Welcome to Israel...And Then It All Began
Landed in Israel and when we exited baggage claim the Israeli’s were waiting for us dancing and singing, as was my cousin!! I’ve never met her before, aside from Skype and it was amazing to be greeted by everyone and get to see a family member right away. I was exhausted but ready for the day, and it was action packed!! It is all a blur, we went to an overlook to have breakfast and then headed to the hotel for orientation where we all got to know each other and talk about the trip ahead of us. We met our tour guide Ori who is very animated and incredibly informative. He is a great leader and is fun to watch and listen to. He always has something interesting to say, for example today (Thursday 8/12/10) when we were in Jerusalem on our way to the Western Wall and we were discussing the city, and the wall, and our religion he said, “Jews don’t learn history they remember it”. I thought that was a great quote and it really helped me understand the meaning of the places we were seeing and exploring. Shira and Linor are also great group leaders. Shira lived on a Kibbutz about 6 years ago and took us to look around and see how the Kibbutz operates. It was amazing to see the community and even though I knew what a Kibbutz was before coming to Israel, seeing it firsthand allowed me to understand it better. We even got to talk to a lady from South Africa who made Aliyah about a year ago and was living there, she explained how she and her children lived and was very open to all of our questions. The whole group is very fun, even though we are all from Chicago everyone has a different background and has something to offer. It has only been two days but I feel like I have known these people for weeks. I came on this trip with a friend, Michelle, and when I learned we were rooming with different people each night I was a little upset because I thought it would be awkward but so far we all have gotten along and feel like sisters. It also helps that we all have one thing or another that each of us needs to borrow. That being said, the one thing I may have needed to do better before leaving was pack more appropriately, but asking to borrowing something from someone has become second nature and everyone is super friendly and willing to help. Tonight we are in Beit Shean in a really nice hostel/hotel, where we had a very fun, but incredibly hot and sweaty Israeli dancing lesson. It was nice to see I am not the only Jew on this trip that isn’t very coordinated ;) I am looking forward to hiking tomorrow in the Golan Heights and spending Shabbat here. I can’t wait to continue learning about everyone and see all the amazing places on this trip.
Avriel Weston
