Aviv Days 42 – 45

As our time on kibbutz comes to an end so do our short-lived Hebrew lessons with our beloved teacher Morah Meital. Wednesday was the penultimate lesson and it was followed by a lunch of spaghetti bolognaise and then a movie named ‘Bufor’ which chronicled the experiences of soldiers stationed at a fortress just inside the Lebanese Border during the Lebanon war. Dinner consisted of sausages and was proceeded by an extremely interesting program which explored the positives and negatives of social media use in contemporary society and its connotations upon youth and adults alike. Bedtime completed another day at Yechiam as we drew closer to venturing off our now accustomed surroundings and heading back to the big smoke that is Jerusalem.

Thursday brought our final ulpan lesson which was highlighted by the consumption of copious amounts of junk food provided by, without doubt, our favourite ulpan teacher in the entirety of Israel (Our only one…). Lunch was next up and featured Basel’s patented shwarma meat. Room clean up followed as the squeegees were once again removed from their resting places and engaged in the cleaning of numerous tiled surfaces. As each and every room passed our room inspections we proceeded to relax until dinner which comprised of meat patties, rice and peas, a more than adequate meal. Our final activity of the day was a program which highlighted the evolution of television via the medium of a documentary hosted by a British man whose pompousness and dark sense of humour had some immediate disliking his each and every statement. Nonetheless, the premise of the program certainly had a heightened validity whether or not it got through to everyone.

Friday was the day in which we were to head off to the big bad city of Nahariya and scour the vendors for cheap yet satisfactory Purim attire which was to last us both for the kibbutz’s own Purim party which was to be held that night as well as our nights in Jerusalem. Of course when in town everyone opened up their wallets and splurged upon delicious foods and drinks and most visited Nahariya’s premier shwarma dealership. With costumes in hand and stomachs full we gradually headed back to Yehiam mentally prepared for the big night which we knew was ahead of us. Sure enough, the night finally arrived as everyone donned their costumes and hit the bar. The theme was Las Vegas, a theme ignored by most, props to Harry for going as a magician the most Vegas-y of the group.  After an exceedingly hazy night we headed for bed at various hours, all assured of numerous new stories which we would vaguely remember for the months and years to come.

As we awoke the next morning, some remembering more of the previous night than the others, people steadily emerged from their quarters looking not in the best of sorts. We were granted the chill time we so dearly craved and were allowed to do however we pleased for almost the entirety of the day. Following lunch, the majority of the group headed up to Yechiam’s very own fortress, which was built by the crusaders in the 12^th century before being occupied by the Ottoman’s during their empirical reign and finally being used by the kibbutzniks to defend against invaders in more recent times. It was a fun experience and many got some solid photos out of it. After dinner we spent our final night on kibbutz Yechiam with a short program run by the media committee comprised of two short videos in which we reflected on our kibbutz experience both verbally and photographically. Family time featuring red light green light was the final item on the agenda as all retired to their rooms to pack their bags eager to depart for pastures new at the bright and early time of 7:45AM. Well Kibby Yechy, it’s been real! Thanks for having us!

Another few awesome days down, 107 days to look forward to!

Jake