Andrew is legal. Oh shit.

Happy Birthday, kiddo.
I can't believe you're 18.
It's ridiculous.

Green Apprenticeship (GA) Education

Some of you have asked me about what I am learning in Israel. Here is a rough sketch of some of the topics we are discussing on Kibbutz Lotan.

-Natural Building: building structures (homes, benches, retaining walls, etc) out of mud, straw, tires, etc

-Permaculture: roughly defined as "the development of perennial agricultural systems that mimic the structure and interrelationships found in natural ecologies."

-Organic Gardening: growing plants without chemicals for soil, fertilizer, and pest control

-Healthy Living: including physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being (I know, I know, I'm ridiculous, but it's endearing, right? RIGHT?) consisting of Chi Kong stretching in the morning, Watzu lessons, among other topics. Here's the Watzu pool:

Those are the topics we've focused on thus far. I know we still have loads to learn. Oh! by the end of the program I will be a certified permaculture and ecovillage designer. Wow... So, if any of you have a garden, space, or ecovillage (bahahaha!) that you want help designing, just let me know.
-Katie

A-tone-mint

Yom Kippur began tonight. I did not, as originally planned, go to Jerusalem to observe other people celebrating their beliefs. Instead I chose to stay on Lotan and attempt to observe Yom Kippur in my way:
I have had a wonderful year. My family, my friends, the people I love are (mostly) happy and healthy. I met an amazing person who I love and enjoy. I have a variety of freedoms and privileges that allow me to make positive choices in my life.
In other words, I have it very good – and I am thankful.
That being said, I believe I have an obligation to work for justice so that other people have the ability to create their own happiness, too. I do not get to take from the world without giving back. That is my responsibility – or so I’ve been told.

I am not going to take up too much time discussing my mistakes. But needless to say they are numerous and I hope to learn and grow from each one, well... at least the big ones.
I hope you all forgive me for my transgressions, intentional or unintentional. Certainly, I forgive you for yours.
May we all be inscribed in the book of life for this upcoming year (but only if you want to be...)
-Katie

The half-moon over Kibbutz Lotan:

(BAHAHAHAHA that is a hilarious picture of the moon! It looks so small! You'll have to trust me that the sky over Lotan is amazing and gives me reason to stop and pause. I guess relatively cheap point and shoot cameras don't always perform the way you'd like... Google image search "moon" and pretend those pictures are what I see every night. Now you get it, yeah?)

A trip to Eilat

Yesterday was the first time I left the kibbutz since I arrived on the 3rd. It was, needless to say, a much needed break. Nine of us went into Eilat to enjoy the city and say goodbye to Serena, one of the GAs, who decided that the program was not right for her. Here are a few things that we enjoyed on our excursion:

The ride down

The scenery

The supermarket

The drinks

And the nightlife


It was a nice night and an important break. We were back to work today building a retaining wall made out of tires. We built it with one less person - good luck finding what you are looking for Serena.
-Katie

Goats. Not for the weak.

It was a long weekend in Israel because of Rosh Hashana. It was kind of boring (or relaxing, depending on how you look at it) on the kibbutz and I wanted to do something that would occupy some of my time. I heard there were baby goats (aka "kids") and that the workers could use some help feeding them. Off I went to be helpful and celebrate the new year with baby goats:
Cute, right? Wrong.
As I was sitting there feeding the smelly, dirty beast there were other smelly, dirty beasts entering the world mere feet away from me! Naturally, I ran over to where the mama goats were and looked in absolute horror as I saw this:

And then:

My first reaction was, as you would expect, EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW, SICK!!!!!!
Followed by: OOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!
It wasn't until a few hours had passed that I realized this was the first time I witnessed a live birth (perhaps my last?) Childbirth looks not fun AT ALL.
Clearly I am having an educational experience on the kibbutz in more than one arena. When all was said and done, 14 kids were born that day and I saw 5 of them. It was bizarre...
Let's hope things are eventually less exciting around here.
-Katie

New House.

I moved from the tourism room (see previous post) to a new, better place:

L'shana tova everyone!
-Katie

Lotan - Week 2

Since I last wrote one week officially ended (with Shabbat) and another officially began (with the end of Shabbat). It is a really amazing experience to have Shabbat on this kibbutz. While I wasn't a huge fan of the services (unfamiliar tunes and format), I loved the spirit. People were just hanging out and chatting, wishing each other "Shabbat Shalom" and giving hugs and kisses. It was totally great. Then, the next day was so chill and quiet - they really take the day of rest thing seriously here.
Sadly, Shabbat ended, but week #2 of the green apprenticeship (GA) began!
We started by working in the nursey which was fine until... A SCORPION GOT ON ME! No joke, I freaked out and brushed it off MY BARE SKIN. I thought that was a totally normal reaction to A SCORPION ON ME, but apparently I "over-reacted." Whatever, here is a picture of something vaguely similar to what was on me:

It didn't sting me so eventually I calmed down and continued with the day, but holy shit...
The next day we played with worms: (Efrat is eating this one, but most of them are used to make worm castings which is kick-ass fertilizer. I can't wait to make my own worm bin at my next home.)

and stuffed tires full of trash to make a bench:

Today I am a little sick - head cold nothing serious, it sucks, but I still planted a garden:

It's my first real garden and I forget what's in it, but hopefully I'll find out in a few weeks.

While we were planting the gardens, we heard sounds of warfare in the background. It was totally jarring and scary to hear bombs and missiles, although they are a normal component to life here. It's taking me time to adjust but there are some things about Israeli culture that I do not want to adjust to or welcome into my life...

Lotan - Week 1

Well, it hasn't even really been a full week here, but man it feels like we've been here for a month. In a good way, my days are really full and long. Here is a typical schedule for me:
6am - Chi Kong (stretching)
6:30am - First practical lesson (working in the garden, building buildings out of mud etc...)
8:30am - Breakfast (mostly salad stuff, it's really nice in the morning)
9:30am - Second practical lesson
11:00am - Classroom lesson (topics vary: the history of Lotan, learning about global issues, environmental topics etc)
1pm - Lunch
2pm - Second classroom lesson
4pm - Free time
6:30pm - Dinner
Evening - Activities vary: The pub (if it's open), singing together, a movie, free time, etc
These days are FULL. I have been asleep before 10pm almost every night I've been here.
Here are some more pictures of the things I've done in the first few days:

Desert Hike

I planted seeds into dirt I made!

Making a raised bed garden

New friends! (We used food scraps to make the raised beds - they STANK!)


OH! If any of you out there feel inspired to send me something, please do! Here's my address:
Katie Porter
Green Apprenticeship
Kibbutz Lotan
D.N. Hevel Eilot
88855 Israel
I hope to get into Eilat sometime soon to pick up postcards or regular mail stuff so I'll start writing mail soon.
-Katie

Lotan Beginnings

After enjoying only one night in Tel Aviv with Uri, I left yesterday for the Negev desert and Kibbutz Lotan. We drove 4 hours south to get here and since we arrived it has been pretty non-stop. I am staying in this little tourist house:

for only one week with fellow green apprentices Efrat (from Petachtikva, Israel) and Serena (from Concord, MA).
Today was pretty basic: orientation, why we are here, what we hope to get out of it, trust games, etc... The course syllabus is pretty cool, I am really looking forward to the next 11 weeks on Lotan.
We also had a chance to start making mud bricks:

That's not the greatest picture, but maybe you get the sense...
Also, we are literally a few feet away from the Jordanian border, check it out:

They told us we are not allowed to walk too close to the fense because the army will call them and we'll get interrogated. No joke. Whoa.
So, life is good here and I am enjoying myself. There are 11 of us all together, it's mostly Israelis which is a little difficult because I never know what they are talking about. Oh, and this shit is hot. It's the summer, in the desert, duh. But still, where the hell is the cloud cover?! Seattle has penetrated my soul it seems.
Enough internets, it's time to connect with people.
-Katie

First Leg = Done and Done

Phew, I made it to Tel Aviv. It was actually pretty easy... I am staying the night with my friend Uri who I met at Queeruption. He is so sweet and quite the host. I came into his apartment all sweaty and hot and he sat me down with a drink of water and proceeded to make me two plates of the most delicious vegan food I have ever had. We are going to walk around Tel Aviv once the sun goes down, it's still pretty hot over here. I think he's going to show me the gay part of town, ha-ay!
Tomorrow I will meet up with the peple from Lotan, thus beginning my adventure on the kibbutz. Stay posted as updates are undoubtedly forthcoming.

-Katie