Staying Sane

For the most part, life is great here. I am in a beautiful place with wonderful people, and I am learning so much! But it can be pretty intense and overwhelming at times. Simply juggling our packed schedule - including 5 courses for credit (15 hours per week), 2 additional non-credit courses (8 extra hours each week), mandatory student life activities, community service, reading/studying, and a multitude of meetings - can seem daunting. It doesn't help that most of the material is incredibly depressing. I know I've mentioned this already, but it's hard to read 100 pages a week about how humans are directly affecting climate change and then move on to the fact that the pesticides we use on our crops are killing the bees needed to in order to pollinate them. Not to mention lots of talk about identity, the conflict, and how to figure out a way to actually live together.

To top it off, I am dealing with a completely dysfunctional bureaucracy (and living on kibbutz with a ridiculous number of inane rules). Not only does it run like a small non-profit, it runs like a small non-profit in Israel. Simple matters should not take weeks to resolve. But they know how to make things as complicated and challenging for us as possible. It's just comical at this point, but has been a source for many heated discussions and debate. We ask for or about something and we are told to talk to someone else, who promptly tells us to either talk to yet another person, or to go back to the one who just sent us. No one seems to know what is going on, and everyone seems to want to be in control at the same time.

Anyway, the long and short of it is, we have had to come up with methods to deal with the extremely intense and inefficient system that is the Machon. This is what I have come up with so far:

- Impromptu parties: filled with singing, dancing, and drumming. We go all out and look ridiculous! But it is so fun. And a way to release some of the tense energy that has built up over the week.
We had our Challoween party (planned, but the music and dancing wasn't), a birthday party for a few students, and a couple of campfires. All very necessary and cathartic in some ways.


Happy Challoween!


Lots of dancing


Breakfast before hearing Obama's speech


A toast to the next President! (Mmm...tequila at 6 am)

- Hikes: Getting outside of the kibbutz is amazing. And we have a great "back yard" to escape to. Climbing up on the mountains is so exhilarating and liberating - it is a physical challenge and a mental break.

- Pub night: I can't say that I've partaken much, but there is a pub here that is open Thursday, Saturday, and Monday nights. It is a converted chicken coup. Seriously. Cheap beer, bad music...what more could you ask for?

Bad movies: We've setup the projector on the lawn a few times for a good movie night. The most recent: "Don't Mess with the Zohan" High quality, I know.

- Gardening: We're starting an organic garden from scratch near the campus. And by "from scratch," I mean we are making the soil, because it started out as just sand. We've added compost and manure and lots of water. We're getting ready to plant (so far parsley, radishes, corn, and a few other herbs have been planted; the rest should happen next week). It has been a source of internal conflict for me. On the one hand, I really want to garden. On the other, I really need to study. But I've decided that getting my hands dirty and doing is just as, if not more, important than reading. So I'm writing to you now with lots of dirt under my finger nails. Literally :)

- Mud building: I haven't done it yet, but people are planning to do it again Tuesday morning at 6:30 (that's right, we don't mess around). Another chance to get dirty and play with the earth. I'm so excited!
- Running: it is my savior. I go most mornings when the air is crisp and cool (it's cool now, it wasn't a month ago) and most people are still asleep. It is therapeutic, I can clear my head, and I don't have to talk to anybody!

We also look to each other for support - to talk, complain, laugh, and sometimes cry. Any other suggestions? We would all love to hear them.

- M