Ramat Rahel

If there's one thing I really miss about home, it's having my cat sleep on my bed. It's a rare moment when I enter my room to not find her there, and unheard of for her to be missing when I go to sleep. Heather and John are the first people I've stayed with to have cats and I love it. The first is Mitzy, she's very old and not allowed inside the house; she sits by the door meowing all day. On mornings when she isn't at the door right away Heather hopefully exclaims, "Maybe she's died!" Then there's Missy, short for Mississippi, who is a little weird. She's friendly enough and will come and sit on your lap now and then but it's as if she forgets where she is because you'll touch her and she'll meow and look around shocked, trying to figure out what just happened. Also, she won't come in doors. She insists on jumping onto windowsills (giving you a heart attack if you're sitting next to the window) and meows until you open it for her. Finally, there's Spot. He is my favorite, mostly because he sleeps on my bed all the time. He makes reading in bed a bit difficult because he gets jealous when you don't pet him and will either sit right in front of the book or wrap his paws around your arm and pull it away. You have to pay attention while you're petting him because every so often he likes to affectionately nibble, or as I call it, "bite," your fingers. Also, yesterday I had a snack next to my bed and when I came back to get it he had taken the liberty of eating it for me. Nonetheless, he's still more normal than the other cats.

My first day at Ramat Rahel rained off and on the whole day, and when it wasn't raining it was cold and windy so I really didn't have any desire to walk around much. But it's nice to have a day to relax here and there. Heather and I spent most of the afternoon (don't laugh) doing a puzzle. Well we started it, it's 1000 pieces but by now we're almost done. And by "we," I mean mostly "me." Puzzles are addicting! I can't stop. I do like Heather quite a bit; she's kind but also just a cool lady. Her husband, John, is also nice if a bit quiet. They have five kids but I've only met two of them; those two usually drop in at least once a day. Most of their children live close by but one lives in Germany right now.
Yesterday was much nicer out that Monday so I spent a few hours exploring the kibbutz. It didn't take very long, there isn't a lot to see. Or there are some cool things to see, it just doesn't take long to see them. I first explored the archaeological park. Not the most impressive ruins I've seen (and I've seen a lot of ruins in my time here), but a good little walk. There is still debate over what is what so all the descriptive signs are hypothetical. If you walk past the main section of stone remnants you get a wonderful view, in which direction I couldn't tell you. There's this funny little house made of stones that looks like a mushroom house which leads down to a better view of the cities in the distance. I was at Ramat Rahel with my dad when I came to Israel seven years ago and didn't recognize a single thing until I saw that little house. I walked around a little bit past the house, only to be told when I met up with Heather for lunch to not really explore past the house if I want to return alive. Whoooops. Not planning on going that way anymore! After lunch I went off in a different direction to see the hotel and its grounds. There are more beautiful views in other directions, and the entire hotel is quite lovely. So after seeing the archaeological park and the hotel, there are really only two more sections that, from what I can tell, make up Ramat Rahel. There's a pool and gym and such, but those are fenced off and I need either Heather or John to call ahead if I want to go in there. And then there's the area where the members of the kibbutz live. I think I saw most of the houses but if not, they're all quite similar and I got the gist of it. Time to start exploring past the kibbutz I guess!

Today seems like an even nicer day so I'll definitely go on an adventure. Heather and John had to leave early and won't be back until 11 so I have to wait for them to return if I walk into Jerusalem. They're rather protective and always want to know where I am or where I'm going, and I have to meet them at certain times at the dining hall for lunch or dinner. I think kibbutzim are for people who really enjoyed college and campus life. All your food is prepared for you in the dining hall, everyone lives in small houses in a designated area, and during the day people have different work they do at certain hours. It's a communal living center, so everyone is working and offering their skills for the overall survival of the kibbutz. Kind of like small-scale communism, though its changed a bit over the years.
I'm here until Sunday, and I'm afraid I won't have much to do in these days. I offered to work but if you're visiting for less than two weeks it isn't required. I suppose if nothing else, it'll be nice to have some quiet time before I go work on a farm for two weeks. I don't remember if I said that's what I was doing after being here, but I'm WWOOFing at a farm in the desert. I still need to get in touch with the people to make sure Sunday works as a good day for arriving, but I'm thinking it will all be fine.

Could I brag for a second? So I just figured out how to check the stats of this blog and it's been visited almost 900 times since I started writing it a month ago! I'm kind of amazed and I really didn't realize how many people were reading it. I thought it was just my family and close friends, but I've gotten e-mails and been messaged on facebook by random people telling me that they're reading and enjoying this. Someone even said it had inspired them to take a semester abroad! So thank you to people who are reading this, I really appreciate and am honored by it.