Day 9: Everyone loves waking up to watch the sunrise
While most of you were watching the Cubs game and finishing dinner last night, we were waking up and getting ready for a journey of a lifetime. 3am seemed to have come too soon, but when we saw the blue spot lights on Masada for the first time we all realized it was worth it. We got off the bus and literally started climbing up the mountain as the sun was rising in Israel. Imagine going on a Stairmaster for 45 minutes straight; this is what the snake trail felt like to us. Although we looked like we had just gotten out of the pool, the view from the top was indescribable. The feeling that you get when you finish the hike, as well as when you watch the sun rise over the mountains is incredibly therapeutic. It was nice to stand there and just take in the moment. Once we all relaxed, we started an eye opening tour around the entire mountain. Never had any of us seen actual architecture from over 2000 years ago. Many people would agree that the most fun thing on the mountain, aside from actually getting to the top, was screaming off the top and hearing it echo across the entire desert. We finally started down the mountain around 9am, although it definitely felt like 3pm to breakfast.
Next, we finally got to go to a beach, but not any beach- the DEAD SEA (which is the lowest point on earth!)! Not many places can you rub dirt on yourself and let it be socially acceptable. It was fun, yet hard, to just lay and float in maybe two feet of water. You definitely can’t do that anywhere in the United States.
For our second lunch, we went to the Shuck or the Israeli market place. Israeli salesmen are very different than America ones where they literally scream in your face (al hapanim) to sell you something. They also like to compete with the next door stand to give you a lower price. I don’t think that I have been persuaded to potentially buy a watermelon before in my life.
Our evening was very brief because we were able to take a three hour, well deserved nap followed by dinner. Then we were fortunate enough to be able to talk to the head conservative Rabbi of the Masorti Movement. He opened our eyes to some of the problems in Israel as well as tried to tell us how to fix or get around them. Israel is only 63 years old and has the potential to really grow into an even more incredible country then it already is. We are lucky to be able to call it home!
To celebrate our last night in our homeland, a Jewish comedian came and entertained us for awhile. We talked about differences between the United States and Israel as well as different mannerisms that we have. It is cool to be able to understand all the jokes at the end of this trip because obviously we learned something! This was the trip of a lifetime and we are sure that everyone wishes it was longer then 10 days.
See you tomorrow America, and hopefully soon again Israel.
