Gaza Gruntwork

Greetings,
Yesterday, instead of the usual grind of gmara, sitting, and cucumbers, Yeshivat Ma'aleh Gilboa went to a settlement called Mivtachim, a place where people who were expelled from Gaza are restarting their lives. As you may know, there was a lot of agriculture in Gaza, so yesterday, we helped set up their greenhouses (or in Hebrew, literally "hot houses") as they were in Gaza.
We left the yeshiva at 3 a.m., and davenned there at 6 a.m. After a breakfast of bread and cucumbers (okay, so that part of the grind is still there), we headed to the hot houses. And hot they were; I sweated so much that I could have watered the plants without a hose. My day was broken up into two parts: 8:30-12:30, which was putting tubes into hoses, a process that left my thumbs sore and my body hot and tired (I also used my trusty rusty nail; see right) ; and 1:15-5:00, when I put potted plants onto the ground and stuck irrigation tubes in them. Lunch was between 12:30 and 1:15, and consisted of turkey sandwiches and pickles. As many of you know, the only food I enjoy more than this (also a customary airplane carry-on) is Mexican food with avocados.
One of the more rewarding parts of the day was dessert in the desert, when we got popsicles after the sandwiches. That was perhaps the best popsicle I have ever eaten, the frozen goodness in the hot hot sun. It was also rewarding to do this work, when all my other yeshiva friends are in Israel, speaking English and reading from a book instead of really learning about Israel.
And for the record, let this activity not designate me as either orange or blue. Thank you.

More on the teachers later.