Shalom from the Mifar Gvanim night camp! So far I’ve walked 91 kilometers this week. After Moa we headed to the very very very small town of Sapir. We stayed across the way from Sapir in a “Bedouin” style night camp…I use the word “Bedouin” lightly since there was a large restaurant there we could eat anything from a hamburger to pizza (Israeli style of course). I opted for shnitzel. Oh and there was cold drinks! My apologies to those who are on the east coast experiencing more snow. It’s been almost 100 degrees here everyday and anything cold feels magical.
From Sapir the trail (and us on it) headed west for Mitzpe Ramon. I write to you one day away from reaching Mitzpe one of my most favorite places in all of Israel!
I think one of my biggest lessons this week is to be ok with going at my own pace. I hate feeling “behind.” My Mom has often reminded me I was a late adopter of walking in general. I think I didn’t start until I was almost 2. But she also tells me that once I started I never wanted to stop. So here I am walking Israel!
Over the past week some of the people who were keeping my pace left the group so I had been pushing myself to keep up with some of the faster hikers. I even left one morning so early with them I didn’t drink coffee. Big mistake. I was miserable trying to keep up and also miserable without any caffeine. Not to mention that it was a challenging day on the trail in general.
So I finally decided I needed to empower myself to feel comfortable to go alone and be at my own pace. So I ripped out all the pages I don’t need of my trail book and started to study the pages I do need. I got more comfortable reading the map and how to know who is before me and who is behind me. Most important not to day dream when I’m alone so I keep track of the shvil signs.
I’ve had two glorious days going at my own pace with meeting new folks and not making myself crazy to get to where we are camping and sitting around for hours. I’m enjoying being with the trail more and my much stronger arms and legs as opposed to worrying about keeping up.
Today as I result I got to see a little small pool of water in the desert, which is like finding gold and spent a nice time chatting about parts of the Haggadah and permaculture with an ex religious man who has recently joined our group. And going at my own pace also means I still have some energy at the end of the day! Erev tov (good night) from Givanim night camp!
Rabbi Molly G. Kane 