Various Pictures, Mostly Animals

They just follow you around clucking, expecting food

Beautiful plumage

Pheasants

The inner portion of the farmers market at the port, like a mini version of Chelsea Market in Manhattan

It talks!!!! In Hebrew!!!!

Frightening emu, orange eyes like the devil, long sharp claws too

I got to make pizza with a pizza stone at a friend's house!!!

All of the animal pictures are from Hakfar Hayarok, where I volunteer Friday mornings and take care of these 'lovely' creatures along with many other animals not pictured. They are very camera shy...

Eilat Trip #2: The Good One

Jordan River Valley

This weekend the program had a trip to Eilat and since it was planned by competent adults it went really well. No expectations not being met by reality leading to disappointment on this trip!!! (Not sarcasm) We got up Friday morning and took our sweet ass time loading onto the buses, the counselors making sure we had hats, 2 liters of water and closed toe shoes. I want to say how it's not necessary for people our age to be treated like children but I would be lying if I did. Sad truth. Not all 20 year olds are capable of 20 year old behavior. We stop for breakfast at a mall and all approx 70 of us line up at the Aroma (upscale Israeli starbucks I guess). I see donuts. I get two. They even warmed them up for me so the jelly inside was more like a syrup but I honestly think that was just the way they are, regardless of them being warmed up. No regrets. Just donuts. Our next stop is at the Hebrew Israelite community near Dimona. One of the leaders there was talking to us and he was a very smooth talker but there were still a few things that were pretty off-putting. At first it seemed like a really good community. Mandatory exercise, emphasis on lowering stress, vegan diet, which he said is natural for people and can't be disputed... But then there were some other things. They don't really believe in higher education, he cited it as being responsible for the production of weapons of mass destruction, but ignored the fact that so many great things also come from higher education... They are not very supportive of LGBT, he said it was unsustainable... He also talked about how women absorb the dna of men and physically become more like them when they have sex... So much pseudoscience... It was a good thing we weren't staying very long. I even asked one of the teens who was born there if she liked it. I got a silent head nod saying no. All I needed to (not) hear.

We get back on the bus and keep going, past the "Krembo factory". Krembo is a chocolate mousse puff atop a graham cracker covered in chocolate. It resembles a dome or part of the nuclear power plant near dimona (southern desert city)... They keep the "krembo factory" heavily guarded and don't let anyone know the secret recipe. Also if you are seen taking pictures of it you might get a talking from the security or cops. It's best to not talk about the "krembo factory". We take a stop for lunch at the Yotvata store/gift shop. There are very few things in the desert on the way to Eilat so all these places we stopped at I had been on my last trips to Israel about 5 and 8 years ago. We finally get to the hotel, a few hours to nap and shower before dinner. Dinner was pretty good, the vegetarian option consisted of corn cutlets and spring rolls but there was many options for salad stuffs. After dinner we went on a "party" boat for a few hours. It was a boat and there was loud music and a very understocked bar. The only liquor they had was vodka and they ran out of that super fast and all the beers were room temperature. We also all got a voucher for one free drink, other wise it would be about $7. Oh Israel. At one point they bring out this bellydancer and she puts on her playlist and is just making everyone uncomfortable. She has a dedicated playlist, videographer and photographer. They make us clear a space for her to dance around and make everyone feel super awkward for a a good twenty minutes. If you made eye contact you were as good as dead. She honed in on people feeling uncomfortable like a heat seeking missile. After she finally ruined the mood enough she vanished. Probably just resting in her tanning bed, just waiting to strike at the next party. The music selection was great at some points but horrible at others. A lot of people were just being party poopers and not dancing at all. Now usually I would be one of those party poopers but this time... I was not.

Breakfast the next day included jachnun. I love jachnun. Look it up. Jachnun Jachnun. The next part of our day, and the last part for me as I needed to leave Saturday to be back for my sunday class and midterm due on sunday, was a 5 hour hike through Amir canyon. It was great but like the party boat, not everyone was enjoying it. We played a few little games on our little breaks but group participation was really low. People made the mistake of eating their lunch too early, not packing enough for lunch and then complaining about it when lunch came. Did pack more than enough food. Didn't get a sun burn. Did do a lot of rock scrambling. Didn't poop on the party. Did have a great time. Didn't fall or cut myself. Did see a lot of awesome rock formations. Didn't take a lot of pictures. Took two. Did meet a lot of new (nice) people. Unfortunately when it was over we went back to the hotel and then I, along with a bunch of other kids, rode back to Tel Aviv where we promptly fell asleep. 

I guess I should update this

I had two midterms this week along with other assignments, some of which I'm still working on so this will be a fairly brief update with the possibility of expansion later but not so likely...

• Last weekend I slept over at a friend's (from sprout lake) house and I made pizza for her family for dinner, they had a pizza stone, it was glorious. It was super relaxing and just nice to be in a real home instead of the dorms. They also had a kitler. Google it.
• When I was at the Shuk I got a hummus plate. Warm hummus. Whole new experience. Life changing.
• I did some kumquat harvesting at Hakfar Hayarok and they were so good. Really weird that not only can you eat the skin but the skin is sweeter than the juice inside it.
• I'm in love with the farmers market. I spent almost 100 shekel ~$30 on cheese alone and about $5 on the best mango I've ever had. 10/10 -would buy again
• I spent a lot of time studying for my economy midterm in the library. It's nice but it doesn't compare to the 26 floor behemoth of a library at UMass. 
• I spent almost no time studying for my environment midterm. Didn't really need to. Much easier to learn and memorize environment notes compared to economy notes. I guess I should write a post about Israel's environment and the mistakes they made in the past. Horrible mistakes. One after another...
• I've adjusted to cooking with the food they do have here. In part due to my deal with a friend. I cook dinner for both of us and I get paid. Initially with a liter of bourbon. Anybody have any good mixed drink recipes with Jim Bean? I don't really enjoy drinking it plain...
• I learned how to say apricot in hebrew. Meeshmeesh.
• I found the TAU running club. Ran 8km (5 miles) with them Tuesday night in about an hour. It was a painfully slow pace but fun experience nonetheless. We got ice cream after. 
• I heard that there was snow back home and became very jealous. I want winter so badly even though the weather here is beautiful. 
• I saw blue jasmine, new woody allen film. It was pretty good and I think the first woody allen film I've ever seen.
• I finally found out who was in charge of the secret neglected garden and started working with him. I spent about twenty minutes trying to uproot a guava tree but couldn't do it. I had to go to class.
• I talked to someone about the new grad school program here dealing with food security. It was really cool to hear about and a little tempting.
• Nothing else is springing to mind at the moment and I have to run to my acting class. 

Dog Decision Tree

Picture 1

Picture 2

This is dog. Dog likes to play fetch. However, Dog doesn't really know how to play fetch. Most of the time if you throw the stick Dog will get the stick. Dog might bring the stick back, which Dog does most of the time, or Dog might just lay there with the stick. If Dog brings the stick back, just like before, one of two things will happen. Dog might put the stick at your feet for you to throw again and if you do, the Dog Decision Tree starts all over again. The other option, as seen in the pictures, is what happens when Dog does not give the stick back. Dog will keep the stick in it's mouth but put it's head against your hand. If you move your hands away from Dog it will push it's head against you as seen in Picture 1. However caution must be exercised. For as soon as you try to grab the stick Dog will bite further up the stick closer to your hand. If your hand is not bitten off in the process you may continue to Picture 2. In Picture 2 you will simply be playing tug-o-war with Dog. If the stick gets broken off in the process a new stick will be required to start the Dog Decision Tree all over again. Also, if you let go of the stick you will go back to Picture 2. Fin.