Leaving the steep hill right outside of Nazareth we jockey in and out of traffic situations on these small roads that were not built with the immense tourist buses that traverse them in mind I am sure. Our bus drivers are sure competent at what they do. Not once did I see them get stuck in a tight space, bump or damage the buses, run over anybody or anything. They are really good at what they do. Watching them turn these buses around in parking lots that would suit VW Bugs better than a bus is nothing short of amazing.
We soon leave the zanyness of Nazareth and continue to head south to Jerusalem, our final destination for the day. We end up on a quieter road, one that is lined with trees and other vegetation. We are told we are going to have lunch at a Kibbutz. We enter what looks like a compound or maybe even a summer camp with buildings here and there, large greens, pathways and benches under shade trees.
A kibbutz is a literal application of Communism. If you "join" a kibbutz, you are assigned a place to work and other shared responsibilities. You do not own anything but can use everything. In exchange for your labor, you get room and board and at the end of the year when all expenses and incomes are calculated, everyone shares equally, unless you are more equal than everybody else and you get more.
Years ago the kibbutz movement was a lot stronger than it is today. There are not many left. I guess communism is not as wonderful in practice as it is in theory even in Israel. You either end up thinking you aren't getting rewarded more that all the lazy people around you, or you figure out that you can be that lazy person and work less than everyone else and get paid the same. Human nature is universal.
So, this kibbutz is still going quite strong from the looks of it. Everything is nice, the buildings are in good repair and the grounds are beautiful. Young people are everywhere, many are coming to the cafeteria for lunch just like us. Each kibbutz has some kind of industry or business that keeps the kibbutz afloat financially. I was shocked and astonished to learn that this kibbutz raises pigs. That's right, pigs. PIGS. All these Jewish young men wearing yamakas and young Jewish women raising pigs? I kind of expected to see some of those pigs flying by when they told us.
It is illegal in the country of Israel for pigs, swine, hogs, porcine animals to touch the ground. They literally cannot walk on the ground in Israel. So how does this kibbutz raise them? On platforms. Their whole lives. They never touch the ground. I don't know how they deal with all the other kosher issues, but it was sure mind blowing to discover all this.
So you know what I am thinking...maybe they will have something other than falafel and schnitzel for lunch! We all line up at the cafeteria which is pretty much like any other cafeteria I have ever eaten in. We are told lunch will be $18 US per person. Wow, that is by far the most we have paid for lunch the whole trip. It is all-you-can-eat and drink. I am planning to get my money's worth.
They are set up pretty well and we have four lanes to take line up in and surrender our money. I am thinking there is no way they will have bacon or pork chops or ham for lunch. I am sure there won't be anything like that here.
OH. MY. WORD. There is not only pork chops but steaks and hamburgers and baked chicken. There are stations and stations of all kinds of food, both familiar and unfamiliar. I get in the protein line first thing. Yes, I will have one of those pork chops! Yes I would like a steak. With a facade of interest I put some salad items on my plate and get a glass of some unidentifiable fruit juice (it looks like grapefruit juice but tastes almost like orange juice but sweeter and less citrus) and sit down to eat. I am excited for this! Real meat! I devour the chop and the steak. I am pretty sure the salad was eaten too so I go back for more.
The room is loud with conversations and excited talk. I am too busy stuffing myself with delicious protein to have a conversation. Our friends Juan and Patty sit down at our table and Juan has a plate stacked even higher than mine. We don't talk but smile at each other with our mouths full of food. I think, "how does he stay so small when he eats like that?" Juan is a pretty small person, his wife Patty, even smaller. Juan like me is going back for more. Pork chops in Israel! Who would have ever thought? I don't question it or judge them, I ask for another helping.
They had some great desserts too which I can't remember, but I am sated. Actually more than sated, I am stuffed. The sated mechanism was ignored in my greed for protein. I justify my piggery by thinking that I may never get another plate of real meat like this again on this trip. I was actually right, but didn't know it at the time. I think I was able to get my $18 US dollars worth. Juan probably got more like $25 US dollars worth. The kibbutz will have to work everyone a little harder after we were there.
I go outside and sit in the shade of a tree that looks like it has some strange disease. It is a type of fig tree I am told. It has what looks like grotesque warts all over it under the bark. The whole thing is very lumpy. Instead of branches from which smaller branches grow and bear fruit, the smaller branches just grow right out of the man trunk. Very strange looking. The figs are inedible as well. Frankly I wouldn't have a tree like that around. It does provide a little shade which is welcome.
As usual, there are no rocks to take pictures of here, so we have no pictures of the the kibbutz, never even thought about it. Sitting in the shade, I am thinking a nap would feel great at a time like this, but again, we are told to board the buses. I waddle down to the bus and sit in my usual place in the back.
We are going to a place called Shilo (they pronounce it "she-low"). It didn't really ring a bell with me at that moment as it should have. Yes, it is THAT Shilo, ancient Shilo. It will be one of the great highlights of our entire trip.
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