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.