Masada Sababa
Dear diary!
Everyone who goes on Birthright (Taglit) has a day like today -- well, almost. Thanks to Shlomi (one of our awesome Israelis), instead of seeing the sunrise at the top of Masada, we saw it at the base. We were supposed to all be on the bus, ready to go to hike up Masada, at 4:45am…but Shlomi was nowhere to be found! After waiting for 30 minutes, we were about to send someone to look for him when he showed up. To Shlomi’s surprise, he didn’t get yelled at or punished. Off we sped to Masada, hoping to still see the sunrise at the top.
Masada is a fortress built in Roman times where the Jewish community, after three years off holding off Roman legions surrounding the mountain, had to make a tough decision when the Romans finally breached the fortress. Rather than becoming slaves and not being able to live as Jews, the Jewish community decided to commit group suicide. If you want to read more, check this [link]. To see how the Jews lived and the uncovered archaeological remains, most groups hike up Masada (or take the cable car to the top). We took the Snake Path, the hardest hike up the mountain. Even though we didn’t get to see the sunrise from the top (which was still beautiful at the bottom, rising over the mountains towering over the Dead Sea), we had a different surprise! Two-thirds of the way up the mountain, we caught up to Israeli soldiers who finished their final one-week-long training and received their pins. Every soldier gets their pin after they complete their training, which can last from several months to over a year. The soldiers were wearing their full gear and when they reached the top, they were excitedly chanting, “Ya’lla balagan! I’m crazy! Who’s crazy?! We’re crazy!” After listening to the stories behind Masada and taking lots of pictures (of course!) of the view and of ourselves (and the girls of the soldiers), we hiked back down the same path or took the cable car. Finally, we got back to the bus, just a little bit behind schedule despite buying half of the Ahava Dead Sea products store.
Off we headed to the Dead Sea! We got there after 15-20 minutes. Before we could get onto the beach, we had to walk through a store selling mud. (The Dead Sea has a lot of salt so in order to not get dehydrated--and to maximize the skin benefits of swimming in the Dead Sea--people slather mud all over their bodies before going in.) The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth and it has 30% salt, which is more than the human body has! Because of the high salt content, it’s impossible to not float and it can really burn your skin. If you have any cuts, it will burn, and you should never put your face in because the eyes, nose, and mouth will really burn. The Israelis decided to play a prank on the Americans by telling the guys and the girls separately about how they should protect themselves from burning. Use your imagination! The Americans had no idea that they were being tricked and even told other Birthright groups about the Israelis’ “advice.” We floated in the Dead Sea for awhile, soaking in its “healing powers,” and then off we went to Jerusalem.
Our final stop of the day was Mah’ne Yehuda, a market where you can buy anything from spices to nuts to wine to the best rugelach in Jerusalem to t-shirts to mezuzot and kippot to fruit and candy. An hour was barely enough time to check it all out but we managed to all buy lots of food and souvenirs! When we met up as a group to go to the bus, we had some problems counting everyone but somehow all made it to the hotel. Now we’re enjoying our free time to take a shower and write this blog post to let you know what an awesome day we had and hope you can picture in your minds!
Shalom!
Shlomi and Chloe (our joint Israeli-American bloggers for the day)
