All about the kibbutz

This is going to take a couple of posts, I imagine, but I want to describe the exact environment that I will be in for the next five months. I will also put up pictures because I'm sure that words won't be enough for that purpose.


Kibbutz Ein Hashofet is located in a picturesque location south of Haifa. Driving up on a winding road through the hills one can feel the difference in the air right away. It's crisp and clear and somehow creates a feeling of calm. The kibbutz itself is very green and yet it's industrial at the same time. Every kibbutz is built along the same principal; public and industrial facilities are usually in the middle. Those are surrounded by facilities for kids and the outer layer is for adults. Ein Hashofet has a beautiful pool, a couple of basketball courts, tennis, and football. It has at least two factories. One is Mivrag and makes parts for automobiles. The other is Eltam and makes parts for lights. This is where I and the majority of ulpanists work. The jobs vary for us, but once it's set, you're doing it for a while. First day I was on an assembly line placing some metal things on some metal hooks and pressing some buttons. Now, I have been placed on a stamping machine and I change some other metal thingies and arrange them into bins. Hope that wasn't overly technical. Basically I get to be in charge of this huge machine that keeps stamping out parts out of metal and if it stops someone comes over and makes it go again. The job isn't hard or boring but it is physically tiring. I get to wear ear plugs and work clothes. Regular workers seem nice and I try to talk to everyone but the communication is limited. However, right next to me, there is a man from Zaporozhiye and he's taken me under his wing sort of. He explained that when I have a 10 minute coffee break it really means 20. That half an hour for lunch doesn't necessarily constitute into 30 minutes. Overall the concept of time on the kibbutz is really skewed. For example, I've been told that we're going to the bank tomorrow. The week has passed and I'm still hoping to get there tomorrow. Talking to others I seem to have come up with a better idea of what to expect. "Tomorrow" is really next week. "Soon" is closer to next month. "Sometime" is most likely never.
As far as the people in the ulpan program, there are 30 of us. 20 are from the former USSR, 4 Americans, 1 from Belgium, 1 from Holland, 1 from Bulgaria, 1 from South Africa and 2 from Brazil. We seem to have divided into several blocks. Good Russians, bad Russians, foreigners and me. I'm separate because I haven't decided where I belong yet. Mostly I've been bridging the great divide but lately I'm more pleased with the foreigners and understand them better. They take studies very seriously and are very open and friendly. Recently the bad Russians have been growing loud and they might get complained about. The nickname for that group is "the Red Square". As far as the relationship between the kibbutzniks and ulpanists, it's been mixed. I keep hearing that the regulars don't like us but I haven't experienced it. Everyone's been very welcoming to me so far. Most don't understand why Americans are here but looks like they've attributed it to us being crazy. I haven't really tried to explain why, just listening to them and smiling whenever they talk about wanting to live in the US. I think I can understand them. When David was discussing it with me, he said that people think that they can be a somebody in America. But he thinks that if one is nothing in Israel it's not because of Israel and that they will be nothing everywhere. At the same time, I found out that this has been the reason for a lot of people to move here. Maybe that's why so many of them get disappointed. One still needs to work hard to achieve something regardless of their environment. The interesting thing about talking to the factory workers is that right after saying something like "Go back to Chicago and take me with you" they say "Israel is good. Sun, sea, happy. Just no money." So there is hope that if Israel has money, there will be nothing to complain about.
There are also volunteers on the kibbutz. They came from all over, but the majority is from Columbia and Ecuador. They all are very nice and are placed between the ulpanists and kibbutzniks. Nobody thinks they are lazy (ulpanists think of kibbutzniks that way) or stupid (kibbutzniks of ulpanists). They work full week and get paid 480 shekels a month.
The ulpan itself has two groups. Beginners are "alef" and advanced are "bet". Everyone works half a week and studies the other. Days are alternated. I've been placed in bet but among several who can't freely speak Hebrew. The group itself is 11 people with 2 who are fluent but can't read and write, 4 who can do a bit of both and the rest, including me, who know just enough to be too knowledgeable for alef. It's challenging but the teacher is very good and I'm sure I will come out of it with a strong base for future studies. Everyone in bet is very interested in learning and it's a great environment to be in. We get together after class to go over homework, try to talk Hebrew to each other and even wake each other up before the class. Alef has some students like that but there are also a few who have no interest in learning.
The food here is not among the best. I'm actually thinking about starting to cook for myself. I'll keep you updated on this idea.
The houses have two sections of three rooms each. Two of those rooms have 2 beds and one has 3. The section has a common porch, bathroom, 2 toilet rooms and a kitchen. The kitchen can be locked and for the most part is for the night because of the dogs. There are several just walking around and they've learned how to open the refrigerator doors and eat the food. My room has three beds but it looks that I'm going to be the only one living in it. I've made one king size bed and have created one big table. My section mates are two Americans. One is also from Chicago and one from Boston. Both are 26 and have been working some odd jobs recently. They're not religious but have tattoos of Jewish prayers. Very nice guys and I'm glad that I live next to them so far.
Haven't done a lot of photography. However, I have been trying to catch the moon every night. First night I got here with David, there was the most beautiful moon out. It was huge. Round and yellow. I've been looking for it ever since but it's been teasing me. I did get to see a kibbutz wedding on one of my hunts and I took some pictures. I'll post them later. But in short there was singing and Israeli dancing and since it was outside, it was definitely a unique experience for me to watch.
Another exhilarating event was a game of football in my second night here. Apparently it's a fixture every Sunday night. Some Argentines from a neighboring kibbutz come over to play against Ein Hashofet guys. Last time they brought 9 and we had 15. We had 2 Americans (one was me), 2 Brazilians, 1 South African, 2 Koreans (tourists) and the rest from Columbia or Ecuador. Needless to say it was a beautiful thing to watch. South Americans are so technical and natural and can do magic with the ball. Because the field was small, we played 5 on 5 with substitutions after every 2 goals. I started out on the bench and sat around for two shifts. When I finally got into a game, I was a goalie. I didn't get to sit on the bench for the next hour and a half. Teams kept changing, players rotating, but I was in goal all the time. Even for opposing kibbutz at the end. I don't mean to brag but I haven't played in such a long time that forgive me for being so giddy when describing this game. There was not one guy who didn't tell me how well I played. They didn't even know my name and didn't need to; I became "a goalie" for them. Attack after attack, I kept stopping them. Of course I let some in but I didn't give them any easy ones. Ah, now I remember why I love this game so much...