to the desert

And onward...

2007-11-22T23:34:00.000+02:00

I completed the Green Apprenticeship a few days ago and I've been relaxing in Haifa this week. A huge storm has been weaving in and out of each day. I've never seen the tide so high before...the waves are enormous and loud and frequent and they crash against the rocks each time like it's a final push, but it's always one after another. The heavy clouds are tremendous, and the sunsets coupled with that contoured sky create perfect colorful streaks. It is so, so different from the desert. It has rained here every day this week. Patches of blue appear here and there, so everything is shiny for a little while.

I don't yet know how to wrap my head around what I learned over the last three months. And maybe it will take a long time for it all to unfold or become defined or complement a path I'll choose.

What I know is that I am very, very glad I did the program and that I am where I am right now, even in this confusing, maybe aimless spot.

I feel really good about the amazing people I've met (Thanksgiving with Katie and Adam today on the beach was glorious!), the lessons I've learned, and all the paths that have appeared to me.

Tomorrow I'm flying to Switzerland. Ryan is meeting me in Zurich.
I feel like this: !!!!!!!!!!

Building a Composting Toilet

2007-11-16T15:53:00.000+02:00

Here is what my group looks like in a typical theoretical lesson in the bomb shelter classroom, in this case, learning about the history of different types of composting toilets.

You can see how the Americans expand their Hebrew vocabulary and the Israelis expand their English vocabulary in our lessons:

And so we began building a new composting toilet in the Bustan neighborhood. We started sort of from scratch. The metal frame was already built for us, and we continued the construction from there. It was an amazing process, using various different techniques we've been studying throughout the program, and having a group project that everyone worked on together as a team---rotating jobs, helping one another, developing our personal and group working skills. To see the structure develop from a metal frame to what it is now has been incredible! Here's the frame we began with:

We put up rows of straw bales for the east, west, and north walls. Here's a photo of hammering in the internal pins to keep the bales sturdy:

Leveling the straw bales to make sure that the wall isn't leaning in any direction:

Another building technique we used for this structure was building a mud brick wall. This is what we did to separate the two stalls. Mike and I:

Continuing to build up the mud brick wall:

The south wall was done using a technique called wattle and daub. We first wove date palm branches into horizontal wires and then began applying mud onto the branches. You can see how this wall is much, much thinner than the straw bale walls:

This is what the toilet looks like from the back. You can see the area below it, where the bins will be placed to collect the "humanure" in batches. Efrat and Ohad working on the wattle and daub:

Applying the first coat of mud to the outside of the straw bale wall:

Each person spent time practicing each technique, so this really feels like a collaborative experience educating us as individuals and as a unit. This project has definitely been one of the most valuable work experiences I've ever had.

Timna Park

2007-11-10T15:11:00.003+02:00

We went on a trip to Timna Park and it was incredible! I highly recommend a visit to anyone traveling in this region. There are various hiking and jeep trails. We did an awesome hiking trail that explored areas where the Egyptians began copper mining 6,000 years ago!!!

We sat in the entrance to this mine shaft and our guide David explained the ancient techniques of digging for copper, and of course it was completely fascinating.

And then we crawled through that amazing tunnel system!
Efrat and Deedee:

Here I am crawling out of the end of the shaft:

And later on in the day we went to go see Solomon's Pillars...absolutely majestic!

Last Week

2007-10-28T18:14:00.001+02:00

We’ve been working on adding “sticky mud” to the ceilings of the domes to cover the metal geodesic frames. We stand on tables and apply the mud, sometimes above our heads!

It’s different from working on the walls, standing on the ground. I feel like we work very carefully, and we really help each other by passing buckets of mud and water around so that everyone can stay standing on his/her table and continue working on a particular area of the ceiling.
We leave the "sticky mud" work with little mud decorations in our hair.

Adam:

Efrat:

Me:

Awesome pose with Efrat and Neta:

We also had a pottery lesson that I loved very much:

We learned how to build a clay oven, all the technical details about the layers of insulation and thermal mass. And then we made pizzas in the taboon in the "eco-kef" park here:

There was a whole day spent learning about irrigation systems, and then we split into three groups and each group put together a little model system using recycled irrigation pipes.

The evenings and mornings have been wonderfully chilly lately. The other night I very happily wore a sweater for the first time in a million years!

A great work week

2007-10-19T11:01:00.000+02:00

This week had several practical lessons about new topics, and I really enjoyed the work because I felt like we could really see results. We usually spend a morning on each little project, and when there is a clear outcome…the energy we spend makes sense and I like that.

We learned how to make liquid fertilizer to feed our plants in the organic garden. We collected cow shit from the dairy to carry back to the huge “pot” where we then began the process of making cow shit “tea.” Katie has an absolutely hilarious entry about this!

There’s a bird reserve here in Kibbutz Lotan where birdwatchers visit to catch glimpses of different species on their migration routes. On Monday morning we walked to the bird reserve with a picnic breakfast and all our tools, and this was the sunrise we walked with:

At the bird reserve, our work consisted of cutting down the reeds that had grown very high, blocking the views of birds for the birdwatchers in the observation rooms. We stood in the unbelievable green of the alfalfa, stretched all around us, and worked for hours cutting down the reeds and dragging them away to a compost pile.

Throwing the reeds to the side...behind me you can see the observation room, built from mud, covered with date palm branches:

Something very exciting is that this week we began straw bale construction, which I really enjoyed learning about and doing…the whole concept fills me with a kind of optimism. We watched a film about homes made out of straw bales in various parts of the world, and the benefits of this type of construction really blow my mind. Straw bales provide incredible insulation naturally, so they are building blocks and insulation all in one. A straw bale is an agricultural byproduct, a renewable resource, a natural material, and easy to build with. I don’t plan on living in the countryside and building my own home out of straw bales, but it was still really exciting for me to learn these techniques.

We built a little room to practice what we’d just learned conceptually. Here is the beginning of the building process, when the walls were two bales high:

Yaara and Katie stabilizing the wall using a method called internal pinning:

After we finished the walls, we sat inside and had another theoretical lesson covering the details of straw bale construction, specifically discussing the attention that must be paid to moisture.

Hurray!

Day Trip

2007-10-12T07:32:00.000+02:00

We went on all-day trip that consisted of three hikes, several stops at archaeological sites, and many spontaneous lessons about geology, cultural history, political history, and desert animals. Sometimes David spoke and explained while we hiked, and other times we paused to listen and observe.

I was extremely happy all day...I felt like every single moment held something valuable and educational. The one structured lesson of the day was about reconnecting with nature and it consisted mostly of silence. We were told to walk a part of our hike in complete silence, listening to the wind, to our feet on the rocks. The end of the silent walk brought us to this fabulous spot:

In the afternoon we went on a little hike that I thought was pretty scary! The trail was very narrow and slipping would have been a terrible disaster! Below is a portion of that hike. We sat down at one place and the view was spectacular, and we learned a lot about the Arava and the Negev, including different ideas of how people passed through this land thousands of years ago on trade routes.

Before going on our third hike, we stopped on top of a hill where we could look over Egypt and Israel, and we learned about the history of that border, and the geological formation of the Red Sea. Here is Egypt:

Our third hike was through this wadi:

The Arabic script on this rock is from the seventh century:

Here's my group, taking a little break on the third hike, very happy!

It was a really wonderful experience.

Geodesic Domes

2007-10-09T16:46:00.001+02:00

We had a really neat lesson in which we learned all about geodesic domes. I loved it! First we studied the principles of the geodesic design to understand the strength of the different components. We practiced on trays, using chewy candies as the joining material and toothpicks as the struts of the design. Of course this was very fun.

Then we split up into two groups to actually build the domes. I was in a group with Katie, Neta and Adam, and we built the dome out of bamboo struts. The other group built their dome out of date-palm branches. Here are Neta and Katie looking at the diagram to understand how to lay out the struts in order to properly design the geodesic frame. It was a bit confusing at first, but after understanding the diagram the whole idea really clicked and made sense.

Here I am with Adam, Neta and Katie after we finished building the dome!

And here's an image of the other dome atop a wall of straw bales. Mike (in the background) taught us that just lifting the dome a bit can really change the feel of the space inside and it was definitely true. It felt much more spacious.

Here's an interesting site to check out about calculations and instructions for building a geodesic dome.

We also saw a documentary about Buckminster Fuller, the creator of the geodesic dome. He was quite a character! Certainly full of intriguing ideas.

The last few days have been really amazing. I feel so lucky to be learning so many different things, and discovering how they are all related. Yesterday we went on the greatest hike ever! I'll try to find time to post photos soon.

I feel happy...especially when the breeze is strong in the dark evenings and it all comes together.

Trip to Tel Aviv

2007-10-03T14:03:00.000+02:00

Last weekend I went to Tel Aviv and it was amazing! It was exactly what I needed.
City streets, cultural diversity, the Mediterranean Sea always whispering, history in architecture, buses and mopeds and bicycles, delicious fruit and the freshest bread, old people dancing on the sidewalks, movie theaters, the glory in wandering, and independence!

Katie (below) and I took the bus from Lotan.

About four and a half hours later, we arrived in the city. I was immediately beaming with joy to be in a place where I could get lost, and where I could spend hours walking and observing while embracing spontaneity and simplicity.

On King George Street:

Funny spot in Yafo:

View of the city from Yafo:

I saw two really wonderful Israeli films at a theater in Dizengoff Centre (one film with Katie, and one by myself). That feeling of sinking into the cushioned seat in the theater was glorious…the space felt like home! Cinema as a source of comfort.

Wandering around with Katie was wonderful, and having many hours to myself was also really important. When I was alone I sat on the sand by the water and ate pomegranates, watched people, listened to the waves.
The sea at night:

I am really glad that I understand the importance of city for me—the way a city happens, the way it feels.

My weekend adventure ended with a night walk from the bus stop on the Arava Road back to Kibbutz Lotan. It was blackness everywhere, silence and stillness. It was like the whole desert was sleeping…I felt like the only moving thing. I was passing through that valley alone and I didn’t want to hear voices or see lights. I felt really, really happy.

Mud Domes

2007-09-29T09:27:00.000+02:00

Hands down, my favorite practical element of the program so far is working on the mud domes in the new Bustan neighborhood. I am glad the domes weren’t done and ready for us to move into when we arrived, because working on these little houses has been incredibly rewarding and enjoyable.

This week we worked on the domes in two groups. I was in one dome with three other people and each of us worked on a different section inside. The dome in the forefront is the one I was working in:

There’s still a lot of work to be done, which I think is super exciting. For example, the ceiling still needs to be completely covered. In this photo you can see the straw bale construction, and the dome’s geodesic frame:

We didn’t mix mud in plastic bins, by hand, for this project. Mike taught us how to use the cement mixer so we could produce a lot of mud quickly. In this photo you can see the cement mixer and behind it the (1) pool of clay and (2) pile of sand---two of the major components in making the mud:

I worked on covering the pipe alongside the bottom of the dome:

The pipe is now covered by the strip of mud (the wet part) that I added. This took a couple hours and was very fun!

Working on the domes is especially meaningful after our many theoretical classes about natural building. We do with our hands what our discussions and lectures demand. In this way, the Green Apprenticeship is very different from my experience thus far in academia. Learning and doing are inseparable here.

There were a few moments that stood out to me when we were working on the domes. They all stood out for the same, simple reason: silence! There is something remarkable about reaching that point when everyone working with his or her own bucket of mud on a certain section of the dome becomes totally engulfed in that activity. There is no need to converse. Everyone is simply working! When I first noticed that quietness I could feel it in my whole body...the attention I was paying to my work, and the connection between that kind of total immersion and personal discovery. Those silences were few and tiny...but when they arrived I knew what they meant and I knew their placement in the hours of work and I could feel the waves of them coming and going. Do you know what I mean? How silence can mean much more than silence?

Best group of mud people!!!

Amit, Adam, Neta, Yaara, Ohad, me, Efrat, Maya, Deedee, Katie

Alternative Building

2007-09-15T07:52:00.000+03:00

The practical lessons of the Green Apprenticeship program have so far focused on two different areas of sustainable living: organic gardening and alternative building. Prior to my arrival in Lotan, I didn't know much about building with mud and junk--the meaning or process or theory or practice. In the last week I've grown to really, really love both the theoretical and practical elements of this work! There is something incredibly satisfying about using available resources, and materials that would otherwise be dumped, to construct something functional and significant.

My group has been working on building a little bit in the "Bustan," which is a new neighborhood in the kibbutz. When the construction there is finished, my group will move to the Bustan and live in mud domes and use composting toilets and share a communal kitchen...and everything creating and upholding that living space will be rooted in the core of this program and its lessons. For now, while the neighborhood is still under construction, we're building two spots for future conversation and relaxation: benches built from mud and tires and sand and junk under the shade of a lovely tree.

Here are some photos from the building:

Katie and Efrat trimming the tree that will provide shade for the benches:

Rolling the tires over to the area where the benches will be:

Drawing up designs for the placement of the two benches:

We had to make sure the tires were level on the ground, and then we began filling these tires with sand (the other bench's tires were filled with junk):

Here I'm tucking the sand into the tire to make it sturdy. You can see behind they're checking the level of that tire:

This is the bench filled with junk. Yaara was helping me jump to push down the materials! (photo from Katie):

By the end of that day, we'd filled all the tires of the two benches. The second day, we made concrete and built a small wall of stones around the edges of the tires. The concrete held the stones in place before we began applying coats of mud over the tires. I really enjoyed making the concrete mix and mud mix! Here I am with Yaara working on the little wall:

We made two different coats of mud and began covering all the tires and gaps between tires. Over the weekend, the mud is drying, and next week we'll apply the final coats. It is so rewarding and fun to build with this stuff!

I loved walking from those sun-soaked morning hours to the dining hall for lunch with mud in my hair, on my face, arms, hands, clothes.

Happy New Year!

love,
Sheer

morning hike!

2007-09-12T16:15:00.000+03:00

Last week we hiked among the hills west of the kibbutz. The sun rose behind us and the desert was glowing subtly.
During our break in the middle of the hike, our leader David gave us a fantastic geology lesson about this region. Amazing!

in Kibbutz Lotan

2007-09-06T16:24:00.000+03:00

The desert stretches endlessly and rests in every corner as if it has been here forever. Yesterday my group hiked in the hills just west of the kibbutz and the sand was like a glorious window into so many stories. East of the kibbutz is Jordan and the red, majestic mountains that give birth to the sunrise every morning.

We wake here at 5:30am and, thus, the sunrise is part of every day.

I am in a group with ten other students, and they are all incredible people full of passion and ideology and commitment. All around me are good ideas and good hearts.

I have a million things to write and beautiful photos to share. Hopefully I'll have time this weekend to do so!

Yehudiya Nature Reserve

2007-08-30T21:21:00.000+03:00

Today we drove to the Golan Heights and went on an incredible hike in the Yehudiya Nature Reserve. Every moment of the hike felt like an exploration, an opening. It's amazing when you get to that point of total communication with the ground you are crossing, when your body learns the dance of balance and you move swiftly across huge rocks and beneath trees and over streams.

Abba in front, the beginning:

After a while, the ground opened and we hiked down to the wadi:

At the bottom, we reached this incredible waterfall pounding with sound. Some happy people were jumping from the rocks into that great water!!!

We continued hiking beyond the waterfall, through the wadi, making our way down the trail.
Mom and Abba crossing a stream:

Continuing across great rocks...

A lunch break of pita sandwiches:

No words to describe how I felt in the arms of those trees, rocks, waterfalls!

In Israel

2007-08-30T00:23:00.000+03:00

Stated simply, my decision to come to Israel is rooted in a desire to unearth a part of myself that has been sleeping these years that I've been reading and dreaming and planning and studying...and not doing. This is the doing.

This is supposed to be the beginning of feeling the dirt between my toes and understanding the construction of community and wandering not only with my mind but also with my feet.

Next week I will begin the Green Apprenticeship program in Kibbutz Lotan and I'm very excited! I arrived in Israel a few days ago and so far I've been traveling around with my parents, visiting my savta in the kibbutz, swimming in the Mediterranean and in the Kinneret, exploring the Galilee. The best moments have consisted of interactions with locals, which is maybe what lies at the heart of every journey: these are magical moments with the people whose names are in the ground, whose stories illustrate place and create environment, whose words come simply from a language you don't learn in books.

Yesterday we went to Horfesh, a Druze village in the north, and saw one of the most sacred Druze sites. One of their prophets, Sabalan, spread his teachings there on the top of the hill. With your arms and legs and head covered, and your feet bare, you can quietly enter Nabi Sabalan. It's incredible to be in that dark, cool place where every gesture somehow carries weight for a moment as it meets history.

We then wandered around the area and this was the view from the top, looking down at Horfesh:

We met two men who spoke with us about their community and their practices. I felt like every word was a gift. Abba spoke with them while Mom and I listened. I couldn't stop smiling because their stories were the heart of that hilltop. We were standing in an enormous, open room and every word echoed beautifully and outside the hills were stretched forever and the villages in the distance were quiet but present. Abba asked them if their parents lived in Horfesh as well. One man answered that not only his father, but his grandfather, and great grandfather, and many many grandfathers before! In fact, he said, his family had been living in Horfesh for over 400 years! Generation after generation. This man possessed a glorious, aged smile and when he laughed he looked to the floor and bent over in a gentle way. He knows home in a way I will never know home, and that fascinates me.

Standing in that huge room of echoes, looking out: