Waterfalls and Voting

Tuesday, 22nd of January 2013 – full slideshow at the end

When snow melts what do you have? Lots of water. And the thing about snow in Israel is that it does not last long. With a day off of work for the election, we decided that waterfalls needed to be the holiday priority (along with voting – of course).

Monday, Tzachi picked me up from work at exactly four pm. Making our way to Jerusalem, we made it early to my Magan David Adom test at the MDA main Jerusalem stations. Following the test, we drove north to the Kinneret where we met Daniel Brenner for short brotherly chat. Before crashing at Tzachi’s Uncle and Aunts’ house in Qatzrin. After enjoying a lovely breakfast with his Aunt and cousin the following morning, the three of us (Sauvy being the third) toured three of the local waterfalls.

עיט (Ayet – meaning eagle) is only a few meters walk down the road from the parking lot, making it a popular sight for families and tourist alike, too pruned for a true hike.

Ayet Waterfall, Golan, Israel

In the car ride to the second waterfall we were met with staggering views of the green hillsides with snowcapped Mount Hermon in the background.

Snowcapped Mount Hermon

The second waterfall we visited was דבורה (Dvora – meaning bee) was a short hike down into the valley from the parking lot. From there, we made our way to the ancient village of Dvora, where Sara explored past the “do not pass” signs, claiming she could not read English, Arabic, or Hebrew. As she walked, she told Tzachi the ancient story of Eyahiy (ee-yah-chhye) with the cruel black eye, the most evil of Pirates to ever sail the Kinneret. And Dvora, while it looks like a peaceful city, tucked far away into the hillsides of the Golan was in truth, the hide out of the evil pirates, who buried their treasure here – far from lingering eyes.

The ancient village of Dvora

It is possible to hike to the third waterfall, following the trail from Dvora south. But running low on time and needing to return to caste our ballots (or lack there off – which I will explain later), we drove. Hiking down a short hillside, we came upon our third waterfall, ג’ילבון (

Gilabon Waterfall

). With the waterfall tucked into the northern hillside, it looked out straight towards the valley with a clear view through to the farmland.

After our hiking, we drove back to Tel Aviv were we ate a lovely dinner of protein at Only Meat. Followed by Sara’s first ever Israeli election. Which a quick explanation from Tzachi, Sara went to caste her ballot. The thing is, there are no ballots in Israel. You only can vote for a party. Therefore, who you vote into the Kinneset to deal with national issues and whom you elect as your Prime Minister to handle both domestic and foreign affairs is the same party. You do not even vote for an actual person, only a party. Seats are then given to each party based on the number of votes they received, with the highest number of votes electing the Prime Minister’s party.

The booth was large, a table with a blue linen hiding me away from watchful eyes. At the door I had been handed a blue envelope, after showing my Tuda Tzahuk (Israeli I.D. card). On the table in front of me where stacks of cards, each with two or three letters on them. Each stack represented one of the parties, with over thirty parties being included in this election. Carefully picking my card, feeling as if I was playing a game of Monopoly, I placed my single card into the dark blue envelope and sealed it closed. Walking to the middle of the room, I dropped my envelope into the large, cardboard box, before heading out the door into the fresh evening air. And with that single card game, I had voted in my first Israeli election.

Israeli Voting Booth, photo courtesy of Jewishjournal.com

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