Day 46

Ciao from Bologna! Who the hell ever thought I'd be traveling around Europe? Definitely not me! Well here I am in Italy and the food and the architecture and the history and the wine have surprisingly taken my breath away. For some wacky reason I made up this idea that I wouldn't enjoy the culture of Europe, that it wouldn't compare to the chaotic joy of Southeast Asia or the vast beauty of the Israeli desert. But what a crazy idea that is! Of course the bright green rice patty covered mountains of Nepal will always hold the most beautiful place in my soul and my being, but why should I limit my joy to just one section of the world when I know I can find it anywhere! So here I am in one of the oldest cities in the world, visiting my best friend Kate, the Italian goddess.
Bologna is a super groovy city because not only does it have great pizza and tons of archeological finds, but it is full of young rebellious Italians who are passionate about their education and their university. Right now they're teaming together to try and form a department run solely by the students, for the students, how rockin! But it makes sense because the Bologna community was one of the first to break away from the Pope and form a democracy. And what's even more rad about Bologna is that people don't speak English, so my fear of touristy Europe has begun to fade, allowing me to find all the beauty this city has to offer. Thus one of the most important things I've realized is that I don't need to compare this city's beauty to all of the other beauty I've experienced around the world, I can just appreciate each place for all the unique joy it has to offer.
And of course being with my best friend makes it easy to have a good time (I have the best friends in the universe!!). More than absolutely anything, I feel so grateful to get to witness Kate in her element. She's been studying Italian for years and always knew she wanted to study abroad here, so what a gift it is to see it all happen! The Italian goddess isn't taking any classes in English and is living with Italian roommates, so though her brain gets exhausted from all of the translation, it's unbelievable to see her interact with the people of Bologna. I feel so lucky!! And of course I am so endlessly proud of my goddess best friend. May she grow stronger and more beautiful everyday and be blessed with all the bliss in the universe!

HEY WE'RE IN ITALY!!!

Day 44

The time has arrived to say goodbye to Israel and begin a new and beautiful leg of my journey. And as excited I am for all that is to come, leaving sucks and I think that's just the way it goes. This last week I've been back and forth between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and to be honest it's been a hard transition out of the Kibbutz. Every morning I wake up to screeching rails and honking cars, leaving me homesick for the desert and it's beautiful and expansive simplicity. I never could have imagined I would miss those mountains so much, they've hardly escaped my mind since I've left. But as sad as I know I'll be when I board my 5 AM flight to Rome via Istanbul, I am grateful beyond belief for all these last six weeks have given me. May I remember these days as long as I live and may the lessons I've learned travel with me as a part of my being wherever I go!
And though it sucks to leave, I know I'm leaving on a truly ideal note. Tonight I went to the Western Wall to see Elan's swearing in ceremony and it was undoubtedly the most powerful experience I've had in these last months. There were endless rows of soldiers and even more families squished together to see the ceremony. I yelled for Elan as he walked in and he had the biggest most beautiful smile on his face. I was overwhelmed with so much joy and pride I could have burst into tears at any moment (I did cry just a little). After many speeches in Hebrew followed by a mass of "Amen" the soldiers were sworn in and given their guns. Every soldier seemed to have a radiant glow of happiness around them. What a blessing it was to be there!! I know I've said it before but I am so insanely proud of Elan and all he has done. I am full of gratitude that I've had the joy of witnessing him as he follows his soul's song (keep finding joy in challenge my friend!). And I guess it's time for me to continue following my soul's song too. When I went to the Western Wall when I was 16 I wrote a note asking the infinite universe to let me evolve out of my cocoon into a butterfly. Now I feel like the most beautiful butterfly in the world and this butterfly's gotta keep flyin.

the final falafel

Day 39

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need no more,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.

The Earth, that is sufficient,
I do not want the constellations any nearer,
I know they are very well where they are,
I know they suffice for those who belong to them.

I am larger, better than I thought;
I did not know I held so much goodness.

All is beautiful to me;
I can repeat over to men and women, you have done such good to me, I would do the same to you.

From "Song of the Open Road" by Walt Whitman


Yesterday my permaculture course ended, and after five weeks of compost toilets, solar showers, and mud ovens, I'm feeling more connected to the Earth I stand on than ever before (and what an insanely beautiful Earth it is!). I presented my permaculture design project (a rooftop garden zula for the Kibbutz's community center) and I received my permaculture design certificate, so I'm practically qualified to tear down your house and rebuild it out of straw bale or cob. And while that might be a tiny exaggeration, it is truly unbelievable how much I've learned. (If you're ever curious I can tell you how to propagate just about any vegetable). I'm so grateful for all of the knowledge I'm taking away with me, yet it's still hard to say goodbye. Though it's only been a month or so, the Kibbutz is so small (only about 50 members) that it feels like home. I know who's in who's family and who to expect at Shabbat services. The gardens have become my open buffet; I'll miss being able to nibble on chard and cherry tomatoes at my leisure. But so is life, it's time for the next adventure. And more than anything, I'm so thankful to have experienced the communal lifestyle of the Kibbutz. Everyone has chosen to live in a way that offers equality to all of its members, and of course it comes with some sacrifices (or benefits depending on how you look at it). Everyone puts their salary into a pot that is divided evenly amongst every family, adults have to perform toranut, or chores, like milking the goats and cows, serving in the kitchen, working in the date plantation, etc, and most have given up their native language in favor of Hebrew. And though all isn't perfect (there are often money problems and the desert can feel extreme) they've all chosen to devote their lives to making it work. They have literally built their community from the ground up, and I think that is supremely admirable (especially compared to growing up in a bustling city where I hardly know more than my neighbors' names). I'll miss that intimate connectedness of the community. And I'll miss the long, blossoming garden beds, the expansive clouds that hover over the Arava Valley at sunset, the desert in all it's enchantment. But I know those mountains and the night sky with its bright stars will always be here, waiting for me when I come back.
And now I'm at Kibbutz Samar, a funky anarchist community just thirty minutes South of Lotan. My new Israeli friend, Tamar, and I are helping a family with the final coat plaster on a mud extension to their house. The kibbutz is beautiful, there's a horse stable behind the house, and there are tons of young and groovy Israeli's who I think do a lot of drugs. It sort of feels like a liberal arts college. Anyway we started work this morning at 7:30 AM and kept mudding all the way until 5 (I don't think I've ever done so much physical labor in an eight hour period). The first thing the dad, Yanai, said to me this morning was, "Emily, you have problem working on ladder?" For some foolish reason I said no, and I shakily carried a heavy bucket of sloshy mud up an unsturdy ladder (meanwhile it was windy and raining - why the heck is it raining in the desert!). Once I got the hang of it I was feelin good , but I can guarantee that a year ago I never would have spent hours slabbing mud onto a wall from a shaky ladder (I'm a warrior goddess!!). So after a long day of mud mixing and smearing my arms feel like they might fall off but it was a lot of fun (and the mom, Tammy, made us chocolate cake so it was all worth it). And hey now I really am ready to build my own mud house! (one day...)
Amen Walt Whitman, I did not know I held so much goodness.

Day 30

This weekend I awarded myself the title of goat-milking goddess and boy oh boy was it hard to earn. My best friend Elan came to visit the Kibbutz this Shabbat because he had a weekend off from the army, and Friday afternoon we learned how to milk the silly and sometimes stubborn goats. What a thrill it was! We squeezed the utters in every which direction (and into our mouths to have a taste of their warm, sweet milk) and learned how to latch on these suction devices that slurp out the milk while we give the goats a sort of weird utter massage. Compared to the cow milking on the Kibbutz, which is completely mechanized, it was fun to have more contact with the animals and learn to be in tune with them. A lot of the goats, especially the mamas, were really feisty and would kick and stomp and go wild, so we had to stay patient and calm and send them our positive energy (yet another test of my 2012 resolution for courage). It was all a lot of fun, and hey maybe I'll become a goat farmer!
Anyway, I was more happy than words could say to see Elan this weekend and introduce him to the kibbutz and all the cool people I've met here. And I only have a week or so left, how wild! But I'm always on to new and beautiful things. Today while we were straw bale building I saw a butterfly and of course took it as an omen.

Attempting to squirt goat's milk into my mouth