So today we were up, ate breakfast and off. First stop Tiberias, to ensure that I do not have to join the army. But all was ok. Bit of road rage here from our driver however, the car infront of us was going a bit slowly, so after beeping (A LOT) and being side-by-side, our driver (Oori-brother of my mums best friend from the kibbutz) decides to give the driver a bit of advice and says the following (keep in mind the driver did nothing wrong, and was an old religious man with a white beard! - almost prohphet like): "you have to to the licensing department, to appologise to them for giving you a license, and give back your licence to them because you are a very bad driver" - hahaha, in hebrew 10 times funnier!!! This was just once incident to come.
The view from here (Tiberias) was amazing, reminided me a bit of Genova in Italy, as the town or city is built on a steep hill, so everyone has a view of the kineret (Sea of Galilee). Unfortunately it was a bit hazy, however it was amazing with all the banana trees, olive trees and date trees, hugging the road. So driving along, I did not know exactly what we were going to, as I was just told the Kineret, however once we arrived at this secret little location I understood why we went of the main road. Oori was in the army, and was positioned around this area, so he was familiar with the surroundings, and he knew of this 'secret' army base - so I found out we were going towards this. It was positioned at the top of this hill, so just as it was above us, there was another car parked on the side of the road, and here we pulled up. Nothing at all was there apart from the army base on top, the view and a little door within a wire fence. So we all hopped out, not knowing what exactly we were doing there, and climbed through this simple door like thing. Anyway we saw a family, sitting under a tree having a picnic (must have been their car), so we said hello and got to talking. Anyway I was rushed along by my grandmother (safta - grandmother in hebrew) and oori. They pointed out that we were looking for a flower which is only in this location - in the colour of a 'tsa-ov be-i-tsa'(yellow part of an egg - yolk). So we went looking - let me tell you, as we only found about 10 of them in total, it was amazing to see that amongst rocks these flowers grew. Stayed there for a bit, playing spot the flower, and then continued. Coming down the hill, the road is not very wide at all, so a big yellow line is drawn to ensure two lanes are kept. noticing that Oori kept wandering on the other side, I told my mum to ask him which side he was driving on, to which he answered the middle. Next thing came a tour bus. With little room already, Oori decided to stop right in the middle of the road, as if the bus was in the wrong (slighty crazy I tell you), and the bus stopped too. After a few seconds of looking at eachother, and hand movements, Oori hesitated, but finally decided to move to the right (Israel drives opposite lanes to Aussieland) - after a few beeps of the hawn from both parties, we were lucky to get through!
The kineret is situation right next to Siriya, and is actually the area that is wanted from Siriya to exchange peace, so during the independence war (and many many others) this area is was hit. So you can see the old arab villages which have been destroyed, and Oori explained that during war you are not allowed to target churches, synagogues, mosques etc etc, so you can still see the remains of such buildings.
Anyway on and on we went driving round the kineret, which by the way is over 300 metres under sea level (dead sea is lower @ over 400 metres below). It finally hits lunch time, we stop beside the first kibbutz made which was Deganya (Yardanit). This is where people are baptised in the River Jordan. So we eat a FEAST here, typical Israeli food, bread, dips, salad, dips, shishkebab, dips etc etc (just GREAT), and after ended with some tea- a flavour of mint & louise (some kind of herb thing), which was also tasty. Then Oori took me to see the people being baptised. The river is full of fish - huge ones let me add, and they all walk in their white gowns straight into it. So I, just to join in, took off my flip flops, rolled up my jeans, and went in (in the NO FISH zone - hahaha).
After this we went to the kibbutz where the restaurant was to have a look at their shop which was filled with dates, chocolate, dried fruit, avocados, halva, and everything else the kibbutz makes - nice to see. Then we moved on to a memorial, which was created by a wealthy woman whos son died. She bought the land, and greated a restaurant and gallery. Walking around, the sun was just started to set, so the scenery became slightly pinkish - really nice. Then looking down I spotted four animals walking together. Not knowing what they were I asked the adults - or whom first claimed they were porcupines, however they had a tail, and I commented they looked like giant rats - I was later informed they were otters. They were quite cute I must say, once it was cleared that they were girant rats.
Then we headed back. Now I want to go for another walk, so talk to you later.
Byeeee
xx
p.s. wait for photos - they will come!!!
Tov (ok), tonight we went to have Sabbath dinner with the whole kibbutz, at the chader-o-chel, which was great food! Vegetable soup for entree, marinated roast chicken with rice for main, along with salad, and desert then at home - fruit, fruit, and more fruit. Along with afternoon activies, the evening consisted of meeting a lot of other people, and catching up on where life has brought me. I think I have an idea - write on a business card all the answers to all the questions, and to every new person I meet, hand it out - would save a lot of hassle.....although I must say it is fun! One persom which we stumbled on was a classmate of my uncle, I dont think I have met her before but I was introduced to her as Koky - which is my mums nickname. It came from her teacher in kindi who explain that "Kotec" in Polish is kitten, and as my mum has green eyes she called her Koky cause it was cute
. Anyway everyone in Israel knows her as that - the name Rachel is a secret. So I say my name is Maya, and she said that her daughters name is also Maya (spelt the same way might I add), so above is a photo of Maya & Maya, Koky & Koky.
