Amazing experiences - Day 2, 4:45pm

After a whole day's worth of airport shenanigans, we finally made it to the hotel in Tiberius! It's a beautiful hotel, with a patio for each room.  We ate dinner; then came the icebreakers. We switched name tags, played "bingo" and found out where the wind blows while learning the aggressive sides of our group members by knocking each other off chairs...The icebreakers were more fun than awkward. 

Today was our first real day of Israel. We began our adventure hiking at Jilabun Stream. For me, I was a bit anxious about going on the hike with my mild fear of heights and my hiking inexperience. The hike turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences I ever had. The paths were rocky, but not steep and were fun to climb up and down. Everyone was so helpful and really watched out for each other. If a clutz like me can do this hike, I'm sure anyone can. The views, like the waterfall, were absolutely beautiful. So many photo and selfie opportunities!

We took a break from the physical activity to explore the Olive Oil Factory. We learned how important olive oil is in Israel and how pure it is, too. Free samples! We were able to taste olive oil from not only green, but black olives. You're not going to find olive oil like this back in the states, that's for sure.

Then was lunchtime. I tried a shwarma for the first time and we met a real Israeli soldier. He spoke to my friends and I for awhile and told us about his life and service to the country. He was a really cool and down to earth dude. You hear all the time these rumors about how unsafe Israel is, and his words made me feel completely safe. 

After some exploration of the marketplace, we got back on the bus and headed to the Bental lookout. We looked across the border of Syria and learned a great deal about Israeli and Syrian history and war. It's crazy to think how recent this all is and to think about Syria's condition today. Despite the surreal view and fun tourist- set up and gift shop on the mountain (where I bought an awesome fedora), the location's history made me realize and think about things I never would have before.

Now back in the hotel, I am pumped to spend some time at the pool and for the night out!

Stay tuned for photos of today's adventures.