus and we ended up in Tel Aviv.  The party didnt start until 3 in the morning so we had alot of time to kill.  So we snuck into Hayacon, the hostel I had stayed in when I went to Tel Aviv, we went to the rooftop and drank with a bunch of cool people.  We then went to a lounge on the beach and drank and smoked hookah.  It was a great time and we started to think of not even going.  But then I got the call with the directions and we decided it was the "right" thing to do. We got a taxi, and ended up in the middle of some orange field 20 minutes from Tel Aviv.  We went in and there was great trance with so much base, people dancing, a bonfire, a little bar.  It was quite perfect.  Now I can't say exactly what we did there, only that an orange field was very fitting.  After an 8 hour adventure I ended up passed out on the beach near the hostel fully clothed... yup. 
We have a volunteer trip coming up in 4 days to Jerusalem.  I'm happy about this because 1. its going to be free (jewwwww) and 2. we are all going together with chaperones that completely lack any moral subsistence.  We are going to make the holy land very unholy hahahahha... yeah anyways, that should be a great time.  Also that trip will mark the end of my kibbutz experience, for upon our return I will be headed to Egypt to meet my sister. 
My trip to Egypt is going to be quite awesome, here is an itinerary for the 10 day excursion...

Day 1: Cairo
Arrive in Cairo airport, you will be met by our representative who will assist you through the formalities and then transferred to your hotel to meet your guide for briefing about the tour package; overnight at your hotel in Cairo.

Day 2: Cairo - Giza Pyramids - Aswan
After breakfast you will start the tour by visiting the awe inspiring Pyramids and the Sphinx at Giza plateau, then head to Sakkara to visit the Step Pyramid- the first completed Pyramid in Egypt and some other amazing tombs. After a day of seeing 4500 year old ancient structures, you will take the overnight first class train up the River Nile to Aswan. (Upgrade to sleeper cabin for only £40 - one way)
(Breakfast)


Day 3: Aswan
Arrive in Aswan around 10:00, you will be transferred to your hotel in Aswan and start your Nile quest by visiting the Philae Temple, the Unfinished Obelisk and the famous High Dam of Aswan which after completion in 1971, created Lake Nasser. Free evening at your leisure, overnight at your hotel in Aswan.


Day 4: Felucca cruise from Aswan
After breakfast, check aboard the Nile Felucca and sail around the Islands temples of Aswan, Kitchener the botanical garden which has many imported trees and plants form several countries, next to the Elephantine Island which contains ruins of temples dedicated to the new kingdom in the pharaoh's era, overnight on the Felucca.
(Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)


Day 5: Kom-Ombo, Edfu to Luxor
In the morning you will reach Kom-Ombo to visit the temple of Sobek the Crocodile headed Evil God and Haroeris the Falcon headed Good God. And then you will head to Edfu to visit the most preserved and completed temple in Egypt, this temple is 2000 years old and dedicated to the Falcon headed God Horus the son of Osiris, then continue towards Luxor, arrive in Luxor transferred to your hotel, afternoon tour of the East bank of Luxor, There you will experience the massive Karnak temple and the historic Luxor temple, overnight at your hotel in Luxor.
(Breakfast)
Day 6: Luxor to Red Sea
After breakfast you will tour the west Bank of Luxor. Start the tour off with the World famous Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut (Deir El Bahary) and the great Colossi of Memnon, the last remains of Amenophis III's temple. 5:00 PM Bus to Hurghada, overnight at the red sea.
(Breakfast)

Day 7: Hurghada, Red Sea
This is a free day to be spent as you feel. Hurghada is a relaxing small resort. In Hurghada, there are many options available, snorkeling, swimming, sun-tanning, scuba diving and good food and drink, overnight at your hotel in Hurghada.

(Breakfast)


Day 8: Hurghada, Red Sea
This is another day free to be spent as you see fit. With snorkeling, swimming, sun-tanning, scuba diving and good food and drink available you will find much to do; or nothing to do but enjoy the sun, overnight Bus to Cairo. (Breakfast)

Day 9: Back to Cairo
Arrive in Cairo, be transferred to your hotel, and at the right time you will start the last tour in Egypt with the Egyptian museum, the old city of Cairo where you can explore the Coptic area and the seven churches there, the citadel of Saladin to visit the Mosque of Mohamed Ali, the cave church with the sculptures that shows the incredible miracle that happened when a mountain have been moved by the power of praying! And finally to the open market (Khan El Khalili) the Bazaar with the numerous souvenirs shops and the coffee shops, overnight at your hotel in Cairo.

Day 10: Cairo - Flight back home
After breakfast the trip will end in Cairo where it began. Transfer to the airport. Take your memories and adventure with you on the flight
I'm so pumped to sail on the Felucca down the Nile. Should be quite an experience. I will have a hefty post for that trip.

Most people who read this probably have no idea who Gilad Shalit is so I shall explain.  He is a soldier in the Israeli army who 5 years ago was captured by the Hamas, an extreme political faction.  Well the other day he was finally released in exchange for 1000 arab prisoners.  Just goes to show you which side values its own. 

Lastly I want to put say a little something about the Occupy Wall street movement (dont worry I'm not there to argue with you)
I keep hearing people say that the protesters are a bunch of lazy people that don't want to work.  Well what I think they are, are people with ambition and vision.  It's not about the jobs, its not about the money, its about life and what we all have become to apathetic and blinded to see.  Myself and many others can call themselves "liberals" if there needs to be a label.  We feel that EVERYONE deserves a chance, EVERYONE deserves healthcare, and that the pursuit of happiness is a right and not a privilege.  It seems now more then ever, that while so many struggle to make ends meet, and have little time for leisure, others sit on mountains of money that they do not need and SOMETIMES but not always do not even deserve.  The banks embody this injustice, because not to long ago when these institutions were about to fail for their greed, the government and the people came to help them out.  What do they do? They hand out massive bonuses to the executives who got us in this mess, and they start charging people for the right to even use their own money.  On top of this, we look to the government that has been hijacked by conservative extremist.  They somehow think that the government defaulting on its debt was a good idea, they somehow think that cutting taxes for the rich is going to make things better.  These people are evil and disillusioned, they are so far removed from the everyday people of this country and care little for them (evident through their actions).  So the movement is not about one company, or one thing, what it is, is the release of anger felt by many for so long when reading the news and seeing what has become of our great nation and the world.  Mmmm I feel much better now. Anyways dont hate me too much over my opinions.
I wish I had some pictures for you guys, but i dont... sorry!
Love yall mutha fuckas, and see u soon ;)

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Its been a long time, since ive got you on my mind, oowaahaaa

Its been a couple weeks since my last post and shall explain in great detail for my extended absence. Firstly something catastrophic has happened to my computer, the screen has cracked right down the middle.  Now I can only see one third of the screen which makes using it frustrating, beyond normal frustration and computers.  Secondly, I have been very very busy doing lots of traveling and partying, so sitting down to write a blog has slipped my mind.  Anyways let me try to review some of the more major events that have occurred recently. A couple weekends ago, I went to Haifa with Josh and stayed with his family for Rosh Hashana (the Jewish new years)  That was a really great experience, we partied at the bars everynight, found some dudes who just got back from Amsterdam and they helped us apprehend the good shit, chilled on the beach, and ate some amazzing food. His family was so nice and welcoming, and lots of them were there.  There  back porch overlooks a valley leading to the Mediterranean sea, so I chilled out there quite often.  One of his cousins is an Oxford graduate and got a Ph.d in ANARCHY. How cool is that? well you can imagine how interesting of a guy he was.  So after that relaxing weekend, we came back to quite a mess.
Let me tell you all right now, Ryan Venn is a saint! One day before I went to Haifa, Ryan and a bunch of people were doing some harmless? day drinking when Ryan decided it would be a good idea to bush dive out of a window. Well it ended with him knocked out cold with his head in between two rocks. He was dead... Im just kidding, but he was concuss and had to go to the hospital.  Well when me and Josh got back from Haifa I found out that both Ryan and Chanel had been KICKED out of the kibbutz and were both gone.  This lead to some serious investigating, and the story goes like this.  Rosh Hashona led everyone to go absolutely wild the whole weekend, which was a longer one then normal.  So one night, after pub, Chanel decides to steal this golf cart looking thing that all the old members of the Kibbutz use and drove around eventually going to the dining hall for a late night snack.  Ryan saw her and jumped into the cart but left before she got to dining. The cart ends up breaking down, and security comes to find Chanel.  They come on bikes, and during the investigating, someone took their bikes and rode away! Good stuff, I know.  During this time Ryan took a statue of a man at dining, like one of those Italian men holding signs, went back to volunteers with it and passed out in the bushes with it.  Our volunteer leader found him like that and was a little upset.  So the next morning, Ryan being a gentlemen informed the vol. leader that he was a part of the trouble hoping to help out Chanel and he got kicked out of here.  I didn't get to say goodbye to either of them which was very sad. Well the tensions have been high here ever since. So high that both my buddy David and my roomate Josh have been kicked out as well! Josh got kicked out because he has a deep hate for this place and decided he no longer wanted to listen to them anymore, and David because he was too chill for them and couldnt make it to work at 6 fucking 30 every morning. So spirits have hit some lows at this place, and its basically a voluntter uprising against our superiors. They even closed down the bomb shelter so now we just party outside.
One night I showed everyone beirut and relay, and they all had soo much fun. It was good night.
I have gained quite a bit of weight since coming here, the food is very unhealthy and after a long day of work you eat lots and lots of it.  One thing im excited to come home to is a proper gym, creatine, and getting yoked lol.
This past weekend I went to Tel Aviv which was one of the best weekends of my life.  A bunch of us went there on a bus and got an apartment.  The apartment was amazing and we partied constantly in it.  The first night we got the stuff, and the good stuff. Using both of them we got trashed in our apartment dancing around blasting music, then we went out on the town.  Went to an area known as the port, it was very very crowded, lines at every club and chaos all around us.  We decided to head back, and I was so drunk I fell right asleep.  The next morning we woke up, continued partying and went to the beach.  There we brought music, food nd more alcohol, and chilled on the beach all day.  It was marvelous. We then went back to the apartment and chilled out until David and Leron who are both former members who have been kicked out.  That was alot of fun and we again partied hard in the apartment.  The good stuff got to a lot of people so Me Ben and Signa went out on the town again.  We ended up going to a club, Cats and Dogs.  It was a challenge getting in but we managed.  Once inside it was quite intense, so many people and loud music I was a bit overwhelmed.  I danced a little and had to go to the bathroom when something quite bizarre happened.  When I was in the bathroom and waiting, all the sudden my lungs started to burn and I could no longer breathe, everyone around me started to cough and gasp for air.  In a panic we all shoved our way out of the bathroom and decided there was a terrorist mustard gas attack, but that wasnt going to stop us LOL. We went back out and started to dance, we danced all night and when I could no longer dance I left the club alone. Yeah I was fucked up.  When I emerged the sun was up, which I hate. I got a cab, went back, the apartment was still with bodies everywhere, I found a nice spot on the bed and fell asleep.  Next morning we woke up and had to leave the apartment, we thought we had gotten another but this was not the case. So we all went to a great hostel, Hayarcon 48, right in the center of town near the beach.  We got an entire room for us, and settled in.  That day another 10 or so volunteers came to meet us, including Ryan who I had not seen in a while.  it was great, there was almost 20 volunteers all in the same place. That day, me, Ben and Jono met an American from Denver who told us of some crazy wilderness parties.  He told us of one that night and gave us the invite.  We decided thats what we were doing no matter what. So while all the volunteers partied on the roof and went out me, Ben, Jason and the Denver dude took a cab to some random field near the beach. We got robbed by the cabi what were fine because we were about to rave and have an awesome time.  We had to walk a long path, and as we did our anticipation grew, we could see lights and hear music.  When we arrived we were horrified to see that the party was more like a club and not a rave.  There were walls surrounding it. We were annoyed at this but went inside.  Once inside the shit hit the fan, this was just a normal club party and nothing more. We walked around looking for some extra special stuff but to no avail. We all sat and sulked at our failure of a night.  In our delirious state we wandered around and lit up as much as we could.  I was laughing so much at how sad we were.  When time came we left and walked 15 kilometers on a highway! it was the worst thing I have ever done, we had no water or food, and I thought I was going to die.  We went to a gas station, got some food, and got a cab home. We were dead, it was 7 in the morning and it was the worst night of my life. A night to remember for all the wrong reasons, we decided this guy from Denver is a curse and we named him "the fuck". Me and Ben were so exhausted that when everyone else left the hostel for check out we just kept sleeping. We woke up late, and went to the roof and sat there for hours smoking and pondering our night. We then went on a journey for food walking far and wide, and then deciding to eat at the place next to the hostel, another fail. Then we went to the beach to look for everyone but we found no one, we left and then suddenly I spotted them getting ready to leave.  We all ate together and me and Ben decided we were going to stay with Ryan who was leaving later for his other Kibbutz, and Lena who was going home the next day.  We ended up chilling on the beach us 4, getting some food, and hanging out on the roof for the rest of the day.  We used the hostel as if we were still paying guests. We said our goodbyes and me Ben and ryan got a bus to central bus station, we drank wine and beer on the way.  It was a good time.  We then had to rush to catch our bus and said goodbye to Ryan.  We had no idea what we were doing, Ben had crumpled up notes in his pocket on how to get back.  We got off at a junction and had to wait a little while.  We chilled and rolled up and right when we were done a little kitty came out of nowhere and started to play with us.  It was the coolest kitten ever. Ben and I decided we were going to keep him and named him spliff. He was so fun and playful. When the bus came though he freaked out so we said goodbye and got on. You will be missed spliff :(  On the bus me and Ben drank some beer, watched the Inbetweeners, a British show which is bloody brilliant. and Talked the whole way home. We got off at the nearest junction to Baram at about 1130. We spent an hour and a half at that spot trying to hitchhike when finally a sketchy group of 3 guys offered us a ride.  They legit looked like terrorist.  But we were desperate.  The whole ride I had my hand on the door handle ready to jump at any moment.  But they were cool and brought us near the kibbutz, a 45 minute walk. We started to walk, and it went on forever and ever, it was pitch black out. Then a kibbutz member drove by and brought us the rest of the way.  We were finally back, so I went into my room to find a new roomate, Shimone from England had taken the place of Josh. So that's my story of Tel Aviv.
Lets see what else has happened...
O i got fired from dining for refusing to do dishes, so now I am in apples, and I realize my mistake. Some new volunteers have come, and others have gone.  I guess its the way things are here.
I have been here for almost 1.5 months which blows my mind.
I miss home and my sexy girl.
Well thats enough for now, anyone that gets to this end I'm proud of your attention span.
Love you!