The Biweekly Update From Ira's Intercontinental March on Analysis #4

Heyyo, The top three updates from the last two weeks were all on the kibbutz I've been staying at, Neot Semadar: <ol> <li>The breaks. We work from 6am-3pm with an optional bonfire beforehand and sometimes there are additional evening duties like dishes. Despite this regrettable schedule there are a pile of breaks: over an hour for breakfast which includes a full kibbutz meeting and 45 minutes at 12:30 where the working teams meet together to discuss anything that someone on the team has become aware of about themselves and wants to share; this often leads to inviting others to think about whatever the topic is for themselves. Today my group talked about what we to do avoid uncomfortable situations (I mentioned not asking for a translator at the meeting where I know they are looking for extra help...) and tonight the international volunteers met and had to answer the question "who are you?" three times in pairs; suffice it to say it was a bloodbath.</li> <li>Milking goats and then not having to milk goats... I'm now indefinitely stationed with the Food Production team which is code for boxing olive oil/juices while watching the big juice conveyor belt constantly break (shown in the first picture); for a while it looked like I was going to be milking goats everyday which would have been tough because of the allergies and stench, mercifully I'm out of that gig for the moment but it was a cool opportunity while it lasted for a city boy.</li> <li>Shabbat, there's a big ass dance that lasts somewhere around 40 minutes on Friday evening where it starts with eight couples that each make up their own short dances which eventually spreads to rest of the crowd. Everyone is dressed in white and the musicians and dancers all communicate non-verbally the whole time with no preparation.</li> </ol> In other notable updates I've been enduring intermittent kibbutz diarrhea (any help that the medical experts on the list can offer would be outstanding) which I've deduced comes from some of the raw fruits and vegetables - I've been troubleshooting and weaning back on as time and space permits but in the meantime I'm back on fish which has been sensational. The other two pictures attached are the arts center and where the goats get milked, more next time! Catch ya, Ira <a href = "https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uPpaXTqqmpkbHs_RHA6b5Dl9VX3oZidM?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener" >Photos</a>