SH-24-247's blog

Hi, Scott and Lina here and all we can really say about yesterday, it was awwwwwwwwwwwwesooooooome! We began the day with a tour of old Tsfat, one of the four holiest cities in Israel. Its narrow cobblestone streets and quaint alleys gave old Tsfat great character, in contrast to the relatively modern New Tsfat, where Lina had the pleasure of spending some time in the ER a few days earlier. Unlike when Lina stepped of the bus with dread, we all stepped off the bus in Old Tsfat and felt a sense of wonder.

As the sun was setting Friday evening bus 247 gathered to celebrate our first Shabbat together.

Early that day we climbed our first hike through the beautiful mountains of Galilee. After , and even during (thank you time change), most of us felt exhausted. It was very refreshing to get all dressed up for Shabbat. First, each of us girls had a chance to light a candle. As we did this Dan took the boys in our group outside. Each boy had a rose (or two) to give to the girls. This was very sweet and felt similar to Bachelor reality T.V. show.

It has been 24 hours since we touched down in Tel Aviv. As we began exiting the airport with our bags in tow, we were immediately greeted by our seven Israeli group members who were singing and cheering. Although they were probably receiving strange looks from the local Israelis, we felt incredibly welcomed. After a brief “shalom” orientation still inside the airport, we headed outside where we were able to exchange money, pick up our rented cell phones, and have a bite to eat.