So I am writing an essay about work for my Hebrew Ulpan class. Here is a Preview:
I will start by saying that the reason I chose to do Ulpan on a kibbutz and Maagan Michael specifically was because I wanted to work in fish farms. I heard about the job and knew that it would be long hours and tough, but I thought that this would be a great way to get in good shape while on the job—in this I have been correct. Despite the difficulties of the job, I believe it is one of the best places to work on the kibbutz. All of the kibbutz workers are hilarious, and despite the fact that most of them attempt to talk to me in English, I am able to interact with Israelis and speak Hebrew and pick up phrases and curse words from them.
I decided the best way to describe the Midgeh would be to talk about an average day of work and the things that stand out the most. So lets begin. Quarter to 5, Shit, it could be worse I say to myself, I could work in the Refet (cow farms). Get dressed quietly so my roommates don’t kill me, take a banana and a yogurt, because you never know when you’ll eat breakfast—might be 7, might be 9, and if you’re really lucky it might be at 11:30 right when you finish your shift.
Working in May and working in February are quite different, now I ride my bike with shorts and flip-flops, but I started with pants and 3 layers of clothing as not too freeze. We start the day in one pool or another, working in mud up to our knees for a couple of hours. Mud pools are better than the rocky ponds I think—less chance of slipping, falling and either hurting yourself or having a ton of cold water flood your wetsuit and being cold for a few hours. So what do I do exactly? OK, time to try and explain.
First we load up the trucks and ride to the pools. Once we get there we back the truck up to the very edge and start pulling the net. The nets have a “led” bottom so that it sinks all the way down and a Pakak, or buoy top to float. Anyways. One person gets on the Makah, or stick, to keep the net down and the fish from escaping while 3 or four people drag the net. Once again, all the pools are different some are muddy so the net gets very heavy from the mud, some have lots of big stones so the net gets heavy from a captured boulder—basically the net is heavy and takes the power of three big Israelis (and me) to pull. Most pools we walk around are half a football field sized. Anyways, we do almost a whole lap and then start to pull the net in, in order to shrink it and bring all the fish into a smaller area. Then we lift the bottom part up so the whole net acts like a pool with all the fish in it while we put the net on barzelim / iron bars. We connect one end to a giant vacuum contraption that sucks up fish and then have to bring sections of fish at a time. This process can take usually between 2 to five hours for a big pool. We then pack it up and get to go to my favorite part of the day. BREAKFAST.
To Be Continued.
