The Beginnings of a Great Adventure

So today we are officially leaving our first home away from home, kibbutz afikim, and are heading to tel aviv as I am writing this. So while I am excited to be going in to the city because I forgot a million and one different little things that would make my life a life a lot easier on a daily basis (aka a converter for the electrical outlets here), I am definitely a little bit sad to be leaving there because it was absolutely beautiful and unexpectedly nice and modern. Not that I thought that we would be sleeping in the dirt or anything, but at the same time so far the thing that has resonated with me the most is the juxtaposition between the old and the new here in Israel. This is my first time here so honestly I had no idea what to expect because if you don't expect anything then you can't be disappointed; but when I thought about Israel I thought of all of the stetotypical things...the golden dome, the wailing wall, etc. But up to this point, if there weren't stars of david and israeli flags and hebrew writing on all of the street signs, I would have thought that I was in a a tropical paradise. (see pictures below ). The streets are lined with palm trees and exotic flowering plants, all sorts of different trees are blooming with fruit (apples, oranges, grapefruits, etc.) and amazing floral aromas.In fact I think that one of the most peaceful moments that I've had here thus far was laying out in a hammic right by our patio and getting to know everyone and my roommates a little bit better after we were all incredibly jet lagged after the 11 hour flight across three or four time zones and 3 hour drive to the kibbutz. Honestly, I think that the warm reception we received at the airport (see video below) was the only thing that kept us going because whenever you're that tired you don't have enough energy to do anything but be real. Which is actually a great change of pace from the often superficial and politically correct interaction that seem to permeate american society. In fact, as we have all found out first hand, the Israeli culture is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum because they tend to be much more straightforward and direct than their North American guests and counter parts this week. In any event, everybody in our Israeli challenge group that I have had the chance to interact and spend a couple of minutes with has been awesome. Everybody (group leaders included) seems really cool and overall there is great energy or chemistry with the group which is only enhanced by the Israeli soldiers that are on leave from the army/navy/etc. Honestly, whenever they said that there would be one with each group at all times I guess I imagined that they would be older or have guns on them or something; when in actuality they are kids that are our age that are not there so much there to protect us, but moreso to help us overcome the cultural barriers more easily. I can't speak for everybody in the group, but I can't read or speak a drop of hebrew (with the exception of the little bit that I learned to read phonetically for my bat mitzvah) so even little things like knowing what kind of sugar you are putting in your coffee or trying to read a menu and order something to eat would be a challenge (and not the kind that they had in mind for the trip) if not impossible without them. So on that happy note I would like to personally thank the wonderful Israeli girl that has been rooming with me another American and think that I can speak for everyone when I say thank you for beings so patient and helpful to all of us and for not rolling your eyes every time that I peppered you with a million and one different questions, because in a lot of ways I would have been completely helpless without you. :) In any event, in spite of the jet lag we hit the ground running because although we left the states on Monday morning, we actually arrived in Israel at dawn on Tuesday. So after taking a couple of minutes to get settled and change clothes we headed up to Mount Arbel for our first hike and physical activity. The pictures tell the story better than I can and the only thing that really needs explaining is the group of orthodox israeli school girls that seem to be on a mission to slow down our trip. We waited for 2 plus hours for them to complete the climb down the mountain at Mount Arbel and then ran into them again the next day while we were hiking through the golan heights (which by the way was the most beautiful and unexpected places that I have ever seen ). After a brief lunch we got to visit an Israeli army base on the border of Israel and Syria and then had our first challenge of the trip; white water rafting, which was blast! Then a surprise zip lining opportunity and a great BBQ which wrapped up day two and left us just enough time to pack everything up at the kibbutz and ready ourselves to leave for Zfat on the way to Tel Aviv at 7:15 am this morning. Well that's all for now, but everything has been amazing so far and we've barely started day 3!