Monday, March 26, 2007

The Last Week in Karmiel

Oy is there a lot of catching up to do, so I am afraid today is going to be one of those straight narrative accounts that I so hate because they are boring and the sort of thing I tended to write at school which was my grades were always so average. Anyhoo I shall start from the weekend before last and go from there.

The weekend before last (told you I would start from there, dont act surprised you were warned) was our last weekend in the Karmiel house, and so to mark the occassion we had a Noam Shabbaton, i.e. we were all in the house together for the weekend. The weekend consisted of a group meal on Friday night which was delicious, and on Saturday we had a short service in the house before going off to our respective host families for the last time for a lovely lunch. In the afternoon we had a quick program and then havdalah. All in all a very nice chilled out and relaxed last weekend in the house.

Sunday was our penultimate day of school and so Jessie and I started our goodbyes (and participated in two P.E. lessons which was great fun) we also had a final meal at the art cafe (the local restaurant we frequented) and our last ulpan lesson in which our teacher Margalite indulged in her other proffession and gave us some relationship advice. Sunday is clean up day but as we were going to have three days of clean up to come we decided to bum around in filth for a couple of days instead.

Monday was our final day of work and so at the end of each lesson we made a little goodbye speech and handed out sweets and chocolates to all the kids, which was of course greatly appreciated. We also took quite a few photos and then finished up with a final, and rather awkward meeting with the headmaster. In the afternoon Ariel and I (Annabel had other commitments) went for our final time to the absorption center, but as we never did anything there we just wandered around the kibbutz where it is based for half an hour and then came back home. Monday night was also our final group meal prepared by Richard and Ruthie, we all had great fun making our own pizzas and I was surprised to find my one turned out rather well.

Tuesday was the beginning of our three day clean up and of course I ended up with the kitchen, but that was fine because in the afternoon I was told to do Misc. which I of course took to mean absolutely nothing. In the evening was our final kef night, we were all given sheets about our characters at lunch time and we were all to come to dinner as them. I was one of the few people who realised it was a murder mystery (although I only knew because I was discussing it with Ariel the previous day). Ariel was playing the detective who was of course French, and he made Clousseau's accent seem normal and comprehensible. He gave a ten minute round up of all the characters and their motives, and as he was about to reveal the murderer he was of course killed. His speech however was absolutely hilarious. The murdered in case you were wandering was Nick who was not as we thought a Scandanavian Financial Minister but an Australian assassain. I was in case you were wandering a Hungarin magician.

Wednesday saw the continuation of clean up. All good work done by those who were cleaning up was seriously hindered by something that I never thought would actually happen. A few weeks before Yoav had suggested we have a bake sale during our closing days in Karmiel, everyone agreed although no steps were taken. However, a few days before frantic cake baking began and on Wednesday evening the house was opened up to tall those who wished to feast on the Noam kitchen talent. In total 900 shekels was made and we had only sold about 2/3 of the cakes. In truth not that many people came but those who did bought in bulk. All money raised went to Moadonit where many of us had been volunteering. On Wednesday night having tidied up we ventured for our final time to Franklins the local bar. We had decided to reserve a whole section as many others would be joining us throughout the night. On our arrival much to the delight of the boys but the horror to the girls it was discovered that in our reserved area there was a widescreen TV with a playstation rigged up and with none other game than Pro Evo Soccer 6, the game that had divided the house so much towards the beginning. So of course the boys sat down to play and the girls sat down to moan.

Thursday was my final day in the house (some people were staying till Friday), in the morning we finished packing and cleared out the rooms. Then after a final take away burger we cleaned all the floors and sorted all the sutcases out into their destinations. Then Oren returned to us our deposits, and we amazed to discover that we only lost 20 shekels each for the washing machine, which is rather shocking when you considerd all the damage we did around the house. Finally at 8:30 I made my last goodbye to the house and to Karmiel and off I went for a rather magical weekend but that I shall leave for another time.

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