610 sets out!
Shabbat Shalom friends and families! As I am writing this, we've already done our lovely Havdalah ceremony, meaning Shabbat for us has ended. But for you, there's still a little bit left!
These past three days have been a whirlwind. Travel was an ordeal, but so worth it! We were greeted in Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv by our seven Israeli travel mates, who were singing and dancing and waving balloons. I can honestly say that I instantly felt friendship with these new "achim" (brothers! (and sisters!)) We all boarded the bus and headed about 2 hours north to the Kibbutz where we've been staying. It's a very interesting place - never ending delicious food, a gorgeous view of the mountains, various barnyard animals, and lots of very friendly dogs and cats. Plus, of course, 50 fabulous travelers. We learned that Israelis are sometimes called "sabra" which is the name of a local fruit, because they are both prickly and sharp on the outside, but tender and sweet on the inside. I think that either the prickly part is an exaggeration or Birthright somehow gave us a speed pass to the sweet side because I at least have felt so welcomed by our Israeli chavarim (friends).
Yesterday we got up bright and early to hike in the Jibaloon, a really gorgeous mountainous area. It was a challenge, but we worked together to cross several streams, saw bats in a cave, heard a lot about Eli Cohen and his part in planting all the Eucalyptus trees, and ended at a beautiful waterfall where we went for a swim in the (blessedly) very cold waters. We then drove up a mountain near the border with Syria and heard from our Israelis their various perspectives on the current situation with Syria and our amazing tour guide, Yossi, gave us a narrative, personal and otherwise, on the Yom Kippur war. We got back to the kibbutz just in time to celebrate Shabbat with a pluralistic service of singing, noshing, lighting candles, and wearing our fancy clothes. We also played a rousing game of "I love Jews who..." an ice breaker which resulted in several broken chairs but no injuries, thankfully.
Today was Shabbat so we relaxed. We learned about kibbutzim and had a lengthy discussion about Jewish identity. Then Shorashim had two pools assembled in the yard so we could cool off. Some of us went for a walk to explore the kibbutz, and others worked on tanning. Then we all headed to Tiberias, which is a small city on the Sea of Galilee, with lots of little shops and food and a light show.
Tomorrow, to Jerusalem and Tsfat, which will definitely be intense!
We'll try to mix up the bloggers every day. For now, this is Ariane signing off. I love you Mom, Dad, and Jake! Please give Huxley a nice marrow bone from me.
hugs!
-Ariane
