I am back home at the farm and it's been a crazy week!

I got back Sunday after a LONG day of traveling and could not be more excited to get back to the farm. I came in around sunset and it was a beautiful day there, Adi and Ynon were sitting outside with the kids and Devon and Lio were in the outdoor kitchen drinking some tea-exactly what I wanted to come home to.

We immediately went to work the next day because there has been a lot we need to prepare for. Tonight is the Sader dinner for passover, we have been cooking all day, its going to be amazing- chicken and dumpling soup, roast beef, potatoes au gratin, carrot salad, zucchini salad and chocolate and matza balls for desert. Passover is also the traditional time for spring cleaning in Israel so we have been cleaning our hearts out. We reorganized the warehouse and cleaned it out-including going through all of the old baby clothes to help Adi prepare for the new addition to the family. Work in the dairy, which I did today, is also insane because the president of Israel is coming next Tuesday! Its going to be awesome, and we are cooking a huge feast of traditional Israeli dishes for him and his crew including a sample of all the cheeses, yoghurts and milks we make here so its a lot of preparation involved, but hopefully will be totally worth it.

Tuesday, we had our weekly pub night and I was on bar duty making drinks and I met a guy named Eera who grew up here on the Moshav and is back on break from his job- he works as a technical manager for a european version of Blue Man Group. We talked the whole night, he just did the trans-siberian express as well, and, after the army, he went to Iceland which is a place I am dying to go so he gave me some great tips. He drives a motorcycle so yesterday he took me out around the nature reserve which is a couple of kilometers away from the moshav, it was so fun! It is the best way to see the desert without all of the heat and exhaustion which comes from walking at this point (it got insanely hot while I was gone).

Last night, he picked me up and we went and had dinner and hung out with his friends. It was great. Sometimes, since the volunteers are American and speak English, I forget I am traveling. It is so easy to feel at home here, I am in a routine and feel so comfortable, but we have to really seek out Israeli culture sometimes. Which is why it was so cool to visit another Moshav and see how more locals live. Eera's friends, Raan and Leah, were really nice and so interesting. They are married and Raan is a garden teacher at the local school. Israeli kids take Garden Class, like we take art and P.E. and he teaches them about sustainability and the animals around the farm, etc. He lives on Moshav Haseeva which is a little bit older than Idaan and bigger. There is actually a waiting list to get a farm there, even for kids born and raised in it. Since he is the only son who wants the farm, his dad has no problem giving him the alloted next generation plot, but the moshav decides who gets the plot and when through a lottery system. I can really see how people are so interested in living the moshav life, its amazing. It is all about family, you have to be married to live in one, and it is a great place to live and raise a family. We made home-made pizza in the their wood burning oven in honor of passover (no eating bread or wheat during the week of passover). It was a great night last night, and I got to see a completely different part of Israeli culture. They were all young 20's like me and had grown up in a completely different way, so it was fascinating to learn about what they assume as natural or take for granted about this way of life.

Today I spent the morning in the dairy, making drinking yoghurt and packing cheese into the jars since we have just started to sell everything the farm is making. People are coming non-stop to buy it, so we can barely keep that stocked, not to mention making everything for the prez. Right now I am about to take a much needed nap until 4 when the festivities of Pesach (passover) begin.

Sorry for the random summary of the week, normally I try to stick to one subject but it just hasnt been possible this week. Its been a week that has been all over the place so maybe its good this reflects it. Have a great Easter at home!

Pesach Samir,

Lindsey