Kibbutz Lotan

!עם ישראל חי
שלום לכולם (Hello Everyone)

It has been a long time since the last TAC post. Our European adventures ended four and a half months ago, but I (Eli) am still wandering the world and at a slightly different pace. From Germany I boarded a plane to Tel Aviv where I stayed a few days visiting family. Ben, my brother, happened to be in Jerusalem on Birthright at the time, so I made sure to see him. His trip, however, was being lead by (madricha in hebrew) a friend of mine from College, Carly. Hey Carly. Ma shlomech?

Anyways, besides family, friends, beaches, home cooked food, nights out, a queen sized bed, I was in Tel Aviv where I was soon to be placed on a Kibbutz, where I was to remain between May and August. Between a few recommendations from my cousins and what was available at the time, I chose Kibbutz Lotan. (By the way, the video on the front page of the Lotan site, I made.. more on that later.)

Wait, its now October you may be saying. I may not have had my cup of coffee today, but basic math dictates that you should have left by now, Eli. Well I didn't. This place is fantastic.. and I'll tell you why.

Kibbutz Lotan is located in the Arava valley of the southern Israeli Negev desert right at the border between Israel and Jordan. Who else can say they wake up and walk outside (barefoot may I add, things here are reaaal chill) to the sight of the Edom mountains. Fantastic, nuff said.



While I assumed Lotan would be great, I felt the biggest challenge when living here would have been getting over what its like to live in the desert. When I imagined what life would be like, I imagined I would be living among cacti, scorpions and yak skulls. I imagined constant sun and heat, cold nights and mirages of oasis pools filled with beautiful Israeli women. None of that is true. There is constant sun and heat, but the heat is not a heavy heat because there is no moisture in the air, also there is shade everywhere. At night in most deserts around the world, it gets cold but for some strange reason the Negev maintains it's temperature. Actually, It lowers from the daytime heat to very comfortable temperatures. On occasion you will see a scorpion or a camel spider. But they don't bother you. I stay very hydrated on Lotan (we get our water from an underground aquifer of saline fossil water) so I have not yet stumbled towards that oasis mirage.. but its cool because there are REAL oasis pools here. You just have to know where to look. And some of us know. 

The kibbutz itself is a very unique one. Unique because it is supported by four pillars.

The first is that is is completely collective. What this means is that everything is shared by everyone on the kibbutz. All income, all facilities, all food, all everything. Most people work on the kibbutz in the kibbutz industries (which are dairy, arguably the best dates in the world, tourism, and ecology) while others work off of the kibbutz and give all revenue to the kibbutz. All kibbutzim (roughly 270 of them) in Israel started out this way, and it is the tragic fate of 75% of who had to privatize in order to continue to exist. Lotan did not. In summary, I have been living like a communist/socialist for the past four and a half months of my life and its great. Suck on that Fox News.

The second is that it is Reform Jewish. Of all roughly 270 kibbutzim, only two of them align with Reform Judaism. Kibbutzim either associate with religion or they do not. In Israel if you are religious, you are almost always Orthodox and if you are not, you are very much secular. There are a handful of religious kibbutzim, but most are secular. Just because someone may live on a secular kibbutz, however, does not mean that there are not people on that kibbutz who are not religious, it is simply that the kibbutz as a whole does not associate with religion. BUT We consider ourselves a religious kibbutz, but we are not orthodox, we are reform. I was raised in a reform jewish household, and this is the level of judaism that I know and love. It meas we keep a kosher kitchen, celebrate all holidays, keep shabbat etc.

The third is that the kibbutz tries its best to be as ecological as possible given the environment and the resources available. On of the kibbutz industries is the Kibbutz Lotan, Center for Creative Ecology and is in fact at the moment the division where I work and the reason why I extended my trip in Israel. The CfCE is a research center, an educational center and a center for educational tourism and learning. The CfCE hosts many programs including the Green Apprenticeship (which I would like at some point later, to return to participate in) where they teach practical ecology, permaculture, and community design. The video on the front page of the Lotan site is about the GA program. Pretty cool stuff.

The fourth and final pillar is that Lotan is an intentional community. What this means is that they have created a mission statement. Simply put, they don't exist only to make money and live. They see their time here as time with purpose for the greater good of themselves and hopefully the world.


My job on the kibbutz started in the kitchen. I worked there for two months and did zero cooking. Because of an injury to my knee playing soccer, I was advised by the local doctor to seek alternative employment so that I could stay off of my knee. I wanted to stay the remaining month but had to find alternative employment and living situation in order to stay. They also asked that I extend a little, and I say yes with almost no hesitation. That is when CfCE took me in, they also moved me in to the Bustan (in hebrew bustan is orchard) neighborhood where I have been living in a dome made of earth materials. Believe it or not it is incredibly comfortable consider I live in a mud igloo. You can see what they look like in the video, mine is the one with giant hands on the sides. But I don't mean to stray. The work that I do includes the following:
-Research
-Eco tour guide
-Marketing/Outreach
-Tech Development (I am making an iPhone app for Lotan CfCE)
-Office, clerical work
-Resident badass

While all of this is great, the one thing I have learned through all of my travels is that my experience is heavily dependent on the people I meet. I have met fantastic people whom I know I will be friends with for life. These people come from all over the world including: the U.S., England, Germany, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Australia, Sweeded, Switzerlnd, Spain, Austria, Holland, Argentina, Colombia, Ireland, Canada, and of course Ha'Aretz Yisrael (the land of Isreal).

On a more solemn note, I was here during the recent terrorist attacks by Hammas. Kibbutz Lotan is located only 15-20 km away from some of the attack sites. This may be frightening, but I can't imagine being in a safer place given the circumstances. What I mean by that is if there was a terrorist attack near me when I am somewhere else in the world (perhaps very similar to the sniper shootings of 2003 in Montgomery County.. where I grew up) I would feel less safe than I do here. Yalla Tzahel.


Hope I didn't bore you with my book. Now to the good stuff.

Highlights:

Côte D'Azur

We returned to Nice, France to spend a week relaxing beachside and exploring the French Riviera. Nice is the perfect place to do this because you can reach many French coastal cities within 30 minutes by train and with our train passes every ride was free. And the hostel, Villa Saint Exupéry never ceases to amaze (see the previous Nice post).

We explored, in particular, three towns along the Riviera.

Monaco
Not French, Monaco is actually the second smallest country in the world (next to the Vatican City) and is home to many of the world's wealthy for the simple reason that residents of Monaco are not subjected to taxes. The monarchy of Monaco (yes there is still an active royal family that rules the country) has found other ways to raise money for the state, the primary source being tourism (I don't know how much we contributed to the economy, I think Corey bought a Coca Cola but that's it). That being said, Monaco is famed for the Grand Prix, a Formula 1 race through the streets. While there, we got to see the city setting up for the race, missing it by only two weeks. We also visited the famed Monte Carlo Casino, and if I can put things in perspective some people were winning easily 7,000 Euro in one hand and so naturally felt compelled to tip the dealer upwards of 300 Euro. Naturally, right? I would.

Cap D'Ail
Just south of Monaco, Cap D'Ail is where you move if you would like to live in a gated mansion with a pool instead of a flat (Monaco is so small and so crowded that there aren't mansions like you might expect there to be). There is not much here besides these mansions, owners of these mansions, their cars, yachts, beachside restaurants and of course beaches. Being of the financially deficient variety, we spent our time on the beach. Funny story in this town: I had scraped my knee a bit while swimming to the cave. Later in the day I was getting hungry and determined to find a sandwich of some kind. This was harder than I thought since there are only a few things in this town (as stated earlier) so I was walking around, alone mind you, for quite some time. I noticed that strolling couples would double take when they saw me walking, often the wife would whisper something to her husband and their pace would quicken. This struck me as strange until I realized that my leg was bleeding. To these people, I was seen as a threat. Me. Ha. I don't blame them, though I may try to aide the wounded.

Antibes
I visited the town of Cap D'Antibes as a child and wanted to return to see what it was like with an older perspective on things. The trip with my family as a child was under much different circumstances. Needless to say we stayed with an incredibly affluent friend of my Grandfather. Their estate was so great we barely left. This time around, the only rich part of my trip to Antibes was my humor (I hope at least one person laughed when they read that). We explored the old town, the marina and the beaches.

Highlights:

Barcelona

We have now reached the last major stop and new city within the three month European expedition. Barcelona, Spain is indeed an interesting place and if some Barcelonians could have it their way, the city would not even be Spanish. Of the Catalan region, the primary language of Barcelona is in fact Catalonian, an interesting and unique combination of Spanish and French (find Barcelona on a map and you'll see why). Here's an example: The word for 'exit' in Spanish is 'salida' and in French is 'sortir'. The word for 'exit' in Catalan is 'sortida'. Furthermore the word for 'I' in Spanish is 'yo' and in French is 'je'.. in Catalan it is 'jo'. Beyond the obvious language barrier this creates between the Spaniards and the Catalonians (side note: all Catalonians speak Spanish but not necessarily the other way around) this principle is just a microcosm of the Catalonian spirit and is therefore not surprising that the Catalonian region even has a strong separatist party.

In regards to how we spent our time in Barcelona, there is much more to see than is possible given only 2 touring days. Plus, we are getting burnt out from all the tourismmmm (imagine me saying that word out loud as it is typed.. and that may help put a mental picture in your head of how I feel about tourism after three months non-stop. Vacationing is hard work.)  The point that I am trying to make here is that in the last few stops of our travels, we have been embracing opportunities to enjoy the experiences along side or instead of the must-sees in each respected city. This one no different. We spent one lazy day wandering the Guell Park, a park created by the Spanish architect Antoni Guadi known for his love of 'natural curves'. There is really no rhyme or reason behind his architecture and yet it is beautiful. The videos and photos will do no justice in showing you what I am trying to explain so.... go to Barcelona and see for yourself. We also spent time wandering the gothic quarter, the Sagrada Familia cathedral, relaxing port side and even watched people and pigeons interact for about an hour. I got some great photos of this, be on the lookout.

All great Barcelonian things aside, the city is also known for it's extravagant pick pocketing and prostitution scenes. Sometimes they are two within one. Just walking home from a night out with Tom, we we're confronted by easily 20 prostitues in 10 minutes, their pimps waiting on the other side of the block. So if you do make it here, watch out... especially at night.

Once again, we met up with my friend Tom whom you might recognize from the Stockholm video who showed us around town. He has been spending the semester abroad in the city. Watch the video and this following comment will make sense, but I yet again forgot to buy him the batteries that I owe him. You'll get them within the next 20 years, I promise. Hopefully I'll see you and the other guys in Chicago come August.

One more thing, for anyone whose known me since elementary school, you will especially appreciate the last clip in this video (but don't skip to the end).

Highlights:

Seville

While in Marseille, we met a guy who told us that he "arrived in Sevilla at night and spent only a few hours there but even at night walking through the streets I could tell this was my favorite city in Europe." With a recommendation like that, how could we pass on that city? Plus my friend Mike Skoda, whom we ran in to in Stockholm, had been spending the semester studying abroad in this city. We only spent 2 nights in Sevilla, Spain but they we're well worth it.

Spending two nights really means only one full day of touring, so we rented bikes. There is a lot to see and do in this smaller town and we we're only able to do so much yet I am still satisfied with our visit there. At night, Mike took us out where I ate my first helping of authentic paella and my first authentic sangria followed by a night of bar hopping.

Sevilla is a must see Spanish city.

Highlights:

Lisboa

Hands down, Portugal is the vastly overlooked European must-visit gem.

I would nickname Lisbon, the capitol city of Portugal, the San Francisco of Portugal. Besides (even ignoring) the direct replica of the Golden Gate bridge, it is a port town with many hills and trams. With interesting history, great nearby beaches and cheap prices everywhere I vastly regret not spending more time in this awesome country.

On the other hand, I thought knowing French and having a very basic (I can't stress just how basic) of an understanding I have of Spanish, that I would be able to understand maybe, perhaps, conceivably a little bit of Portuguese. I was of course wrong to think that. In fact, I even lacked the ability to hear it spoken and translate the oral language to how I thought it could be written. And of course this goes the other way around when attempting to order something that was recommended to me and written down on paper.

And once again, I cannot stress how cheap things are in Portugal. The best meal I have eaten on this trip was the chicken dinner I ate out alongside a beer only ran me 7 Euro. To put this in perspective, sometimes a Coca Cola alone in a restaurant in Italy can cost 3.50 Euro.

Oh and we hit the 'largest casino in Europe'. Watch the video to find out how we did.

Highlights:

Madrid

As the tour continues we find ourselves back in the south where we can finally get some sun and warmth, a good way to wind down our European trip. It will be two weeks before we return to Munich, the city we started and the city where we will end.

One word -- Tapas. As we we're told, the story behind tapas starts in the 13th century. The poor people only had so much money could only afford either food or beer. Guess what they chose? Correct. Incidentally the poor people of Spain we're malnourished and drunk and so the king of Spain declared it national law for any restaurant or bar who served beer to also serve some food on top. The Spanish verb 'tapar' translates to 'cover'. Today the law no longer exists but the tradition does. Wherever we bought beer there was also a tapas served alongside, something as small as chips or as large as chorizos, breads, patatas bravas, chicken wings.. We ate a lot of little food in Spain.

Coincidentally, we spent Easter in Spain. While I have no personal affinity Easter, being that the national religion of spain is Catholicism, the Spaniards take the holiday very seriously. You may have heard of their world famous Easter processions. Each church has it's own procession, all of which are on different days. The procession is essentially a large parade with a marching band and an incredibly heavy altar. The processions march for hours all through the city. It is a very large honor to take part in the processions, so large that spectators at one procession cried and embraced when the rain forced the procession to go no further than the church's doorway.

And for those who are trying to travel cheaply, the Euro goes far in Spain.

Highlights:

Stockholm

Before I write anything else, if you have not read the 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' series, do so. The reason why I mention this is because the book is set in Stockholm and even before arriving into the city by train, I recognized names of Swedish cities along the way. Also, the books are great, beyond great. And have really interesting characters.

I've always found the expression 'the world is a small place' to be kind of a lame one. Perhaps that is because I have never been in a situation with coincidence that simply astounds me. This all changed in Stockholm as we we're walking down the street looking for our hostel and we run into not one but two friends of mine from college. It turns out they we're even planning on meeting a third friend of ours the following day. It was awesome to hang for three days with those guys. You will see a lot of them in the video.

Time in Stockholm was spent wandering the old town (Gamla Stan), watching the guards change, visiting a zoo with animals indigenous to Sweden and traditional Swedish architecture. We also made a trip to Uppsala, a smaller town one hour away. We ate Swedish meatballs, but they we're prepared by us in the kitchen in our hostel. Not quite the down home cooking experience I had hoped for, but money would not permit.

Highlights:

Berlin

Berlin is a must-visit in Germany (if you didn't already feel that way). You can feel just how recent ago the city was divided. Remnants of a deep history linger everywhere alongside evidence of progression. From the major cities we have seen thusfar, Berlin is a city where I feel I have not seen enough.

During the days we spent our time roaming the streets, seeing museums, monuments, parks and eating the street food. By night we spent time with young Berliners, cruising the bars and the internationally renowned nightclubs. And we ate currywurst, a Berlin tradition and it was simple and phenomenal.

The music for this video is by a band named Scratched Surface and is a band from which we befriended the lead guitarist in the hostel we stayed at in Strasbourg, France. His name is Jens. He is cool. What's up man?

Highlights:

Haltern am See

Our visit to Haltern was a much needed break from the hustle and bustle of the large cities that we continue to explore.  This quaint little German town gave a real insight into the people and the culture of their country.

Haltern is where we met up Hendrik, my (Corey) exchange student from high school.  From traditional meals to high school plays (which included drinking and sexual jokes), we acted the part of a local, 'natürlich'.  With clean clothes and good spirits we enjoyed ourselves.

We would like to thank the Boesing family and Hendrik and we hope that we see you again soon (not another five year break, bitte).

Highlights:

Amsterdam

All the myths about Amsterdam are true, they really do have the best waffles and french fries in the world. Despite what one may think, Amsterdam has more to offer than a night in the red light district. In fact, it is a very normal town with less than normal rules.

As a tourist, you can visit museums from the Van Gogh museum to the Anne Frank house, tour the Heineken brewery, shop the market, see windmills by bicycle etc. Or you can grab a coffee at one of their many coffee shops, often the coffee is bad. Don't mistake the coffee shops for cafes, who actually serve good coffee.

Oh and we walked out of the casino with €140 in our pocket (roughly translates to $200).

Highlights:

Nancy

Because of the kindness of friends we met in Athens we stayed two nights in the smaller town of Nancy. We spent time there relaxing, talking, walking, eating, joking, drinking, rapping (some of us with names that start with the letter 'E'). One night we had a traditional french feast of cheeses, breads, salads and wines. The following night Claire made some of the best onion soup I have ever eaten. Don't tell her that i'm telling you this but the secret is to add a little curry. We would like to thank Claire, Erika, Megan, Nandy and others who put us up and put up with us for the entire weekend.

Highlights:

Paris

Paris is far too large to visit entirely in only 4 days and that speaks something of the city. And with luck, we we're privileged to see the city as both a tourist and as a local.

The first two days we spent in a part hostel part scenester music venue. Within five minutes of arriving we're watching a punk rock band and a crowd of loyal fans in the basement venue of the hostel. Later in Paris we spent two nights with awesome Parisians we made friends with in Prague and friends they knew in the town of Maison Fort just outside of the city. One friend, Lucy, in particular showed us true Parisian living. We sampled the traditional Parisian fare of Escargot, Grenouille and Foie Gras.

Of course we also had time to visit the essentials (unfortunately thats's often the situation when staying only 4 nights in a city). We toured the tour Eiffel, the Louvre, the catacombs, Père Lachaise (resting place of Chopin, Jim Morrison and many others), Notre Dame, the latin quarter, and the list goes on. We would like to thank Lucy, Antho, Lisa and everyone else who put us up and put up with us in Paris.

Highlights:

Interlaken

Wow. Switzerland. Wow.

Interlaken, roughly translating to between lakes, also rests between two mountains in a valley and is one of the nicest places we have been to in all of Europe. Though it rained two of the three days we spent there, the one day we did have outdoors was unbelievable and worth sitting inside the other two days for. Other activities that are available in Interlaken include skiing, night sledding, canyon jumping, bungee jumping but the Swiss prices and rain meant we played ping pong. One day we will have to return (with larger wallets).

Highlights:

Nice

Nice is pretty self explanatory. We stayed at a hostel that has been repeatedly named France's best hostel, and is also on the top 10 best hostel worldwide list every year. Besides the comfortable beds, lush gardens, outdoor patio, incredibly gracious and knowledgeable staff, accommodating arrangements, 1Euro beers, on-site chef, very cheap home made dinner, free shuttle service, free internet, laundry service, coffee 24hrs-a-day, book exchange, etc. the hostel could have been better.

Going skiing in the French Alps is incredibly easy to do, even from Nice, because there is a shuttle service for only 1Euro to the Alpine village of Auron, where we had access to discounted rentals (also thanks to the hostel) and fairly cheap lift tickets. We only skied half a day, but had a blast.

We also made tons of friends, i'm glad we met all of you. Facebook us?

Highlights:

Italy - Roma, Napoli, Genova

Lucky you, this one is a triple post. We spent a lot of time in Italy but only a few nights in each city. This meant we did not experience one city in particular to it's fullest but in return we we're able to see more cities in Italy.

Roma.
It would be hard to visit Italy without seeing Rome. The first night upon arrival we decided to buy beers and walk around the town. What do you know that we end up at the Colosseum (how about them open container laws?) Only two nights in Rome meant one full day of sightseeing, so we returned to the Colosseum for the official tour. With our admission ticket, however, we we're also granted access to the Roman forum. Very cool.


Napoli.
The largest attraction to Naples, for us, was Pompei and Mt. Vesuvius. Upon arriving in Pompei, we bought bus tickets to see the crater of Mt. Vesuvius only to learn that the wind was too strong to be allowed to ascend to the very top. I guess they we're afraid someone would fall into the lava.. because that's a bigger risk than rebuilding an entire town next to an active Volcano known to erupt. Pompei, on the other hand, was incredible. We we're able to walk through an entire town preserved by feet upon feet of volcanic rock. If you are in the area, pay a visit it's well worth your time. Oh and Naples is the birthplace of pizza.

Genova.
Plain and simple, we had a great time in Genova. On the train to Genova, we made friends with a Ukrainian whom was off to meet her friends and colleagues from Egypt. She invited us to tag along and we we're able to experience Genova as the locals do. We also made a day trip to Sestri Levante to see the birthplace of one Andrew Foster.

Spotlight on Josh

In an earlier post I spoofed everyone (but mainly intended for my parents) on getting a tattoo. I feel that while the prank was a successful one, it took away from the fact that a friend of mine GOT A TATTOO and I was there to witness it. And it's cool too. The 't' in Greek is 'Tau' and has personal significance for Josh. If you want to find out more, ask him, i'll put you in touch.

Without further ado:

Santorini

As per recommendation from my father, we visited the Greek island of Santorini. We happened to be there during the 3 weeks of "winter" so there was no laying on the beach, but that did not stop us from having a good time.

The island is not a big one, but is large enough that you cannot get around by foot. Besides cars (and only small ones are found on this island) the official means of transportation on this island is either moped, ATV or mule. And since I left my mule at home (it wouldn't fit in my bag) Corey and I rented an ATV for 10 euro a day. This allowed us to see all of Santorini and was well worth it.

Highlights:

Athens

Seemingly unfazed or rather unbothered by the riots only days before we arrived, Athens was by far the most wild city we have been to so far. Our hostel was located only a few miles, sorry kilos as they say in Europe, from the Acropolis and other ancient temples. In fact, the rooftop bar provided a perfect lit-up view of the Pantheon at night.

Walking down the streets of Athens was a game in itself, the objective to stay on your toes at all times or get swallowed by the city. The bustle of cars, taxis, trucks, mopeds, ferrel animals, domestic animals, street vendors, beggars, street performers zoomed along just outside the heavily graffitied exterior walls of buildings where expensive and inexpensive shops, boutiques and restaurants alike waited just on the other side of a door.

Rewinding a little, Corey and I met two Canadiens on the ferry from Bari, Italy to Patras, Greece named John and Josh. We quickly became friends, despite having mistaken them for Americans. The following three days we explored the city and joked about football, maple syrup and boots. We also made friends with some Americans teaching English in France, an Australian who works in a hostel in Nice (whom we will see again when we visit Nice), a Brazilian, a Georgian (the state) heading to Turkey, an Army guy from Idaho and his travel buddy, a model from N.Y., an American tutoring Math in Qatar, two English guys that we soon lost at a club, all of us brought together by the CrazyEuropaFunkCool front desk/bartender from Lithuania. Boom goes the dynamite.

Oh and someone got a tattoo.
Highlights:

Venezia

What's there to say, its Venice.  Although prices were high and the end of February in northeast Italy on the water isn't terribly pleasant, Venice was picturesque.  When we arrived at the train station after a long and uncomfortable overnight train ride from Vienna we knew we had made the right decision.  The small narrow sidewalks were filled with confetti from the night before because little did we know we arrived for the last night of Carnivale (although most of the festivities were cancelled because it rained that night).

Two hours of walking aimlessly around, walking down dead-end after dead-end we finally arrived at our hotel and once again I (Corey) flooded the bathroom after a shower.  After a week and a half of traveling, during our second day in Venice, the sun made its first appearance. A few hours of contemplation on whether we should steal a boat like James Bond and go on our own tour we decided it was a better idea to just walk the streets and get lost in the city (the bottle of wine at 11:30 in the morning also helped).  The city is small but it is easy to get lost because you are constantly making sharp turns and crossing bridge after bridge.

All in all, Venice was a great time to relax and enjoy the surroundings...and drink lots of wine.

Highlights:

Wien

Vienna was the heart of the Austria-Hungarian empire and the streets are adorned with the architecture to prove it. One of the largest old cities we have seen so far, it is also host to very youthful neighborhoods. We spent the days exploring the ancient culture of the city and spent the nights in the 'Bermuda Triangle' the hot spot for night culture in Vienna. We met some crazy Canucks who were traveling, all separately may I add, and who we went out on the town with.

The hostel that we stayed at was of a higher quality than any other hostel we have stayed at so far. They we're relatively inexpensive but for a slight bit more, here and there, you had access to all luxuries. I did my laundry here (for the first time, don't judge) for more Euros than I hoped to spend, but in the convenience of the hostel.

Praha

The very first impression of Prague was not good. We showed up late in the late evening and the temperature was approaching freezing. While walking to the hostel, we discovered just how difficult of a language Czech is. Hungry, thirsty, tired we made it there and left straight for dinner.

Prague is awesome. A meal of friend cheese, goulash and Czech pilsner changed our opinions on Prague very quickly. For the next two days we toured the city, experienced the nightlife and ate the food. Prague is a modern city with a medieval charm.

We also tried Absinth. It's crazy.

Highlights:

München

We landed first early Friday morning in Munich, a southern Bavarian city of Germany. The backbone of Bavarian culture is bier and wurst, so we fit right in. The kraut is good too.

I have a friend in Munich who graciously took us out on the town to live and eat as the locals do. Unfortunately for us it was our first night in Munich, so our jet lag did not allow us to stay out in the clubs until 4 or 5 or 6 a.m. as the Germans are used to doing. And I thought America was crazy. Thank you Sandra, for showing us a great weekend. It was great to see you again, we had a blast.

Munich is a great city. Vibrant, young, modern, diverse and very friendly. It was not terribly expensive to stay either with nights in the hostel ranging between 12 to 18 Euro and meals as cheap as 4 Euro. We saved more money by walking everywhere while also getting exercise.

Highlights:

Brief Outline and the Preparation of My Trip

On Feb 2, I will land in Indianapolis Indiana, where Corey and I will meet and our trip will begin. We plan on spending some time at our Alma Mater, Indiana University, and the remainder of the time in the U.S. in the northwestern Indiana/ Chicago area. On Feb 10th, we embark for Munich, Germany.

For three months starting Feb 10, Corey and I will be backpacking all throughout Europe. We discovered a great deal in transportation (which we will also occasionally use as night's lodging in between countries) and that is the Eurail pass. I am bringing along, courtesy of my brother Ben, a Flip camera. Prepare yourself to become envious of our trip not simply from descriptions in writing from our Blog, but with stunning 720p full color (and color-commentary) from our Vlog. (See what I did there with the b and the v? Cool, huh.)

As mid-May rolls around, Corey and I will part ways, well versed in the language of European Rail travel. I will proceed further in my travels to Tel Aviv where I will be spending the next three months living/working/breathing on a Kibbutz. As of now, I do not know which, and will not know which Kibbutz will become my home. This news will become known to me probably on the ride there. And probably means either in the car ride there or at the office in Tel Aviv right before the car ride there. I really have no preference of which Kibbutz I will stay.

You may be wondering, "say Eli, can I come too?" The answer is, "Yes. But we're leaving very soon. Pack quickly." The next question may be, "How do you plan on packing for SIX WHOLE MONTHS?" Another good question. As mentioned earlier, Corey and I are backpacking, but given that I will spend equal time in the cold winter of the northern hemisphere as I will in the dry, arid and hot summer in the land of Israel (Eretz Israel) I have to plan every piece of clothing that I will bring. A lot of time and thought went into the planning of what to bring and only time will tell whether it will be enough (or too much).

Countdown? 6 days...

Eli