SH-22-321's blog

The best pool in the world is located at the Masada Youth Hostel. Over 1000 feet below sea level, the air around the Dead Sea is thick and sticky, and the summer heat is so oppressive that it is too dangerous to climb Masada if you start after dawn. We arrived at the hostel covered in Dead Sea salt and mud and grime, so we threw ourselves into the forgiving pool as soon as we arrived.

Yesterday we traveled to the Dead Sea. The mixture of the mud and salt water leaves your skin feeling absolutely incredible. The girls enjoyed exfoliating with salt crystals directly from the bottom of the sea, and we all had a blast floating over 400 meters below sea level.

Bus 321 spent last night together at the Bedouin tents. We were treated to a full meal and authentic Bedouin hospitality, complete with coffee, baklava, and stories from our host. Our sleeping accommodations were on mats in a large tent that fit our bus and bus 294 together. After breakfast this morning we found ourselves on a walk in the dessert. It was hot and dry, but very beautiful. At one moment we came across a large, steep hill. We spelled our bus number in Rocks and then several of the men spontaneously charged up the hill.

Misc. pictures from the adventures of bus 321

The most rewarding part of a two hour hike is swimming at the bottom of a waterfall after you are done.

We have had an amazing day filled with hiking, nature, hearing stories of Israeli spies, swimming under a waterfall, learning history of the '67 and 73 wars, and tasting of falafel at the mall in Katzrin. We are lucky to have Yossi on our trip. He is our Israeli guide and has been sharing wonderful, inspiring, and very touching stories. Some are even of his own personal experiences which make them all the more meaningful.

The bus is on the edge of the sea of Galilee - We are going on a hilke today at jilaboon. Everyone is in high spirits and we all seem to be getting to know each other very well. ZWe hsave thrown ourselves into this new adventure with no hesitstions and grest enthusiassm. We will be pasing the border of Jordan very soon. It is surreal to see all of these places we've leasrned so much about from Hebrew school. It is mystical and most certainly unique. Already, I understand the importance of birthright trips, especially traveling with Israelis.

Massive cancelations of flights coming out of Chicago, major traffic coming into JFK, and an overheated, overcrowded terminal did not deter Bus 321 from reaching Israel. At approximately 1:45pm, local time, our flight touched down at Ben Gurion. We are ready to receive our Taglit!

The entire plane applauded as the wheels hit the runway. After passing through customs, we were greeted with song and dance by the Shorashim staff and some new Israeli friends. As I write this blog entry we are en-route to our official opening ceremonies taking place by the sea near Tel Aviv.