Monday May 10 - Hannah Tenenbaum

Waking up this morning for a 6:00 A.M. breakfast was a bit rough for many of us after our first night out in Tel Aviv. However, the sight of the sea ahead and the thoughts of the day’s agenda really got us going! We set off to the JNF Indoor Playground, Sderot, where we had the chance to play! More importantly, we learned about how the facility is used as a bomb shelter. Afterwards we headed to the Tenth Anniversary Parade. Although it was scorching hot, the energy level was out of this world! With the young children and other Birthright trips, we marched through the streets with drum players, a DJ in a van riding alongside us and hundreds of Israeli flags. We danced to techno music as well as traditional Israeli music. We danced in circles holding hands and even had some children on our shoulders. It was truly amazing! Our day wasn’t over yet… We drove towards the Negev dessert where we went on an agriculture tour. We made Kumquat necklaces, picked our own strawberries, tomatoes and cucumbers, made our very own pita bread which we ate with delicious green pesto sauce, and we learned about how the agriculture is done. Boy, does the United States have some competition! The way in which the strawberries are produced here is very green and healthy. Juicy, beautiful, and red, I do not think any strawberries in the US can compete with what we had in the Negev desert. We retreated to our bus with Jobi, our wonderful bus driver, for a little bit further drive to the Ha’an Hashayarut Tents. Even before we arrived to our destination, we were gawking at the scenery. We made it to the desert! Perhaps one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen so far in Israel (Golan Heights comes very close), I was just dying to get out of the bus and feel the sand beneath my feet. Upon our arrival, we dropped our bags in the tent and had the Cheik welcome us. He spoke about the fast-pace of life and how living in the dessert is very slow and stress-free. I was very fascinated by what he had to say. Needless to say, we all thought he was a very “chill” guy. We were then rushed to the camels so we could have our chance for a sunset camel ride (what we have all been waiting for!) What an experience. It was quite scary getting up and down while sitting on the camels back, but the 20 minute ride up the desert hill was worth the 5 seconds of fear. We named our camels, took hundreds of photos, and tried our hardest not to step in the camel droppings. Then it was time for our feast in the large tent in which we sat on the floor around large round trays with perhaps the best food we’ve had so far: delicious meats and vegetables, rice, home-made hummus and tahini, and the most amazing home-made pita bread. After dinner, as a group, we set out into the desert to have some reflection time. I spent my time looking up at the amazing sky while others had some deep thoughts to themselves. The night in the tents wasn’t so bad afterall. We were all very warm and quite comfortable. What a day we had!