Beginnings of Israel 2013

July 1st, 2013 - Canada Day!

We'll skip the part where I missed my flight and had a horrible time, but instead begin with my landing in Israel at 5:00 am. (Though, I must note the part where I went through Israel questioning in London and was apparently found suspicious because they wanted to check my carry-ons and they definitely searched my checked suitcase as well. Bizarre.) I take a train to Tel Aviv from the airport, and a taxi to my hotel where I'll be staying for a night. I check in at 7:00 am and immediately take a 5-hour nap, which was most excellent.

When I wake, I manage to get in contact with my cousin Laura, who has been in Israel for some weeks already. We meet at the Carmel Market for lunch and meandered the market for a while. We walked back to my hotel and hung out there for a short time and then parted ways. (Side note: we thought she had more time in Israel and hoped for another meet-up, but she went home earlier than expected.)

Because of my missed flight and late check-in, my hotel offered a free dinner at their sister hotel, the Rothschild, where I had a four-course meal with a glass of wine, and it was really good. Afterward, I went back to the hotel, sat on the Internet for a bit and made sure I knew where I was going the following day, and then had a very nice sleep.



Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

I woke at 10:30, had a nice shower and repacked my suitcase. I checked out at noon but left my luggage with the hotel because I was going to meet a friend, Mike, whom I met on Birthright last summer. He was leading his own trip and our journeys happened to coincide exactly, which was marvelous. I met him at Carmel Market where I saw his group split up for their hour of free time. Mike and I wandered a little bit, looking for lunch and happened upon a dim sum booth; this in itself was so peculiar and actually appetizing that we shared a couple of small plates. The food was surprisingly decent.
Mike had to meet back up with his group, and I went with him. It was there I reunited with our Birthright guide, an Israeli named Ami, and he also happened to be the guide for Mike's trip. It was a really nice moment, and maybe I'll get the chance to see Ami again and catch up when he's not busy corralling a group of kids.

I returned to my hotel, picked up my luggage, took a taxi to the train station and jumped a train to Haifa. At the station Hof HaKarmel, I took another taxi to Kfar Galim, a boarding school campus and where I would be spending my time for the duration of the excavation.

I hung out a bit, met others as they arrived. I checked into my room, which I'm sharing with the only other Canadian (from Saskatchewan, named Sarah).



Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013

It is Orientation Day. First, we have breakfast at 8:00, then a lecture at 9:00 which discusses the outline of the workday, an explanation of the safety on the Tel (mainly, drink lots of water and don't do anything stupid - apparently, lots of kids have done stupid things to get themselves sent home, like cliff-diving, or improper use of sledgehammers.) There was also a quick explanation on the history of excavation at Tel Dor. We also get brief introductions to the staff on site.

Lunch is at 2:30, then we kill a bit of time until the Tel tour at 4:00. Tel Dor is 15 minutes away from Kfar Galim, and we will be going there by bus every morning. We have a short tour of the site, and of the museum (called the Glasshouse, because it was once a glass factory owned by Baron Rothschild) where we'll be having breakfast every morning.

Following dinner, we have group meetings. There are three areas being worked on the site: D2, D4 and D5 - Sarah and I thought we were in D2 so we joined their group meeting and learned we were actually in D5. We stayed in the office, waiting for the D5 supervisor so we could introduce ourselves but she never showed up.

Then we went to bed, and will have our first day on the job the next morning. The next post will describe the day's usual schedule, and I'll be able to update a bit faster (hopefully!)