A meeting of cultures.

At the same time as the professional agricultural seminars and courses there was a meeting between two cultures, each side getting to know the culture of the other. We, the Israelis, learned about the townspeople from different places in Jordan as well as the Bedouin from across the border fence.

We were guests in the village of Rachme where we were received with the best that traditional Jordanian hospitality provides. We learned about the way of life of the Bedouin in Rachme and the neighbouring villages and exchanged views concerning the changes in each side before and after the peace process.

For the Jordanians who participated in the project, the first week in the kibbutz was really a week of "culture shock". They were exposed to a culture for which they were not prepared, strange and unknown things such as;

Men and women eating together in the communal dining room.

Kibbutz education - the "cheek" of the kibbutz children.

Work without receiving a salary.

Completely different 'norms" of behaviour.

A different family framework.

The volunteer girls at the pool.

Friday night discos.

The people involved in the two projects forged personal friendships and each time there are border crossings there are messages, greetings and invitations sent to the respective parties.

Getting to know Israel

Within the framework of the project, days were set aside for trips whose goal was to show the project members different kinds of settlements in Israel; town, kibbutz, moshav and village, and the way of life in each.

At the end of each project, the members went on a 4 day trip which, apart from the proffesional agricultural side, included trips to Tel Aviv, seeing the different faces of the city, and of course, a trip to Jerusalem, the Israeli side, which included visits to the Wailing Wall and, closer to the Jordanians in spirit, a visit to the Al Aksa mosque and the old city of Jerusalem.