Beruchim Habaim (Welcome)
June 1, 2010
We landed in Tel Aviv after a VERY VERY VERY long and uncomfortable (at least for me) flight. After getting our luggage (I was relieved that mine was not left in New York), we were welcomed by our Israelis! They sang and threw balloons at us. We then went to our bus where we were introduced to our friendly, very funny tour guide Lior, our bus driver Moshe, our security guard Tahl, and our Israeli participants. It wasn’t a very long drive to the kibbutz (it was a short 45 minutes). The scenery here is beautiful, nothing like what you’d see anywhere in the US. We played an ice breaker game to get to know everyone’s names and what we have in common with each other (it was called “Gam Ani“, “Me Too“ in English). I’m very excited to get to know everyone more! Then we got our room assignments and either went to bed or hung out in the lobby.
June 2, 2010
Today began very early at a 7:30 breakfast. The food is ok here, not like anything I was used to, but it’s not bad. We went to a place called Sataf near Jerusalem and hiked. It was a lot of fun with a gorgeous view of the city of Jerusalem and some of its surrounding suburbs. Lior told us about the Israeli springs that were created for the agriculture and we got to walk inside a man-made cave with a spring running through it. The cave was a little scary because it was very slippery and dark, but cool nonetheless. After hiking we had individual time for lunch. A lot of people had Israeli food, I had pizza (not so Israeli, but good!). Then we went to Jerusalem, the part I was the most excited for. We walked through the old city and Lior told us all about its history. I had no idea that at one point Jews were not allowed to go near the Western Wall. We then got to go to the wall. It was a very special moment for a lot of us because we have learned so much about the wall and have been praying in its direction forever! A couple people were surprised at how unequal the men and women’s sides were. The men’s side was longer and they even had an underground synagogue (or so I was told, I obviously was not allowed on that side). The women’s side was more crowded, but I did not let that ruin the experience. This was a very tiring day, but it’s definitely one that we will remember forever.
