Day 3 - The west coast (of Israel!) | Shorashim - Israel with Israelis

Day 3 - The west coast (of Israel!)

The day began in the quiet town of Old Jaffa. Our group wandered through the alleyways of this historic artist colony peeking into studio windows and attempting to feed or pet the various cats that roamed the streets. We then came to a lookout point giving a beautiful view of the Mediterranean and the modern city of Tel Aviv. Sitting on stone benches in an amphitheater on the edge of the lookout point, Shachar gave a short lecture on the history of Jaffa and Tel Aviv. To the right of our group was a class of schoolchildren. Sachar informed our group that Israeli students are taken around the country on a yearly trip where they learn to appreciate the land on which they live.

After taking photos of the incredible view, our group retreated into the maze of alleys once more, finding more kittens hiding in the shadows. Personally, rescued a small tabby cat that is now hiding in my suitcase (Don’t worry, I feed it every hour). Regardless, we emerged from the streets onto a dock where small fishing boats rocked serenely in on the water. Old men with beards fished lazily in the bay. We gathered around the edge of the dock and Sachar took the stage once again to tell us the ancient Greek mlyth of Andromeda. I wont take the time to retell the entire tale, but the significance lied in the belief that Andromeda was tied to rocks just beyond the dock on which we sat and offered to a great beast of the sea.

At this point, we left the dock and began to walk along as long stretch of beach leading us towards Tel Aviv. The sea was beautiful and warm and everyone seemed to enjoy this portion of the day a great deal. On our walk, we ran into other Birthright groups and glared angrily in their direction.

Soon, we entered the first neighborhood of Tel Aviv. This looked to be a very wealthy community and the streets were scattered with few people. The homes had a southeastern European feel and many of them had small colorful gardens.

The neighborhood slowly evolved into a more bustling urban landscape and the streets grew crowded with people. Looking around, we realized Tel Aviv is a far more modern city than Jerusalem. There are thousands of cultural influences and customs, making the city vibrantly alive and diverse. Perhaps the best example of the energy Tel Aviv holds lies in where we broke for lunch. Many of the city’s major streets converged forming a spider web of pathways leading to different clothing stores, restaurants, and even a street market.

After lunch, we boarded the bus and headed to the Jaffa institute headquarters just outside the city. This is a volunteer organization designed to help families in impoverished communities by providing food and educational services. When we arrived we were ushered into a small room stacked to the ceiling with boxes of food. For the next 45 minutes, we helped assemble food packages to be shipped to poverty stricken communities.

It seemed that we left just as soon as we arrived. The next stop on our trip across the universe was a small community in new Jaffa. We were there to interact with children for an after school program. Myself and few others built necklaces and bracelets with a few children on the top floor of the building. It was difficult to connect with the children because we speak very little Hebrew… I can guarantee they made fun of me.

Our last stop of the day was Rabin square back in Tel Aviv. Here Sachar gave a history of the previous prime minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin and showed us the location where he had been shot by an extremist right Jew in 1994. This was a very surreal and moving experience. Personally, I did not realize just how monumental an event this was, and just how many lives were affected. The monument built in his honor looked as if a strip of asphalt had been crushed, and I thought it symbolized how the road to peace was rocky.

After a long day we retired to our hotel on the beach and ate some things that were similar to food and then we all went to a bar and socialized and drank. Then we all went to sleep, cos it was a very long, but wonderful day.

BYEEEEE!