Hiking, A Waterfall, Rafting, and Israeli Food

Today we woke up at 7:30, tired but ready to hike. We headed to the Gilabun, where we hiked down rocky cliffs (and occasionally fell into creeks) on our way to a roaring waterfall. Most of us swam out and sat in a small cove behind the waterfall. After hopping back on the bus, we drove to a strip-mall-esque spot in Katzrin. Several of us had our first taste of Israeli shwarma and all of us had our first taste of the Falafel Man, a falafel vendor who yelled “Wooo! Canada!” over and over again. Back on the bus, we made our way to Mount Bental, a high point in the Golan Heights that’s used as a military lookout. From there we could see Syria, and Neitzan gave us an impromptu history lesson about the origins of the political strife in the area. We ended the day by rafting down the Jordan River, which you may remember from the epic Michael Jackson song, “Say You’ll Be There” (play it right now if you don’t know what I’m talking about). Most of the other rafters were armed with paddles they used waterguns, and this proved problematic. Exhausted and soaking, many of us passed out on the bus. When we awoke, we were back at the kibbutz, where we ate a quick meal, then played rock-paper-scissors and a strangely competitive auction game that is too complicated to explain here. Most importantly, we were introduced to Bamba, an Israeli snack that is basically a peanut butter Cheeto and the most perfect snack food of all time.