He Smiled at Rosh HaNikra

Today I started the education program I had signed up for. The course series has a combination of classroom and field trips. The field trip series is called The Land of Israel, and guess what, they go places.

(I should have started last week, but they went on a 2-day trip to the Golan Heights to see snow and I figured I have seen enough snow this year.  Seeing Israelis in the snow would probably have been something to behold, though).

I joined them today and we went North. Way up North, past Haifa to the Upper Galilee and the border with Lebanon.

The group is made up of English-speaking residents, mostly retired. I felt very young. They meet every Tuesday for classes and trips, so they are quite a cohesive group, but they were very welcoming. ("Say Hello to Raquel. She is from Canada.")

The field trip leader, a woman from South Africa, somehow managed to tell me off twice for not following instructions. Apparently buying a cafe hafuch (cappuccino) at a pit stop and holding the bus wasn't a good idea. Nor was staying behind the group to chat with soldiers. She warned me she doesn't want me to continue to be a troublemaker. Now, this troublemaker role is a first for me. I might enjoy it.

She told me off. I am a troublemaker.

The man in the photo below is in the group. His shirt reads "Chilean Army," it has a Chilean flag, and identifies him as “León”. I shouldn't then be blamed that, when I attempted to ingratiate myself with my new comrades, I started to speak to him in Spanish.

He was startled and said he did not speak Spanish. I pointed the shirt's writing to him, and he replied he had no idea what it meant. He had found the shirt in an apartment he owns when the tenant went missing one day, without paying the rent. So he kept the shirt.

Leon, I found your shirt!

So for those of you reading this in Chile, si conocen a un “León” que se escapo del ejercito y dejo su departamento en Israel sin pagar el arriendo, díganle que acá le encontré  la camisa.

The offshoot was that he told me that while he wasn't from Chile, someone else in the group, Erwin, in fact was. The group around us seemed very pleased I had made a connection, and Erwin and I immediately started sharing names to determine who we knew in common.

Both the trip stops and the presentations were themed around the War of Independence (1948) and a few of its heroes' lives, so there was a lot of effective learning going on (bonus, no gift shop stops). The tour was led by an experienced and very knowledgeable tour guide. In Israel, tour guides have to go through a rigorous certification process to work in the field (for all I know, Yoav the guide might have a PhD, as this isn't uncommon).

Yoav showing us 4,000 of history at-a-glance

Yoav showing us a map, not walking backwards

 Our first stop was at Keshet Cave, high up on the mountains on the Upper Galilee, on the South edge of the mountain ridge that separates the upper Galilee and Lebanon.  The ceiling of the cave collapsed in the distant past, leaving only an arch - which is the source of the name.

Keshet Cave, Galil

The view was breathtaking, and even though it was a hazy day you could see all the way to the Mediterranean. We got some very interesting explanations about the history and geology of the area but I will not even attempt to repeat that here. The photo speaks for itself (I hope).  And here is a video of an extreme moron swing jumping off Keshet cave.

Yoav's presentations covered not only geography, geology and history but botany as well. I now know what a carob tree looks like.

Carob tree

We also learned about the early modern Jewish settlers in the area and their struggles under the British, and how they organized themselves and built a resistance movement which, eventually, gained Israel its independence.    But the price they paid was high: over 6000 people were killed in the 18 months after prime minister Ben Gurion declared Israel's independence (I have relatives who were killed here in the period). This represented 1% of Israel's population at the time. Do the math.

The second stop was at the settlement of Chanita where we learned about the history of the place and had a picnic lunch at a lovely break in the forest - a forest funded by the JNF (I recognized a tree I planted but couldn't find the plaque with my name). 

JNF sponsored park

The people in the group were very friendly and shared their food generously. The picnic time, especially, reminded me of summer camp growing up.

One woman asked me what I thought about what is happening in Israel and Iran and the missile attacks in the south. I told her she as the first person in 13 days to bring this up.  At this point, we were driving very close to the Lebanese border. Hello Hizbollah.

Lebanese border, right there

The last stop was at Rosh HaNikra, where the sea meets the rock on the coast of the Mediterranean.  Essentially it is a geologic formation in the Western Galilee, a white chalk cliff face which opens up into spectacular grottos.

RoshHaNikra grotto

And here is a video clip to show how close to the Lebanese border it is, filmed by yours truly.

Rafi and I went to  Rosh HaNikra 4 years ago, and while it is very impressive, I was more interested in other things.

 

Patrol soldiers at Rosh HaNikra

Two patrol soldiers walked by, on duty. One is 18 the other 19. I asked them if things were quiet now that Hezbollah has lost the support of Syria and Syria is otherwise "distracted."

"No" one said, "Hezbollah is getting ready to attack."

"Ready to attack? You two look very relaxed. Is it because you are around tourists?"

"No" he said, "We look relaxed because we are prepared."

I asked him if I could kiss him (he smiled; I didn't).