One thing I forgot to mention about yesterday was the very long and interesting conversation I had with Fonda (an older woman on the trip) at the pool. She told me all about her first husband, their kids, her second (and current) husband and their relationship with their respective steps. It was really neat to listen to her story and to recognize the similarities and differences between her story and mine.
Today we went to the Tel Dan Nature Reserve. This is the first real water (a river tributary to the Jordan) we've seen, besides the Mediterranean. It was incredibly beautiful, especially after the dryness of the rest of the country. They narrowed the water path so that the river traveled very quickly, with lots of rapids. Unfortunately it was too narrow to raft down (and probably too shallow), but it looked like that would be fun.
Inside the Reserve, there's an archeological dig where we heard stories about how the castle was used back in its day. Someone mentioned (or asked, really) if it was used for weddings and the rabbi explained that it was. When the rabbi asked if anyone knew of any weddings coming up, Ilona overheard one of the group members saying that Paul and I would be getting married. I responded to Ilona, "How would she know before we did!" Interesting, though not surprising, at the gossip that seems to be going around the group. I've gotten a couple of questions about Paul and me and the state of our relationship. Paul hasn't gotten any.
Next we went to Tzfat, an artist colony. We walked around the city and heard stories about its history. Then we grabbed a delicious lunch and I decided this was the place I was going to find my painting! At first I saw some nice stuff, but nothing really stood out. But then I went into this store with a vaguely hidden entrance and found exactly what I was looking for! After some internal debate and some prodding from the salesgirl, a Silver Spring transplant, I bought one! It's more money than I usually spend, but the painting is beautiful and the artist gave me his autograph on the back and inscribed it to me. They're shipping it back home.
After the shopping excursion, we went to see David Freedman, Kabbalist and artist. He showed us his paintings and explained some of the meanings behind the colors and subject matters he chose, particularly related to how Kabbalah inspired and influenced his works. It was really interesting.
We drove back and tried to go kayaking, but they had shut down the turbines that make the rapids and weren't offering any more trips today. So we all went to the pool and horsed around for an hour. Now we have about an hour before we go out for dinner at a local trout restaurant.
Tomorrow we leave for Jerusalem and the last leg of our trip!
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