liam getreu

Over the last week I’ve been preparing for, and then leading on, an Arab-Israeli and Jewish-American (or American-Jew?) co-existence/teaching the Arab-Israelis English camp. We were going to prepare for the camp on a Monday, lead Tuesday through Thursday, have a free weekend (during which the Habo madrichim had to return to kibbutz for a seminar), then go back and lead Monday and Tuesday. It turned out to be an amazingly intense leading experience which madrichim from all over the world: six from Australian Habo who I’ve been living with for a month, and will continue for the rest of the year; three from Netzer Australia and one from Netzer Argentina; one unaffiliated madrich from America; and one from Habonim Dror Turkey. All in all, the tzevet functioned really well together, which made the camp even more amazing.

Also as part of the camp, the madrichim all got billeted out into different Arab families to spend time with, and sleep at during the camp. There were two villages where the Arab kids camp from — Sha’ab and Kabul — and those were the villages that we stayed in. (Both are near Karmiel, a mostly Jewish town in Israel about 20 minutes from Akko.) There were about 50 kids on the camp, with about 40 boys and 10 girls, all aged around sixteen or seventeen, except one, who was twelve. And guess who got to stay with him? Me! Magd (photo), who is the son of the principal of Sha’ab’s school was my host, and, well, for lack of a better word, he was a dickhead. He was only interested in hanging out with the hooligan boys on the camp who were only there to find a wife, and not the sweet ones who were there for the right reasons.

And the coordinator of the camp, Jez, told us on the orientation day on Monday that we would be treated like kings when we went there: endless supply of food, random presents all the time, and eyes watching out every move, with the whole family interested in the Western culture I was bringing into the house. But not for me. Somehow, I still haven’t figured out why, I wasn’t fed that well; where some people got a whole new wardrobe from their family (Franky) all I got was a key-ring that had a bug in it, I got jibbed. Sometimes I did have the whole family interested in me, asking me questions, but not nearly as much as other people. And because my host was a little dick, I had to spend time with his first cousin who was on the camp, Mohammed, who’s sister had a billet, who’s a good friend of mine. So in the end, it worked out quite well…

Overall, ‘Arab camp’ as it became affectionately known, was good fun. We learn a lot about the plight of Arab-Israelis in Israel, and their connections with the Palestinian people (those living in the ‘disputed territories’ of the West Bank and Gaza), and surrounding Arab nations. It was amazing to meet Arab families, Arab teenagers, and attend an Arab wedding. It taught me a lot about many things that you don’t get in text-books or anywhere within the Israeli/Jewish world. For those reasons, it was the most worthwhile Shnat experience to date.

Because Revivim is in the middle of bloody nowhere, all the parties and fun we have, are on the kibbutz. A few nights ago, before going out, Franky decided to have a bit of a kip. Here’s what happened, captured on video:

Ah, good times.

The middle part of our program, Kibbutz started a wee more than a week ago now, and it’s quite amazing to say the least. As a part of the whole year, Kibbutz is seen more as a ‘filler’ program: it fits neatly in between the two main parts, Machon and Kaveret. A lot of people tend to see this as a shame, because as part of Habonim Dror, a socialist movement with deep roots in the kibbutz movement we should spend more time here. But that’s irrelevant.

What is relevant, is that we have a good time and build our group (the 23 of us) so that when we get to Kaveret — when we are put into a house, given an allowance each, and told to live together — we can function as a kvutzah (group) really well. Because we’re quite a large group, many thought it would be difficult, but it’s quite the opposite. Revivim has given us a house that fits all of us to live in; so we all live under one roof with a big lounge area (moadon) in the middle, which is really good.

As for activities on Kibbutz, we have to work four days a week, go to ulpan (learn Hebrew) two days a week, and we get Saturday off. But because we’re in the middle of the desert, we only work in the mornings (it’s too hot by 2pm) and not in the afternoons. So far I’ve worked in the laundry (8am-12pm), and also with the guy in charge of our program and our house on kibbutz, Goldie, where the hours are quite similar to that of the laundry. (I was lucky today though, there wasn’t much work around for us, so I’ve pretty much worked for an hour, and babysat Goldie’s dog all morning.) But as soon as work’s over, everyone knows what to do.

To the pool! Revivim has the most amazing pool ever. It’s really big, with lots of grass area to lie down all around, and everyone goes every afternoon after work. It’s a great place to meet young kibbutzniks, like those our age, and just to have a nice swim and relax on the grass. But the problem is, it doesn’t open until 3pm, which is usually two hours after I finish work and lunch, so what to do until then? Usually, not a hell of a lot, that’s for sure.

Other than that, there’s also a bar open twice a week, a little social club open five nights a week under the dining room that’s ridiculously similar to an RSL, thus making it lots of fun. And it’s got free biscuits and drinks so that’s always good to go to. And apart from that, we really don’t do that much, it’s quite boring at times when time moves slowly. But backgammon usually fills those holes.

And that’s pretty much Kibbutz Revivim…