After my first week or so in Israel I went to work on a Kibbutz settlement for a couple of months. In case you don't know, a kibbutz is an Israeli cooperative settlement in which there is collective ownership and collective labour. Theoretically I think it's considered to be a communist system, but the kibbutzes are changing and there is more private ownership nowadays. Most of these kibbutzes accept volunteers from abroad to do the worst jobs in the place, and in return the volunteers get free room and board, a little bit of spending money (I recieved 250 shekels a month/ $100 Canadian), an interesting cultural experience, and some of the kibbutzes take you on an organized trip every once in a while.
The kibbutz I worked in was called Kibbutz Dalia, which I discovered and contacted through the internet (I have the link on my front page). Dalia is located in the Galilee region 30 km southeast of Haifa. Most kibbutzim are located in rural areas like this, so buses ain't the most common sight...I had to hitch-hike everywhere. This sounds a little scary at first, but some of my most interesting experiences were hitch-hiking, because I met so many different kinds of people, heard their political views, practiced speaking Hebrew, etc. It's also cool because different drivers take different routes, so you get to see Israel from a different viewpoint every time. NOT TO MENTION IT'S FREE! The buses are getting expensive.
Anyways, about the kibbutz...overall I enjoyed my experience, and I'm glad I did it. First I'll tell you the bad parts, and then the good parts of the kibbutz. I wish that the kibbutz was closer to the city because sometimes I felt a bit trapped in the middle-of-nowhere, I'm a city-person. You can always leave the kibbutz on your time off, but when it takes 90 minutes to get to the nearest big town it's easier to just stay in the kibbutz. Another thing about kibbutzim is that they are all-out party zones. If you like to drink, party, and go wild then kibbutz is for you. I myself never drink, so I for the first couple weeks I felt uncomfortable with the volunteer lifestyle, but I got used to it and I realized that nobody was forcing ME to drink or anything. The last "bad" thing about kibbutz is that in general the kibbutz members and the volunteers remain separate. I was hoping to meet more kibbutzniks, but they're so used to seeing volunteers come and go that they have no reason to get to know someone who'll be gone in 2 months.
Okay, now the GOOD things. In a kibbutz you will meet people from all around the world, which was the coolest part of my stay in the kibbutz. I met South Africans, Brits, Swedish, Mexicans, Columbians, Dutch, French, Germans, Czechs, Danish, Norwegians, Hungarians, 1 American, and some fellow Canadians. I learned a lot about different countries and their cultures and politics. I'm actually very fascinated by South Africa now because I heard so much about it from S.A. volunteers. I got to know a few volunteers very well and I hope to keep in contact with them. These are the greatest parts about my kibbutz experience. Another good thing is that you can learn a lot about Israel and it's history by staying in a kibbutz. Kibbutzes go back as far as 1910, and they were used to settle, build, and defend land designated for the State of Israel. Kibbutzes are full of Jewish immigrants from all over the world, so it's interesting to see the mix and variety. Kibbutzes are also good if you want a care-free lifestyle for a little while. As long as you work reasonably hard from 7am to 3pm and you aren't too destructive, then you can do whatever you want without anybody telling you what to do. It's actually quite a liberating experience to live away from direct authority like this. Even you're boss at work won't seem like an authority...you're a volunteer, what can they do, fire you?
The work in the kibbutz is generally not hard, just boring. Most of the time I worked in the soap factory, making boxes or filling bottles with liquid soap, that sort of thing. I usually just let my body go on auto-pilot and do all the work while my mind wandered and I listened to the radio. Sometimes I worked in the kitchen, but I didn't like this as much because it is so hectic and the bosses could be tyranical at times (most times). If you don't like a certain job, you can always ask to be changed, it's not a big deal.
My stay in the kibbutz was a very unique experience, and I learned alot about people. In a kibbutz you will find yourself being friends with people you never thought you could relate to, and I discovered a common thread that runs throughout people from all countries, cultures, and classes. It's a rather mind-bending experience, and I'm not nearly as judgemental as I used to be. The kibbutz took me quite a while to get used to, but at the end I was sad to leave.
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