Tel Aviv, Sderot, Bedouins, and Camels!
Ze co-blog by The Twins, Serena Accomazzi (Van der Woodsen) and Grace Stern
Hello family and friends! Serena and Grace here from down south in Israel. People have been telling us the entire trip that we look like twins so we figured that co-blogging would be appropriate/we might be related (mom and dad, look into this). After some fun adventures in Tel Aviv, including a trip to the beautiful Mediterranean Sea and a night out on the town, we headed south with out ultimate destination being the Bedouin Tents. Along the way, we visited the main border crossing between Israel and Gaza. We were completely safe, not to worry, and learned about the Gaza/Israeli relations and conflicts. We contributed to a wall mural made by a local artist to promote peace. The wall read “Nativ L’Shalom” which translates to “The Path of Peace.” She makes ceramics and she gave us all unique tiles to add to the mural. We are both curious to see how full the mural will be in the future and we feel honored to have been part of such a meaningful gesture towards peace.
After visiting the border, we visited the gardens that were a part of the Moshav near the border and we took a tour of the green house and picked and tasted amazing vegetables. The tomatoes were a particular hit!
Then we ventured over to the city of Sderot which is the closest Israeli city to Gaza. We learned about the recent events that have plagued the community, including an intense 5-year period in which Quassam rockets from Gaza were fired at Sderot on a daily basis. We watched a touching short film demonstrating the intense violence that they’ve experienced and the subsequent trauma that the people, children especially, have gone through. The film educated us on the siren system that is used throughout Israel to warn citizens about incoming rockets. Due to Sderot’s close proximity, they only have 16 seconds to find shelter before a rocket hits. A few years ago, the head of the Jewish National Fund visited Sderot and was upset by the lack of children playing outdoors due to safety precautions. For obvious reasons, parents didn’t feel safe allowing their children to play outside with such an unpredictable risk of danger. In response to this, he returned to the States and through the JNF, raised funds for an indoor playground and youth facility equipped with the necessary bomb shelter structures. This site also provides free counseling for the children, most of whom suffer from PTSD. We had a chance to let out our inner child and play on the jungle gym and climb the rock wall (made it to the top! Holler). This was such an educational experience but also it was comforting to see that these kids have a safe haven to go to amidst any chaos.
After our intense foosball tournament at the youth center, we headed further south to the Bedouin Tents. The Bedouins are a traditionally nomadic Arab community living mostly throughout the Negev Desert in Israel (fun fact: “Negev” actually means “desert” in Hebrew so we actually just wrote “Desert Desert”). Our entire group piled into a giant, dusty tent in the middle of the desert and prepared for the biggest sleepover we’ve ever experienced. It seems that every other birthright group was on the site as well so it was nice intermingling with old friends who were on different trips. Dinner was probably our favorite experience. I mean, who doesn’t love chilling on the floor and eating delicious food with a flat, pita-like bread all without utensils, am I right?! We had a lovely cup of sweet tea after dinner and proceeded to have the most epic camp fire and sing along ever. We finally all snuggled together and caught a few hours of precious sleep before getting up early to ride some camels. To all of you who think that camels are elegant, beautiful creatures, you are mistaken. They stink, spit, bite, don’t like noises and are just plain weird. Grace named hers Stuart. She and Hadar (one of the Israeli soldiers on the trip) decided that Stuart the camel was an old British chap who enjoyed a nice cup of tea and crumpets. Serena and Chana (another Israeli soldier) named theirs Stacy, only to discover that Stacy was in fact a male. Nonetheless, it was an adventurous ride and we took some great, obligatory tourist photos.
We’re currently on a bumpy bus ride to Masada, overlooking the seemingly infinite desert landscape, pleased with our experiences thus far but looking forward to the siesta we’re about to take.
Laila Tov and happy napping!
Stay classy,
Serena and Grace
