Days One & Two | Shorashim - Israel with Israelis

Days One & Two

Greetings from the Holy Land! After a full days travel, we finally made it to Israel! We met up with our Israeli friends at the airport and began our journey.Everyone hopped onto Bus 113 and we began to head toward our first destination. We made a pit stop on the way for dinner and all joined in saying the "she-che-chee-a-nu" (oops, we don't know how to spell!)and really started to feel at home in the homeland. After a two hour bus ride, we arrived at our first location; Kibbutz Afik in the Golan Heights! The whole group went to bed in order to prepare for our first full day of adventures! Alarm clocks could be heard all throughout the Kibbutz bright and early at 7:30 am. After a quick breakfast, bus 113 headed for our first hike of the trip; The Jilabun river. We treked down the valley and came across a beautiful waterfall. After snapping pictures and enjoying the cool breeze the water gave off, it was time to hike back up. By 11 am, it had reached a glorious ninety degrees and our journey back up the mountain was a challenge to say the least! However, we all made it in one piece and felt incredibly proud of ourselves for completing our first adventure. Our next stop was an overlook of the Syrian/Israeli boarder. We learned all about the conflict Israel experienced during the 1967 war(The Six Day War) as well the Yom Kippur war. After the group finally got to enjoy what we had all been waiting for; Falafel and Shawarma! After a lunch at a quaint shopping center in Kazrin, we went to the Kineret cemetery and viewed the graves of many Israeli Pioneers. Then bus 113 rolled back to Kibbutz Afik, played some get-to-know-you games, and socialized until it was time to rest up for the following day! We are having the time of our lives and will continue to update from the Land of Milk and Honey as much as we can! -Becca and Jason