I can't read bus schedules. Its the worst thing in the whole entire world, and the reason that Jackie ended up in Karmi'el on Tuesday afternoon. She came bareing gifts from Sofi including a vuvuzela, salt and vinegar Simba Chips, Mint chocolae and some Dream chocolate. The best of all though was the Heat Magazine. Lol. I love Heat.
For dinner we all went out for Pizza. OMNOMNOM.
Wednesday 20 June
Lily, Jackie and I managed to pack our bags and head off to the bus station to catch the 7 am bus to Jerusalem.
I sat huddled in a corner of the bus, right at the back, with two people that couldn't have changed my life any more than they already did. I was half asleep, my eyes flickering open and closed watching the scenery change with every blacked out moment. Trees disappeared from the landscapes only to be replaced with desert and mountains and then the buildings that I had called home for so long. I felt comforted.
For lunch I had an Ice Cafe, and missed Rebekkah.
We made our way through the dirty streets of Jerusalem to Gan Ha'atsmaut for a little picnic of chocolate and liqurish. This would be the first stop on our Hoboing around Jruz excursion.
We stopped by the Museum on the Seam and pretentiously analysed some of the pieces and pretended to be uppity and snooty, but the illusion was soon shattered by our hippie-ness in the tree outside.
For dinner we stoppped by the Supermarket at the top of King George street and picked up a few things for a stir fry. We ate about three free ice creams each and with our fingers sticky from the dripping ice lollies we set off for Mors house down the road.
We all squished into the tiny little elevator to the 3rd floor and fell out onto the floor outsidew her house in hysterics and true hobo fashion.
Dinner was a beautiful affair. Cross lewgged on the floor we all sat around a bright blue table decorated with things both proudly South African and Israelie. Our israelies spoke animatedly about politics, I was only able to pick up a few words, but every so often they translated.
Lily and I spooned on the bed that had been our home for the first three days of shant, and after giggling for a ittle while, I fell asleep.
Thursday 21 June
I awoke to the sounds of trucks ion the street below, transporting what I could only imagine to be something very important for them to be making such a noise at that time of the morning.
I hung out in the house for a few hours while Lily went off and had her own adventures in the doctors office. There was also this whole debarcle about her cell phone being stuck under her seat in the bus and all these people trying to help her get it out.
On the shirut we met a lovely woman who decided that we would be here american friends and that we knew where everything was. She kept asking annoying questions.
When we arrived in Tel Aviv, we went straight to the embassy and battled through the bag people and went to the counter and had to deal with the woman behind the counter. Up until this point everything had been going quite well, and we didn't think that it would stop. but, BAM! A huge pile of terribleness to ruin our lovely chofesh in Tel Aviv.
Our Visas were denied and sitting at the table when they told us was the worst feeling in the world. I felt like my stomach was gonna fall out my butt, and yes, that is a Mean Girls quote. But so relevant.
In the cool comfort of Jade's Mom's house, on the clean white floor of the living room/kitchen area, we had a pity party complete with English Breakfast Tean and Cookie Dough Ice Cream. Our weekend couldn't have gotten any worse if the whole world had fallen apart, and we were invaded by ... Aliens...
But Dan Rattan joined our pitty party and took our ind off things with his pointless, but undoubtedly adorable Dan-Rattan-Stories-About-Nothing and made everything fee la little less crappy.
We went out for ice cream, the second of the day, and all stood outside the ice cream shop in the cool breeze of the afternoon air. We said our awkward goodbyes and Jade, Lily and I went our separate ways and found ourselves watching the blue and orange sunset, flecked with purple clouds that shone like gems as the sun hyit them in just the right way.
We spoke about the way we want Kami'el to go, and all the new exciting ideas we could put into practice and how we work as a Cavutza and how we work as a movement.
Friday 22 June
Back to Jerusalem!
It was about 5pm before we got on yet another Monit Sherut headded for Jerusalem. With a little bit of bargaining we convinced the shirut driver to take us directly to the park at the bottom of King George street. Convenient! Woooo!
We met Micha'el by chance also lost and confused as to where we would be meeting everyone, so we took it upon ourselves to pick the spot.
The grassy clearing we had chosen for our Shabbat Picnic quickly filled up. Rina, the past Shaliach and reason that Netzer South Africa Exists, along with Jackie, tall and bouncy with her short, dark hair puilled back and held with her sunglasses, Gozlan, scarf, guitar in hand and finally Anat, quick tongue and sharp wit at the ready, all arrived. As we ate Avocado mush on challah and fished around in the semi darkness of the setting sun, we welcomed the Shabbt with songs and melodies played inbetween shouts of "Your Mom" back and forth across the circle between Gozlan and Anat.
As the melodies of songs sung so many times before, and perfected over months of practice rolled off his fingertips and onto the strings that he plucked, I watched in awe, as I normally do. His voice was scratchy from too many cigarettes and her voice high, sweet, as though an angel was singing from above. Together they sounded as beautiful as if they had been made to complete each other. The only problem was that they would never be together. Gentle plucking from a ukulele broke the harmony with sudden sounds of an odd tune, she sang like the soul of an African beat inside her and like she had finally come home to the place that she truly loved and needed. Drumming erupted from my left side and as the beat caught the rhythm that had been floating through the air I blew into the tiny little holes searching for the sound that would carry my own spirit through the music and as we all sat in the dark of the Holy City, we were one voice singing the songs that made our hearts smile and soar like the birds above us.
At Noas house the music continued to come and go as people entered and left the room thatw was so filled with peopole and personalities and all the love in the world that one person could give to another and in unison we all sang the words that make my life what it is.
"Hanach l'raglai l'lechet lama kom sheli bi' ohev. Oftach li'bi lehove et hamakom, lamakom elav raglai holchot"
Saturday 23 June
Breakfast in Jerusalem under a tree that didn't take all that long to find with Jackie and Lily made me so happy. We ate left overs from the night before and spoke animatedly about our lives as if there was no time in the world to catch everything up. We parted ways out side the old city and off to tEl aviv to catch a shirut to haifa and eventually the little town of Karmi'el.
Sunday 24 June
Bus to Akko 14sheck
Train to Tel Aviv 55 sheck
Shirut to Rehov Rothchild 6 sheck
Cupanoodles 12sheck
Avos 3sheck
Scary walk to Jades house and getting lost three times but arriving to a lovely cool house and sleeping on a cloud bed with three of my favorite friends in the whole wide world
Priceless.
Monday 25 June
My Backpack got stuck in the little cupboard at the Embassy and the stupid American guy was like "Well, lets just give this a little twist!" and proceeded to jiggle with the locker for about 15 minutes.
He kept making jokes about spies because I had the 007 locker and it was just a super awkward moment in my life, Gawd.
