Tel Aviv and Haifa Film Festival

On Oct 1, I took a bus from Kaditah to Akko, and a train from Akko to Tel Aviv Savidor Central Station. My cousin Yoni picked me up at the train station and took me out to dinner, where I was nourished with so much yummy Mediterranean food. After dinner, we walked around a part of the city that I had never seen before, the German Colony. It was renovated over the years and still has some of the original buildings, but is mainly a really cool, large plaza with shops, bars, and restaurants. There's lot's of benches and grassy areas to hang out. Underground, there is the Sarona Market which is absolutely insane. It reminded me very much of Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, but smaller and more compact. It was fun walking through, but also a sensory overload. Yoni showed me the building next to the colony where he was stationed during his years in the army, some 30 years ago or something. Since the colony is so new, it was interesting for him to see how the area has changed so much since he worked there. After, Yoni drove me to Gordon Inn Hostel in central TLV where I stayed for the night.

The next day, I went to the beach and cleansed myself in the Mediterranean. Then, I wandered around the city trying to find a falafel stand (which really isn't that hard), but it took like a half an hour. Eventually I got some average falafel and Yoni picked me up. We drove back to Tivon, where my aunt lives, and picked her up to go to the Haifa Film Festival. We got a nice quick dinner at a cool restaurant in Haifa, then walked to the Cinematheque. We saw the French film, "The Wolves," starring Evelynne Brochu, whom I know from the TV series, "Orphan Black." I really enjoyed the film. I thought about writing a separate blog post on the film, but I'd rather not ruin it for anyone. Luckily, there were subtitles in Hebrew and English so I had no issues understanding the plot. We got freshly squeezed pomegranate and apple juice after the film, and drove back to Tivon to drop off my aunt. Yoni and I went back to Tel Aviv together, and he dropped me back off at Gordon Inn.

Last night, Oct 2-3, we got back to Tel Aviv around 1:30am. I met up with my friend Estee and her British-Israeli boyfriend Dorian in Florentine. I had such a blast with them. Dorian used to work at the bar we went to, so anything he ordered was on the house. So last night, the three of us all drank for free, and got a free pizza. I know I had fun because I woke up this morning feeling gross and still drunk. I think that may have been my first time ever getting around 10 free drinks plus food. They invited me out again tonight, so I think I may join them for another night of debauchery. There's definitely a plus to knowing the guy who knows everyone else. Somehow, this just happened to include me. I'm gonna roll with it.

Nahariyya + Akko Festival

During one of the days I was with Allison, Shmuel, and Aravah in Kaditah, we drove to a beach in Nahariyya. I had never been there before and it ended up being a great trip. The water was warm, the waves were fun, Aravah and I collected cool rocks and shells, and we all ate lunch that we brought under this nice hut on the beach. Later when they took a walk down the beach, I was walking toward the bathroom and heard an American band, Modern Baseball, playing on the stereo at the beach bar. Not only do I listen to Modern Baseball, but they are from Philly and I've met them before. I've also seen them surprisingly when I was at school in Amherst. They really are not that popular of a band, so hearing them on the beach in Nahariyya was quite odd and hilarious. I ended up chatting with the bartender and becoming friends with him. He was telling me his perspective of life here and where to find the hidden punk scene. I still can't believe he knew Modern Baseball and played them when I happened to be there. Then he played another band that I was really into in college, The Front Bottoms. Of all places, I hear their music on the stereo on a beach in Israel....can't wait to tell the bands about this!

From Nahariyya we drove south to Akko which was a short ride. The parking situation was a mess, but eventually we took a bus from the Akko Stadium lot to the Old City, where the festival was. The festival itself consisted of tons of street performers, short concerts, plays, etc. The first one we saw was called "The Gypsies Are Coming," which was really fun to watch. There were "gypsies" throwing fire, doing all sorts of acrobatics, while moving the plot along with other characters. Very fun and lively. My other favorite was a short story performance from a man who is a refugee from Darfur, Sudan. His village no longer exists and he is in exile. He has no family and sought refuge in Tel Aviv. He told his story in Hebrew and Arabic, and every now and then would include some musical interludes and dancing.Very deep and sad, but hopeful. I believe his other band/group members were from Sudan too, but I'm not positive.

The energy at the festival was so fun and exciting, and it was cool wandering through the old city of Akko at night. The street performers were really cool, too. Fun time for sure. We got back to Kaditah around 1am and passed out after a long day of energy and travel. 

Kaditah

From Sept, 25 - Oct 1 I was with family up north in a small mountain village called Kaditah, about 10 min north of Safed. I visited my mom's cousin Allison, her husband Shmuel, and their daughter, Aravah. I consider them all to be my cousins and I get along really well with all of them. It was (and still is) the holiday Sukkot. Sukkot is my favorite Jewish holiday because it really connects the individual and family with their natural surroundings. The main focus of Sukkot is building a Sukkah, which is a square shack-like structure. There's lot's of different rules about how to build the Sukkah and with what materials. In Kaditah, I got to be a part of building their Sukkah in their yard. The walls consisted of tapestries sewn together, and the roof was made of bamboo-like sticks and date palm leaves. Aravah, who is now 15, came up with the idea of making this year's Sukkah theme to be the lunar eclipse. We made the decorations accordingly and it turned out pretty cool.

Kaditah is seriously one of the most amazing places I have ever been to in my life. It's very removed from society, which I actually really appreciate. I thought that after a while, I would want to return to society, but I actually found it really nice there. Allison made so much yummy, healthy food for all of the meals, and Shmuel bakes his own varieties of bread. Aravah is in charge of making dessert, which included fig and lemon cakes.

I barely looked at the time when in Kaditah. I slept in my one-person tent on their lawn, and the tent got very hot around 10am so I naturally would wake up then (which if you know me well, you know that is very early for me). While in Kaditah, we went on many tiyulim (trips/hikes). We walked through the Meron forest close to the John Lennon Trail, funny enough. There are also a lot of structures dedicated to important Jewish figures scattered around the mountain. One of them, Rebbi Tarfon, has a huge tree that grows through it and extends its thick branches outside of the site. I had fun climbing up into the tree and looking at the Meron forest in the distance.

If you are ever heading to Israel, make sure to visit Kaditah. It's a hidden gem here that will make your jaw drop. I had so much fun seeing fam and soaking up the serenity of the forest.