Chapter 48, Face Paint

“Next week is a day you are all waiting for.” Announced Frida our home class teacher.

“Our yearly trip,” interrupted Ariella Lanski.

“That’s Right,” continued Frida, “and I would like to remind you what to bring with you. This is going to be an overnight trip. Next year you will have 2 nights trip. I enclosed here a list for you to take home, but in short, you will need a backpack, a sleeping bag, canned food for 2 days, fresh fruit, a canteen with water, a hat, and medicine if you need it.”

We were all too excited to listen to her, everyone was whispering or talking about what they are bringing. And, when you have more than 40 kids in the class this could be very noisy.

“Don’t forget the paint,” said Yossi “I am planning to paint all the girls. I will wake you up in the middle of the night, we will crawl to the girl’s room and we will paint their faces while they sleep.”

“Niccccce!” all the boys whispered.

At home, the following week, mom pulled out dad’s old army backpack, a new sleeping bag she just bought two days ago, an aluminum canteen, three cans of tuna, a can of corn and a can of green peas.

 “Tomorrow I will make you a few sandwiches, and you will have some fruit and vegetables in a plastic bag,” said Mom. “Here you have a first aid kit and a second aid kit. You remember how to use a needle and thread?”

“Of course,” I answered, “I see you are including a few buttons here too, thanks!”

  “Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much that night. I woke up before everybody and checked my list for the 5^th time.

At the school, two huge trucks were waiting for us. They were specially converted trucks for school trips. The box in the back of it was covered with a canvas with an opening in the back. It had four rows of benches where about sixty kids were cramped together. Bags were stored under our seats and at the end sat our teachers with a few parents who joined us. Most of us were glad our parents were not amongst the chaperones. We didn’t care if we were comfortable or not, we were all happy to go on a two-day trip. except maybe for “little Ilana” who started crying as soon as we left. Frida sat next to her and it took some time for her to calm down.

I forgot the paint, but I didn’t tell anyone. Yossi didn’t forget, the whole way he was talking about how he was going to get up in the middle of the night and how he heard about the water trick.

“You know,” he said, if you take someone’s hand while he sleeps and you stick it in a cup of water, he will piss in his bed.”

“Never heard of it,” said Yaakov Bloom, “but I did hear that if you rub a pair of shoes next to someone sleeping you can change the retheme of his breathing.”

“Yes, and if you stop doing it the person could die from not breathing,” said Yaakov Levi.

Our first stop was at the kibbutz Ein Harrod in “Jezreel Valley”. It is located next to a famous spring from biblical time. We saw some museum, which I don’t remember what it was about,  and we were allowed to play in the shallow pools of the spring. For lunch I paired with Sha’ul Shriber the son of the judo teacher.

“What did you bring?” He asked. I showed him my sandwiches and cans. 

“Want to share? I offered.

“I tell you what,” Sha’ul continued, “we will share one of your sandwiches and open my can of tuna. I have lemon and salt and we can mix it up and make a light tuna salad.”

This was the best tuna salad I ever had. Mom never made it that way, she only opened the can and put it on the slice of bread.

That afternoon, we climbed the Gilboa mountain. This mountain is half naked. No trees grow on it. It was cursed by king David when His best friend Jonathan and his father King Saul died fighting the Philistines. Nothing grew on that part of the mountain but the view from it to the valley was exquisite.

“Tomorrow,” said Frida after we finished our dinner, “we will go to Beit She’an. And from there we’ll continue home. Now, get ready for bed. The kibbutz was nice enough to offer us lodging. The girls will stay in those rooms on the right and the boys on the other side.”

It took us a while for us to fall asleep. All of us stayed up late talking quietly, ignoring the chaperons’ yells. All of us except Yossi. Yossi fell asleep right away. In no time he started to snore. By midnight when it was time to go paint the girls faces Yaakov Bloom tried waking Yossi up. He called his name, shook him, he even put his hand in water. Yossi didn’t wet his bed, nor did he wake up. Shmulik Maler Painted his face with his watercolors, and he kept on snoring. We couldn’t fall sleep. Without a word, Sha’ul Shriber dug in his bag and pulled his toothpaste. He took the cover off and squeezed the paste into Yossi’s nose. The snoring stopped and we all slept like babies. In the morning Yossi was the first to wake up. He creeped to the bathroom without talking to anyone and he stayed quiet all day and all the way back home. 

 

 

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Sautéed Fresh Tuna Salad

 

Almost in every party you will find tuna salad. Most of them are made with canned tuna and mayonnaise. But my tuna salad is different. It is made with seared fresh tuna and fresh ingredients.

 

Ingredients:

1 Lb. Fresh Tuna stake

½ Onion 

1 Garlic Clove

1 Celery Stalk

2 Pickled Cucumbers

¼ Cup Cranberries

1 Granny Smith Apple

2 TBSP Soy Sauce

1 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp Salt

1 TBSP Paprika

1 tsp Ginger Powder

¼ tsp Black Pepper 

2 TBSP Olive Oil

 

Preparation:

 Dip the tuna in oil, vinegar, and soy sauce to marinate for 2 hours in the fridge.

Spread the spices on both sides of the tuna and sear on a very hot pan for 45 sec on each side. Let it rest.

Cut the onion very fine and sauté with crushed garlic to caramelize it.

Cut the tuna to small cubes – ½” , add to the pan, and stir fry for one more minute. Let them cool down. Chop the pealed apple, celery, and pickles. Mix all with cranberries, olive oil, and vinegar.

 

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