In the morning we packed up and had a great Israeli style breakfast before our journey to Galilee. We had great yogurts, cheeses, fruit, cucumbers and rolls... the best. On our way to Nahalal we stopped at Appolonia, the site of ancient ruins from the Phoenician, Hellenistic and Byzantine period as well as the remains of a crusader fortress. The sight was right on the Mediterranean and was eventually destroyed by the muslim armies after the town had been under siege for 40 days.
After this we made it to Nahalal, Israel's very first Moshav (communal farm) founded in 1921. A very historic place and intergral to the History of the country, a number of famous Israelis have called it home at one time or another included Moshe Dayan and Ariel Sharon.
Tonight we are staying with Host families so we can really get a feel for Israeli life away from the tourist side. My host mother is Talli Barr, who had lived in Los Angeles for a time but returned to the beauty and simplicity of Nahalal where she lives with her parents and her sisters family. The hospitality was incredible. After a nice friday evening Shabbat service with lots of singing and a bit of dancing we sat down to a huge dinner of Kebab, various salads and the absolute best Baklava from the Bedouin village nearby
Interesting political discussion and perspective. Although definately not what I am used to hearing in terms of being pretty right leaning with a pretty strong anti-arab sentiment, it is hard for me to be judgemental as I am not close to the fighting. Nahalal has lost many of its own in the wars and even was fired upon by Hezbollah's Katuysha rockets in the 2006 war with Lebanon. As it is always said, Israel is a complicated place with multiple opinions and complicated challenges.
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