Going on Week Two at Rotem

First entire week of Earthbag house building complete!

In my first week I worked mainly on building a mud floor and a swimming pool. My average work week is Mon-Thurs, 7:00 until 3:and change with a half an hour break for breakfast...and then usually am finished for the day after lunch and dishwashing by 5:00. Luckily I'm enjoying myself, or this would border on exploitation!

We eat wonderfully. No meat (they, as should be the norm in the world, eat meat or fish about 3 times a week,) lots of vegetables, grains, and an abundance of tahini/ hummus.

I took a Moroccan basket weaving class from a neighbor who learned in Morocco to make almost anything from fig branches, which perhaps I will continue this week.


On Thursday evening I went to Tel Aviv for a lovely weekend and returned Sunday with my host Yotam, who is studying Tai Chi at Tel Aviv University. I stayed with a wonderful couch surfer who provided great conversation and a fabulous insider tour of the city, including the best:
- ice cream (Pistacchio and Havla, or a seseme seed dessert
- Yemenite food (Jachnun and Malawach, both doughy, heavy, and delicious!)
- A hole in the wall restaurant with one cook/owner and a daily changing menu
- A live drum circle on the beach
and probably covering at least 10 miles by foot over the course of the weekend. He's Russian and moved to Israel in about '91, during which time large numbers of highly educated Russians moved to Israel, some finding university jobs...and others working as taxi drivers.

I spent ALL DAY outside Saturday, getting a few jellyfish stings and worse, horrible sunburn on my chin. And by horrible I mean big red blistering by Sunday. Upon returning to Rotem, I put honey on it as per a recommendation, and put extra in a cup covered in plastic to use in the morning. When lifted the plastic cover in the morning to reapply, I was greated by a giant cockroach belly-up who must have died a very bittersweet death. I assume he had been the one I saw scurrying across my floor before I turned off the light. Or perhaps the one who I usually see hanging out by the dishes in our kitchen. Either way, I decided to forgo picking around him and got fresh honey to redress my wound.

Today I continued building the pool, which looks wonderful, and am now practicing my Hebrew with renewed enthusiasm. Tomorrow I begin teaching myself the Hebrew alphabet!