Moo, Moo, Moo, BOOM

So we haven't been posting for the first five days because Bernie Madoff stole our laptop money...
BUT
This has been an AMAZING trip so far. Let's break it down day by day.
Day 1:
People always give you the same advice about Israel: Leave a note in the Western Wall; stay away from markets and buses, etc. But what they should tell you is that you better know your Jewish holidays if you want to get past El Al security. People were asked about everything from how they observe Yom Kippur to what their Bar Mitzvah parshah was. I personally felt like I was on a game show, I couldn't even remember my rabbi's name for a second! On the upside, it made for some good icebreaking conversation in the four hours we had to wait before boarding our plane to Israel.
Arriving in Tel Aviv after a 10-hour flight, we were attacked by a bunch of dancing, singing, uniformed Israelis eager to begin our 10 day excursion with us. We boarded our new home/bus and met our incredible staff: Amit, Abra, Tamar, and Zac).
We traveled for about an hour up 2000 feet in elevation to JERUSALEM!!! After driving around in circles in a few times, we got to our first hotel--Caesar's Palace, where we enjoyed dinner and a well-deserved rest.
Day 2:
After a breakfast eerily similiar to the previous night's dinner, we were off to the ruins of Sataf, an Arab village on the outskirts of Jerusalem. We trek`ked down the hill, and before we knew it we were on the way back to the center of town for a date with the old city.
Led by Amit--one of our incredible tour guides--we saw just about everything the ancient city had to offer, be it Muslim, Jewish, or Christian. We toured King David's tomb, walked through the Zion Gate (complete with hundreds of bullet holes), and explored the Jewish Quarter. It was almost overwhelming to be hit with so much history so quickly on just our first full day in Israel.
To top it off, one of the many maze-like passages of the city dumped us out on the foot of the Western Wall. Less than 48 hours earlier, we had been sitting in New York City. It was really pretty incredibly. People from all over the world pray for this wall, view this wall as the pinnacle of Judaism and Judaic belief. The men's section was about 3/4 of the wall plus there was an inside section, the women's section was about 1/4 of the wall and terribly packed. Each crevice in the wall was full of a myraid of pieces of colored paper, all with notes written on them, notes asking for forgiveness and acceptance and help. The other Jewish men and women who were there were so passionate about their religion and their faith, it was inspiring to see.
When everyone was done, we boarded the bus for a 40 minute trip to a kibbutz in Hukkuk, a rural town in Northern Israel. And by 40 minutes I mean 4 hours. When we stepped off the bus, we found ourselves in a totally different world than the cities we had experienced before. The kibbutz (located fairly close to the banks of the Sea of Galilee) was green, scenic, and muddy. Really, really, really muddy. So muddy that walking on the grass for 20 steps was enough to add a high heal of mud to your sneakers. But after we learned to walk on sidewalks, we began to enjoy it, and soon enough the day had come to an end. (I'm aware that the writing quality is dropping dramatically, but I'm trying to get this out as quickly as possible, so please bare with me.
Day 3:
With our morning hike cancelled due to rain (the Israelis told us they had been in a drought, so I guess the only raincloud in Israel is following us everywhere we go), we audibled into a trip to Banias, which has at one point or another been a Greek temple to Pan, a Roman palace, a Crusaders fort, and a Muslim fortress. It was also packed to the gills with birthright trips, which made it feel at times like the lines at an amusement park line. Not that it dimished just how impressive the buildings and sculptures were.
From there, we rode even higher into the mountains, eventually ending up at Mount Bental, which overlooks the Syrian border. Sitting on the walls of the still active barracks with the battlefield of many a war spread out in front of us like a gigantic map, we were led in a discussion on the wars of Israel by Amit. He laid it all out about as clearly as I have ever heard it, and concluded with the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "The Neighborhood Bully," which truly drove the point home.
(Side Note: While Amit seems to be coming up more in my blogging, Abra is equally awesome and has enough energy to keep us all going, even at 7 A.M. after none of us slept more than five hours)
We headed back to the kibbutz, and prepped for Shabbat. After a group Kabbalat, we split up, with our very own Ben leading the reform services. Then after a sabbath dinner that was clearly head and shoulders above our other dinners, we created a bus dance (which included the shopping cart, a personal favorite) and played dorky games (Apples to Apples anyone) until all hours of the night. Luckily, Saturday morning would mean a lot of extra sleep!
Well I have reached my max for the night. I will clean this up in the morning, but I know some people were really hoping we could get this up, so here it is. We'll blog again soon.
Love,
Bus 125