ShnUpdates - Savyon 16.11.17
Thursday marked our last working day on Chava ve Adam, we spent the morning stuffing cut up rubbish into plastic bottles to fill up the insides of our bench and doing some work on the frame of the bench too
That afternoon we watched a documentary on ecology as a group and learnt a lot about different approaches towards ecology and what we can do to live more ethically, following this we had some down time to prepare for the farm party that we had later that night. Instead of eating at tables normally the eating area had been transformed into a dance floor. All the tables and chairs had been put to the side and we ate as a group on the floor. The farm party started a little bit after we ate and went on late into the night. The whole farm was up and dancing together creating a great atmosphere. Later on in the night there was a campfire that everyone sat around and talked; a great end to a great night.
Friday gave the group a chance to reflect upon our time on Chava ve Adam and to relax as a group. Lots of past members of the farm were also on the farm discussing community, one past member of the farm also happened to be a past LJY-Netzer member which allowed us to get a familiar perspective of the farm from someone who knows about our ideology but has also experienced living on Chava ve Adam for a year. The rest of our weekend also was spent on the farm resting and preparing to depart to from Chava ve Adam.
Sunday was a bittersweet day.It was our last day on the eco farm Chava ve Adam. It was the last time we had to wake up at 7:20 to get breakfast. It was porridge as always with some vegetables and of course tehina (like every food which was served on this farm). After breakfast we packed our stuff, cleaned the dome in which we lived for two weeks (one week we had the privilege of moving to smaller yurts and to live in the eco village). Our dome looked so different without all the stuff. It was possible to see the floor again. We had a little bit of time to say goodbye to this great place, where we learned so much about agriculture, mud building, craft workshops, building benches, picking olives and how we can help the farm and the world with small things for example turning lights off, separating the waste and recycling it.
We met our Madrichim, Yael and Emma, at the same place where our experience on the farm started. After all the time being there, most of us still didn't want to sit of the ground. We talked about our experience on the farm, what we liked most about it and what they can improve, filled a feedback form out and got presents. Everyone from our group got a tshirt, some seeds and their own mud bowl.
It was really sad that we couldn't say goodbye to most of the people, but all of us are sure that we want to come back. So it is not a goodbye forever!
We travelled to Tel Aviv. After we arrived at the little Tel Aviv Hostel, we got to the Rabin active Centre. This is a museum about the history of Israel and also the life of Yitzhak Rabin. We had a great tour with a nice guide who talked about the most important events in the history of Israel. After the small trips we had a peulah with Raviv. Our first task was to go out and take photos of the city. We also analyzed song lyrics of famous songs which are about the city life in general. Later we talked the differences between the life in a city and in a kibbutz.
We started our next day with the best pancakes ever. To be honest pancakes in general are great. But after hava ve adam are pancakes the best thing you can have. Our first activity was the beit HaAtzmaut. This is the independence hall, where Ben Gurion signed the independence of the Jewish state Israel on the 14.May.1948. It was a magic moment when they recreated the moment and stood up to sing the hatikva.
After this we went to a mechina. It was like a community for example in a kibbutz, but in a house. So all the people live together in flats and cook for all of them, do volunteering at different important places and have classes to learn. It was interesting to talk to them about topics like Zionism and just to get to know each other. After the came back we had a session with Orit talking about HagShama (full filling) the ideology of netzer. The last activity was an escape room. You're "trapped" in the room, and the aim is to escape using puzzles to go out of the escape room by solving puzzles. We split up into 2 groups with different themes. One got pirates and one game of thrones. It was a lot of fun!
The time in Tel Aviv was a great surprise!
On Tuesday we packed up our stuff and left the little Tel Aviv hostel. We got on a very full mini bus carrying our many belongings to kibbutz Lotan. After a short lunch stop we arrived early and met our leaders. Their names are Debby and Mark and are very nice. We had a short getting to know them then the rules and important stuff we needed to know. Then we had some free time to settle in to our domes for the first couple of weeks in the bustan (which is a neighbourhood of the kibbutz). Then we met the shin shins that are our age who are doing a year here before the army. They made us a lovely dinner were we got to know them. Then two of the people in the kibbutz ran a salsa dancing taster session. It was hard to remember the steps but a lot of fun at the same time dancing with people you don’t really know yet. Then we went to bed ready for our first day on the kibbutz :)
On Wednesday we woke up and was shown how to clean and maintain the bustan. Then we had breakfast and met more people from the kibbutz. After that we had a tour of the kibbutz were we visited the different parts. This included the dairy farm, the ecology section, learning to play disc golf and the nursery (which is very cute). We then had a session about our fears, what we want to learn and then our contributions to the community whilst we are here. After lunch we had a session in the field where we were blindfolded and left in a field to find one another through chanting. Once we did, we then had to find out information about them to get to know them. Then next activity was a bit harder because we all had to get to the other side of the field, only touching four square pieces of cardboard. You couldn’t fall off or let go of them or we had to start again. After many attempts we got there and had worked well as a team. Then half of the group cooked dinner for the bustan and then we had chilled activities lead by one of the Australians that has just finished Shnat. It helped us to bond with the shin shins better.
