Kibbutz Sde Boker

Kibbutz "Caravans."

Yesterday, I thought I would head over to check out Kibbutz Sde Boker, the other settlement nearby. My [new] cousin Guy happened to be there for the weekend, visiting a friend of his and so I met up with them, for a brief insight into the world of Israeli teenagers. Aside from the fact that they all carry M16's [a constant reminder of their soldier status] hanging out with them was like being catapulted back into my freshman year of college.

Water resevoir outside of the Kibbutz.

Walking in the desert is crazy...there is barbed wire surrounding nearly everything. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given that all the land in the Israeli Negev is owned by the government, and something like 2/3 of it is designated for mililary use.

After serving as Israel's first prime minister, Ben Gurion and his wife, Paula, moved to Kibbutz Sde Boker. Today, the house they lived in is a tourist attraction, and there is a nice park nearby with these cool reed-thatch-roof huts.