July 11, 2003 — Mudeif Productions

Today, we enjoyed a full day with our friends in Kufr Yasif. Before dawn, the family patriarch went off to the Mediterranean to go fishing. He came back about the time we were waking up, carrying six kilos of fresh fish - we know what we're having for lunch! We headed into "downtown" Kufr Yasif to other members of this extended family for breakfast, a delicious round of mana'ish, bread baked with various tasty things on top - sort of an Arabic breakfast pizza.

*The ruins of the ancient aqueduct in Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot.*

Having been sated, we went out to tour the area a bit. First stop was Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot, founded by survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto resistance. The kibbutz is now most well-known for its production of soy-based meat substitutes. They also have a Holocaust Museum and work on Arab-Jewish dialogue in the Galilee. Unfortunately their small museum and other facilities were closed for the weekend, but we did admire the (presumably) Roman aqueduct running nearby and then enjoyed a stroll through the residential part of the kibbutz.

It was interesting to see the workings of one of these compounds, the old socialist building blocks of the modern State of Israel. In the past, on many Kibbutzim, children would live together in one house, cared for by childcare givers rather than living with their parents. The old socialist origins have largely been lost by the Kibbutzim in general, but each of them maintains their own particular character and community activities.

Afterwards, we made our way towards the Baha'i shrine nearby. We had visited the grand Baha'i shrine in Haifa and had lived within walking distance of the enormous Baha'i Temple in Wilmette, Illinois. The grounds here are beautiful, holding the shrine of Baha-ullah, the founder of the Baha'i faith. Magnificent as they are, they pale in comparison to the grandness of Haifa - on that we all agreed.

*The beautiful, ancient port city of Akka, Israel.*

We then took a walking tour of Akka, the Crusader stronghold and port city through which Napoleon was unable to break. We wandered through the town's history and modernity. The tour was super, with the one exception of a lack of sunscreen; Elizabeth got a doozy of a sunburn on her neck.

We completed the trip back to Kufr Yasif, where freshly fried fish was waiting for us - fantastically delicious. We devoured three kilos each (at least it felt like that) before the requisite watermelon (a summer necessity) and coffee.

We bid our friends farewell and made our way to our night's lodging in Ibillin. A quiet, remote night was broken by the distant sound of a wedding party growing louder as the day faded further over the horizon.