Life in the Desert

Shalom from the Israeli Desert!! After our night in the Bedouin tents (50 people, 1 tent) and early morning camel rides, we are exhausted but happy to be having a great experience! After packing up at the tent, we headed out for a nice hike,where we ascended straight up a mountain in the desert about 500 steps (482, but who’s counting)? The hike was beautiful and we learned about how the natural desert landscape is constructed by erosion and heard about native plants and animals.
After, we traveled to the grave of David Ben Gurion, Israel's first prime minister. We played an interactive game to learn more about his life and mission. Ben Gurion was dedicated to transforming the desert into a livable and thriving environment for the Jewish people, and the rest of the day was spent exploring how this idea is still an important part of Israeli life.
For lunch, we scavenged for food in the grocery store, and although some were nervous about trying new Israeli foods and the experience of being independent in the supermarket where we are unfamiliar with the language, we all ended up loving the experience. Since we began our journey a short week ago, we have really begun to understand the Israeli culture and have begun to explore on our own.
After our lunch, we arrived at a war memorial where we got to experience attaching notes to carrier pigeons and sending to them home. We learned that during the war, magnets were implanted in their beaks so the pigeons know where to fly. We experienced this first hand when we went to thee pigeons' cage and got to read the notes we had sent them away with. From there, we went to Shjvil Ha'Salat, a vegetable farm in the middle of the Negev Desert on the West side of Israel. We tasted many herbs, plants, and teas. Some people said their favorite part was experiencing the differences between the desert and this green area. We ate tomatoes straight off the vine and feasted on fresh vegetables including kolrabi and purple carrots.
The coolest part was looking at how efficient the area was- there were areas of sand surrounding small gardens of various vegetables. A few of us even tried one of the spiciest peppers on the farm. Let’s just say a few tears were shed. Personally, standing on the top of the mountain after our hour hike was one of the best feelings I have ever had. There is nothing like looking down and knowing that you were able to accomplish something so cool.
We are now driving across the width of Israel from the Negev Desert to the Judean Desert. We will be spending a short night here because tomorrow morning we will be waking before the sun to ascend Masada and swim in the Dead Sea! I cannot wait to see what else Israel has to offer.

- Elise H