off the beaten path

Wow sounds cleansing and refreshing...where would you sleep with the mixed weather this time of year ?

By chance Orit I find comfortable, affordable rooms.  Never in chain hotels.  Women are my best source.  Renting a room from a woman is ideal.  Networking is the key after arriving at a destination.

Ein Gedi for now.  From the tragic accommodations of the lodgings at crazy prices to a room within the kibbutz I have spent two weeks within the luxurious alchemy of this desert oasis.  A menorah has been erected in the Judean HIlls and each night the glowing advances.  A magnificent sight.  I do believe Jordan is enjoying the towering flames although perhaps not the significance.

Yalla Orit

This post makes me jealous
The free feeling and love of life is the best feeling ever.
Israel here I come !

Yes yes freedom is everything I agree.  But it comes at a cost because when one lives by the heart, with full throttle courage, one runs into the sharpened teeth of desperation.

Israelis are full of energy and ego, exhaustion and not a little anxiety. After too many decades of violence and the continuing threat of extinction ( by those with no knowledge of history, and those subjugated by their own leaders), Israelis are worn out.  This is a personal observation by me after immersing myself within the culture for months at a time over a period of 25 years.

Ein Gedi is a tricky place.  The kibbutz is unwinding its socialist past.  the members have lived so far from reality and the present world  that the process is slow,  steeped in fear.  Nothing like fear and certitude to blind people to possibilities.  The young ones who arrive to work at the kibbutz are a lively bunch, friendly and outgoing.  The kibbutzniks are xenophobic and a little wacky.  Customer service is odd if you encounter it at all.

When the new generation (the children and grandchildren of the pioneers, those who have travelled and seen the world) gains leadership, the future at Ein Gedi will arrive with party hats and hope.

contact me if you need cultural translating, help or advice.  I have endured the worst and can help you avoid it.

I do love this land, something that lives here lives within me.  It is very very rare.   This thing.