The last three days have been action packed! On Sunday, we began the day with meeting our soldiers and hiking in the Banyas. Despite the unfavorable weather, we were able to witness beautiful views and waterfalls. Noach’s great touring skills provided us with a background of the area that bordered Lebanon and Syria, and we also got to visit an area where he was once involved in combat. Our soldiers introduced themselves and what part of the army they’re involved in and are with us until Thursday. Alli and I are lucky enough to have one of them as our roommate (what’s up Leehi!). All of the soldiers are friendly, nice, and full of knowledge about Israel and the culture. My favorite part of the trip so far was the jeeping that followed our hike. It was awesome to be able to drive a jeep full of friends through the Israeli wilderness, and I especially loved driving over the bumps, hills, and mud puddles; that’s an experience I’ll never forget. After the amazing jeeping trip, we headed to a kibutz and listened to Aryeh explain Israeli history past through present. To say the least, he was extremely opinionated, but he was in my opinion by far the most memorable, passionate, and inspirational speaker we’ve listened to so far (right behind our awesome awesome awesome friend Avraham). It was awesome learning and listening to someone who spoke with so much pride for their country because I feel that is a very rare sight to come across in America, which is unfortunate. Sunday night was the cherry on top to an indescribably amazing day. We schlepped our way to Tel Aviv and hit the town with our newly acquainted soldier friends and had great times and made great memories (even if the bar did rip us Americans off).
I’m not going to lie, it was rough waking up Monday morning and I think these 7 AM wake up calls are starting to catch up to everyone. This day provided us with even more background on the foundation of the state of Israel and gave us a greater appreciation of the nation’s past historical events. We visited Independence Hall, Rabin Square, and explored Jaffa (an area within Tel Aviv). The scenic views are nothing like anything I’ve ever seen in America before. Words can’t explain the overwhelming beauty of each sight we see, and the only way to truly experience the same feeling is to visit Israel. After exploring Tel Aviv, we headed to the most holy of cities, Jerusalem, where we will spend almost the entire remainder of the trip. Once we arrived at the guest house, the soldiers explained important aspects of the IDF and presented us the challenging task of working together to balance on a very minimal amount of chairs. I was very proud my team was able to work together and crush the competition, and this activity exemplified the significance of how the Israeli army is a humanitarian organization that focuses on working together.
Today, Tuesday, we started the day off with a fair of organizations extending offers to study and further experience Israel. We also did some more sight seeing in Jerusalem and everyone got amazing scenic shots in front of the Old City. We enjoyed falafel for lunch, making this the fourth one for me so far on this trip. Following this activity, we went to Yad Vashem, which is the Holocaust museum. Everyone was naturally very emotional after a three hour long tour. Most of us here have relatives who were affected first-hand by the tragedy, but witnessing all of the information and artifacts in the museum made the event all the more tangible and real for us. On the bright side, I think it’s safe to say that it further enhanced everyone’s pride in their Jewish heritage. Now we’re on our way to the Bedouin tents, so wish me luck because I’ve never had a single camping experience before this!
We miss all of you at home and wish you were coming with us to the desert tonight!
- Mel D