Aviv Days 26 + 27!

Following a reasonably hectic and for some intoxicated Sunday night, owing to the occasion of Grant Goldman’s 18^th birthday, an early Hebrew lesson was not exactly what anyone had in mind. However the addition of the Hebrew word for sleep to our vocabularies will surely be appreciated by everyone other than Oded, and our prospective Hebrew-speaking bosses for our various kibbutz jobs. In addition to this “anachnu lomdim” (we learnt… sorry for showing off) a large range of adjectives which Morah Meital ensured us would be useful in daily Israeli life, particularly handy are the words “shitzer” (arrogant) and for the girls “me-ro-ar” (ugly) which they intend to use upon the legion of men who attempt to try their luck at each and every club in Tel Aviv. This Ulpan also saw the beginners, or dumb class, as we have come to be fondly known, split into two due to a number of disruptions caused by a talkative side of the classroom.

Following Ulpan was lunch, chill time and then a program beginning at 5PM which saw us split into groups of roughly 6 or 7 in which we were handed a number of excerpts from various books as well as the torah and were asked to summarise the messages within. We came to the conclusion that the texts pointed towards the family values and traditions passed down in a number of way, shapes and forms, including but not limited to a name. We were then asked to do a bit of research in the always entertaining urban dictionary, as to the definitions provided for our first names. Some believed their definitions were accurate, others not so much, but all in all, laughter was the result. Finally, we were supplied a list of the origins of various Jewish surnames, some were provided clarity on the past occupations of their family whilst others, such as myself with the ridiculously uncommon last name of Rosengarten, left without an increase in knowledge as to the long last origins of a surname which they take for granted on a daily basis.

Dinner was the always disappointing usual, shaped chicken accompanied by lentils and couscous. Our final activity of the night began at 8PM, led by the current affairs committee of Alex, Alexa, Grant, Jason and Claudia, it was a jeopardy-style trivia night featuring the topics of politics, sport, historical fact, gossip, random and the ever-mysterious miscellaneous. After much toil and surprise, a winner was crowned before all headed off on their various paths, all which eventually led to our individual beds, most at a reasonable hour, owing largely to the knowledge that in the morning we would begin our first days of work on kibbutz, eager to impress our new quasi-employers.

Tuesday morning saw Avivians rise at a variety of hours, the earliest of which being Adi, Jared Ellison, Toby and Harry’s pre-6AM rise thanks to their early start, working on the banana plantation for the very first time. The latest start time belonged to Jason and Claudia who were due to begin work with the kibbutz horses at 12:30PM. As everyone began working news began filtering back as to the difficulty and fun factor of each occupation. The gardeners (Jenna, Lucy, Bec and Molly) all enjoyed their first days immensely, becoming mates with the gardening crew and consuming wafers and Arabic coffee as thought they had never even heard of it before! In fact, all unequivocally enjoyed their first days as kibbutz employees other than those placed in hospitality (Zoe, Millie, Azi, Daena, Gabby, Robbie, and for the day Rachel and myself due to the temporary closure of the chicken coop) whose days included the stacking and cleaning of dusty old chairs in the dining room, needless to say none were impressed with boss Basil, delightfully dubbed Bastille by Emma, who along with Grant had been working under him from day one on kibbutz.

Following our shifts, a program was scheduled for 3:30PM but was cancelled due to the occupation of the activity room by our new French neighbours who will be residing in our vicinity for a 10 day period. Come 6PM, after a protracted saga we were finally privileged to location of the washing facilities at the kibbutz, most rejoiced at the prospect of finally having clean clothes to wear. Dinner was next and we were fed sausages prior to a short program run by Tracy about perspective and life, painted in an economic and graphic method. Bedtime and chill time rounded out another good day.

Another awesome couple of days down, 123 days to look forward to!

Jake