Beating the challenge of Mt. Arbel

As we descend from the magnificant Golan Heights toward Tel-Aviv on this sunny Thursday afternoon, I reflect on our morning. We awoke this morning at an hour unspeakable to college students (7am) to eat our last breakfast at the Afiq Kibbutz. With our newly acquired Israeli coffee brewing skills now mastered, we managed to finish packing and board the bus heading to Mt. Arbel.

We were told about Mt. Arbel, but it wasn't until we saw the cliffs up close that we realized what we were getting into:
- "We are hicking down that?!"
- "No way!"
-"Can we take the elevator?"

As we walked up to the edge of the cliff, these and many other frightful comments were made. With some encouragment from our Israeli guides, we started our descent down the mountain. We pushed through steep slopes, loose rocks, the hot sun, and camel/horse poop on our way down, gaining confidence with each cautious step. Were it not for the ice cream standing at the base of the mountain, many of us may have given up hope, but we each reached deep down into our soles and found the guts to keep going. When we finally made it to the botton, legs a bit shaky from our treacherous journey, we looked back up at the mountaina much more proud, confident, and sweaty group. The experience helped us bond and we are all thankful for it.

We ow are headed to Tel Aviv, a gorgeous city that promises to potentially have the wifi the group has so dearly missed the last 3 days. We look forward to what lies ahead...
Eric R.