How to Comment on a Post

Aloha!
A technical point:  if you want to comment on a blog post, you need to click at the bottom of the post where it very subtly says "0 Comments" or "1 Comment".  You can't reply to the email you get about it.

Petra

The Treasury

Nestled in a valley in Jordan lies an ancient city carved out of sheer cliff faces. There are hundreds of buildings, each one carved out of one piece of stone. We were luckily enough to visit this magical place, and walked miles around, through, and within many amazing stone carved buildings.

Petra was built over 2,000 years ago by the Nabateans, a nomadic tribe from western Arabia who settled in that area around the 6^th century BCE. It is the biggest tourist attraction in Jordan and it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The area is currently populated by non-nomadic Bedouins. They are very friendly and talkative, especially when they are trying to sell you things.

There are many things to see at Petra, such as the iconic Treasury (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), and the Monastery, an inconceivably tall building thought to be a church because of the crosses found on the interior. On the second day we hiked 2 miles and up 850 stairs to see the jaw-dropping Monastery. When we were there we saw a Bedouin man climb up a rock face to the side of, and then on top of, the 200 foot tall Monastery. On the walk back down, after we were done going the down the stairs, we got to ride camels through Petra, which was probably the third coolest thing I’ve ever done.

A Bedouin on top of the Monastery

The Monastery

hanging out twenty feet up

The Dead Sea

Avi floating in the Dead Sea

The Dead Sea is the one of the saltiest bodies of water and the lowest point on earth (1,388 feet below sea level). This inland sea is named because it’s so salty that there are no living creatures in it. The sea has 8.6 times higher salt concentration than ocean water. The Dead Sea is so salty because it has no outlets. While the water evaporates, the salt remains and builds up.

Salt-covered rock
Dead Sea shore

Salt-covered Dead Sea shore

Salt water has a higher density than fresh water. You float easily because you move the heavy water downwards and it pushes upwards trying to fill in the space. That’s why things float much better in salt water.  The Dead Sea is extremely salty and therefore extremely dense making things very buoyant.  Being in the Dead Sea felt almost unreal to me, I could stand straight up and the water would take me off my feet onto my stomach or back. I found it amazing that with no effort I could float.  It also occurred to me that I could use the resistance to swim very fast, even while doggie paddling. The only thing was I had to be careful not to get any water on my face, because it’s so salty it can burn your eyes, ears, nose or mouth.

An Inspiring Community

While Avi already wrote about Kibbutz Mishmar Ha' Emeq, we (Baruch & Veronica) were so blown away by our experience there that we wanted to share these words.

While planning our trip to Israel, given our interest in intentional communities, we really wanted to find a way to experience kibbutz life.  A month before our departure, an Israeli family just happened to come to Veronica’s weekly acroyoga class.  Veronica introduced herself and mentioned that we would soon be in Israel.  Though they had met only a moment before, Yenai immediately offered to host us. Without hesitation, Veronica accepted the offer.  A month later we drove directly from the Tel Aviv airport to Kibbutz Mishmar Ha’ Emeq.

After travelling around Turkey, we were all ready for a homier environment.  The Family Levor (Yenai, his wife Dafna and their children ages 16-21) along with the kibbutz generously provided what we were hoping for.  Yenai is an amazingly multi-talented person.  He’s a prominent homeopath, an acrobalance teacher, has many circus arts skills, and has a leadership role in the kibbutz. He is a thoughtful and knowledgeable man who speaks fluent English. As a result, we learned so much from him about kibbutz life and Israeli history.

The morning after we arrived, Yenai and his teenage son took us for an exciting first surfing lesson.  We all got ‘washing machined’ by the rowdy sea, and experienced the thrill of riding some waves lying on the boards.  We also all had a great time doing acrobalancing on the beach.

We spent the next four days graciously hosted by the Family Levor and their amazing kibbutz.  Yenai gave us a wonderful insider view of kibbutz life.  It was heartwarming to see how 1000 people can live together, each one contributing to the community and each one having their needs very well met. 

While the kibbutz movement is diminishing in Israel, this kibbutz is going very strong, celebrating its 90^th anniversary in 2011.  Over the years Mishmar Ha’ Emeq has grown from a handful of pioneers living in tents to a thriving community that owns a successful agricultural plastics factory, a large dairy and chicken farm, and several other agricultural ventures.

Kibbutz members provide almost all of the labor for the kibbutz’s business and community operations without receiving any pay.  The elderly can keep working, as much as they are able. All kibbutz members receive what they need: a nice place to live, three great meals a day in the amazing kibbutz cafeteria, a car or van to use when needed, laundry, healthcare, childcare, education, and a monthly allowance for clothing and all other expenses.  The factory manager receives nothing more than any other kibbutz member. It is in many ways the full manifestation of the dream so many of us share of living together with abundance and without money or class distinctions.

Between the generous family energy of the Levor’s and the heartwarming experience of the kibbutz life, we left feeling renewed and inspired!

Baruch & Fernmoss

Kibbutz Mishmar Ha'Emek

Recently my family and I spent a few days at kibbutz Mishmar Ha'Emek. The kibbutz has 1,000 residents.  Every member contributes in the decision making to run the kibbutz through voting during meetings. The kibbutz members all rely on each other to work.

The members in the kibbutz might work in the cafeteria, the factory, or the dairy farm, but they don’t receive income. The money made by the industries is put straight into the kibbutz account. The kibbutz gives you a home to live in and serves three free meals a day from the cafeteria. Everybody receives a monthly allowance from the kibbutz. How much money you receive depends on how many people are in your family and other things.

The kibbutz offers chicken eggs from their hatchery, milk from their cows, cotton, and plastic from their factory. My family actually witnessed a calf being born! That was amazing but a little disgusting.. You get at least one job to work when you reach 6^th grade as well as going to school, and the jobs get progressively harder until you reach adult age.

While in the kibbutz I learned how to juggle, with my brother, which made me very proud. We also saw a unique puppeteer perform and enjoyed several other activities in the kibbutz. Overall, I think staying in the kibbutz was a good experience and was lots of fun. In daily life most people live very independently but in the kibbutz you can make a lot of close friends and it’s easy to be entertained.

Jerusalem and Yad Vashem

Jerusalem is located at the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe. A long time ago, you had to go through Jerusalem, if you wanted to go from any of those continents to another. This led to Jerusalem, and whoever ruled Jerusalem, to become quite wealthy because of all the trade that came through.  The Knesset, Israel’s legislative body is in the new part of the city.

The other part of Jerusalem is the Old City. The Old City is a warren of tight, winding streets. Walking around in it you can really understand how ancient it really is. It is divided into four sections, or quarters: the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, and the Armenian Quarter. The Muslim Quarter has the largest population, with over 22,000 permanent residents. There are approximately 33,000 people living in the entire Old City. It contains many special religious sites, such as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus Christ was laid to rest and the Dome of the Rock, which contains a rock that Muhammad leaped off of to ascend to heaven. This is also the same rock that Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac on. It also contains the Western Wall, the last standing part of the magnificent Solomon’s Temple. It is seen as the holiest site of Judaism. It was amazing to visit the wall and feel my connection to my ancient Jewish ancestors. It was also sad to see that the once magnificent structure only had one standing wall left.

Another important site in Jerusalem is the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum complex. It is comprised of a gigantic museum and many memorials. The museum is a 150-yard long triangular prism. It is cordoned off by little barriers that lead you through rooms off of a main area that runs through the center of the structure. In the first part of the museum they talk about the rise of the Nazi party and the beginning of the discrimination against the Jewish people. The museum shows some anti-Jew propaganda that is pretty much just some pictures of people with really big noses, which reminded me of how a third-grader would make fun of someone. Next they showed how the discrimination was taken to the next level, with the ghettos. The ghettos were effectively a prison to contain the Jews in the city. They were full of starvation and disease. The rest of the exhibits were about the concentration camps and the implementation of the “Final Solution”. There were many powerful things in the museum, such as the ash hatch of a crematorium, and dozens of video interviews with Holocaust survivors. I felt very sad throughout my time there, and shocked and ashamed that humans are capable of doing these things to each other. Although it made me feel sad, I’m glad I went because it was a good experience and it helped me better understand why something like the Holocaust should never happen again.

The Silk Road

Several of the places I just visited in Turkey played a big part in the Silk Road. The Silk Road gets its name from the Chinese silk traded in a giant network of caravan trading. The trading routes link Western Asia, the Mediterranean countries, the European world, and North and East Africa. The different countries provided their own materials for trading. China offered up silk, spices, teas and porcelain (white ceramic). India provided ivory, textiles, precious stones and pepper, while the Roman Empire provided gold, silver, fine glassware, wine, carpets and jewels.

The trade was between merchants, pilgrims, missionaries, soldiers, nomads, and urban dwellers from ancient China, India, Tibet, the Persian Empire and Mediterranean countries for 3,000 years. In 1348 through 1350 the Plague (Black Death) devastated Europe and killed 60% of the population. This shut down most of the Silk Road; however, some of the routes were used up until only a few years ago. 

Family Acro in Turkey

Surreal Pamukkale Landscape

The snowy white, cauliflower-like calcium mountainside in Pamukkale was a Turkey highlight.  What a surreal experience to walk up a fractal landscape while warm water cascaded along the entire slope. This is truly a world wonder. Surprising that it's not better known.

 

Travertines in Pamukkale

When we were in Pamukkale we saw a huge hillside spotted with pools of water, with water running down the whole thing. The most remarkable thing was that the whole hillside was made out of a brilliantly white kind of limestone called travertine. Travertine is formed by calcium carbonate deposition from mineral springs. The process begins when hot mineral springs with high levels of both calcium carbonate and carbon dioxide come out of the ground and come into contact with the air. Because of the bubbliness of the water, and the lower concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere, the water degasses the carbon dioxide. The degassing of the carbon dioxide lowers the pH of the water. The lower pH causes the calcium carbonate to dissolve less well and therefore precipitate as solid calcium carbonate.

It was really fun because you had to walk barefoot up the hill and the water ran evenly down the entire slope. The texture of the travertine was really nice and it was amazingly grippy, even though it was wet. The water was warm and it felt delicious.