For those of you that do not already know. I spent some moments of the trip writing down a few general notes about each of our activities in the order they happened. Figured I would share with the group. Feel free to add any notes or thoughts you guys had as well! OUR ISRAEL JOURNAL: Day 1 - Tuesday: -Stayed in Hotel, played ice breakers on the rooftop deck under the stars Day 2 - Wednesday: -Hiked NAHAL ZATIVAN, saw water falls and large creeks. -Went to GADOT LOOKOUT. Saw Syria and Lebanon borders. ---saw fighting in Syria. Saw EXPLOSIONS in the distance from mortor fires. Saw UN base that was over run from a distance. ---Saw UN peace keeper taking notes and monitoring the border. -Went to OLEA OLIVE and saw how olive oil was made. Also they make lotions and cosmetics out of the residue from olive seeds. -went banana boating in LAKE GALILEE. Also went swimming in lake and sun bathed. -Had lead singer of an israeli band play songs for us. ---A JAM SESSION with a Didjeridoo randomly started outside after the concert. I took videos of this. -drank GOLD STAR beers till mid night and talked with other trip participants. DAY 3 - THURSDAY -Irad (tour guide) talked about Haballah -Went to a few synagogues. -went to candle shop and bought shabat candles -did a MIZVAH where we got naked and dipped in natural spring water. -This MIZVAH is the oldest working one in the world. -our rabbi was David. He gave an amazing talk about life and balance. ---he practiced BresLev. Rabbi Nahman is a famous rabbi with this practice. -Ate schwarma for lunch. -went on a hike that had amazing views. -went to hot springs and swam in warm hot spring waters and pools. ---played water volleyball and throw ball past line of people. ---went into steam room as well. -Had to draw a picture of what our israeli person would look like. Also had to write characteristics. DAY 4 - FRIDAY -Drove 3 hours to Jerusalem -Went to a lookout point where we could see all of Jerusalem. -Met Israelis and had to talk about our drawings with them. -Went to Jerusalem market place and had a shoppurtunity. ---had to buy a 20 shekel gift for someone else in the group. -ate a pita with fried eggplant. -Went to hotel and got room assignments. Different roommates then last hotel. -got dressed up and walked to western wall. ---had a shabot ceremony overlooking the wall courtyard -walked to the wall and saw Orthodox Jews praying and touching wall -then we saw soldiers come through and start to sing and dancing. We joined in and it was absolutely amazing. -walked back to hotel at night and the same shopping area we were at earlier was completely empty. -got back to hotel and ate and did blessings for Shabbat. -got to stay out late and drink with Israelis since we didnt have to be up till 11am -stayed up till 2:45 am Day 5 - SATURDAY -Slept in -walked to a park in Jerusalem -since it was shabat everything was closed. It was a total ghost town. -played frisbee in the park -walked back to hotel for lunch -got to relax at hotel until political lecture -had an advisor to israeli prime minister speak with us about the Arab / Israeli conflict. ---it was extremely insightful -after seminar we got to walk back to Jerusalem city. ---smoked hookah and went to a dance club Day 6 - SUNDAY -went on a archeological tour in the COTY OF DAVID. -walked through the man made TUNNEL used to get fresh water during times of war ---tunnel was made over 3000 years ago and it was chiseled by hand. ---tunnel had at least a foot of water in it and was completely pitch black. ---walked through the tunnel for about 30 minutes. It was incredible. -went back to western wall and was able to add note and touch wall -ate lunch ... More schwarma -went back to old city for shoppurtunity -got back to hotel and laid down for a nap. Woke up and found BED BUGS. ---had to have all of our clothes washed and our luggage steamed. -that night we prepared for Yad Vashem (holocaust museum) ---talked through concerns and questions. -finished the bed bug situation by organizing clean laundry and re folding / packing. -last night spent in SHITTY JERUSALEM GOLD HOTEL Day 7 - MONDAY -Yad Vashem (holocaust museum) ---had a guided tour through museum. ---the museum was set up to experience the process of the state of Jews during that time. ---CHILDRENS MEMORIAL was incredible. It was 5 candles that with the help of mirrors made it look like millions and millions of lights going into eternity. A childs name and where they were from could be heard playing over a speaker. -lunch ... More schwarma -went to HAR HERZL (Memorial site). ---saw graves of major political Israelis ---also saw graves of recent deaths including deaths from the most resident conflict in Hamas. ---Rafi (security) had deaths of his fellow soldiers in the same section of the memorial cemetery. ---very emotional ---I was touched seeing how much love there was from Israelis to people they had never met. Even in everyday culture they embrace one another with a handshake and a hug. -left for the Negev desert -driving to desert we could see a beautiful sunset behind us and a full moon in front of us. -Ate dinner -Israelis led 3 funtivities. Took videos of a couple of them. Day 8 - TUESDAY -got up at 4am to go on hike of Masada. ---hiked the roman path and was at the top just before sunrise. -walked through Masada and heard the stories of the fortress. -did bar / bat mitzvahs for everyone that did not have one and wanted to. Took videos. -walked down snake path, the other side of Masada. -had breakfast buffet in building at the base of Masada. -went to a small creek that had a small waterfall. ---was able to swim in the small pool of water and stand under the waterfall. It was cool and refreshing. -went to the Dead Sea ---floated in dead see and swam around. It was really amazing. ---got over charged for a Popsicle and fries. -had to say goodbye to israeli peers even though they are coming out with us in tel aviv tomorrow. ---each israeli took the microphone on bus and said goodbyes. -stopped at a mini mall and got beef jerky so we didnt eat too much for the big dinner at Bedouin tent. ---almost left Michael behind -rode camels for about twenty minutes As the sun set. ---camel name, Larry the Lady Camel. -headed to Bedouin tent. -ate an amazing dinner while sitting on the floor. Was suppose to eat with hands only. Pitas, meat, rice, hummus, veggies. ---also had really good tea -spoke with a Bedouin person who talked about how things used to be and how they are today. Things have modernized. ---ended by asking us to decide which of two girls, Erica and becca, would be more valuable in a marriage. -sat around a Bon fire late night and sang songs by fire light and guitar. -slept in the tent as one large group. Day 9 - WEDNESDAY -hiked NAHAV CHAVRAHIM. A big canyon with some beautiful views. ---took a picture as a group with a reflection off the water ---had to climb up ladders to get back to the top -went and saw Ben Gurions grave. ---had an amazing observation point -Irad, Simi, and Arielle tricked group into eating poop but it was really chocolate -ate lunch ... Falafel -climbed on jungle gym. Had a very windey slide with at least 4 turns. -Drove to desert farm and learned about herbs ---made our own infusions of herbs in oils. -Went and drove to Netanya to get ready for night out in Tel Aviv -Ate dinner and got ready to go out -Went to a bar near water and met all israeli peers there ---20 shekel cover charge... 10 shekel vodka red bull and 1 shekel shots (chasers) of araq -had an emotional goodbye of israeli peers and headed back to hotel around 1:30 am. Day 10 - THURSDAY -Woke up by 7am and had to be on bus by 7:50 am, hung over. -Went to art museum where founding fathers of Israel met to sign the declaration ---sat in the same room that Ben Gurion lead the meeting -drank some authentic israeli coffee -went to shopping area of Tel Aviv with a marketplace that had lots of shoppurtunitys ---ate lunch there, some people went to Julees and had authentic Egyptian / middle eastern food. Some went to a hummus spot that served different hummus bowls. Delicious -went to beach in tel aviv ---swam in the ocean and laid out. -went to site that Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated -went back to hotel in Netanya -watched sun set from balcony at hotel -ate dinner (potatoe cheese balls, cow tongue, and some chicken stuff). -wrote a nice thing about everyone in group -reflected as a group on our overall experiences -started singing a few songs ---Katherine sang the song she made up when she was younger but added her own lyrics about the trip -stayed up all night till we left for airport THINGS TO REMEMBER -the small cups that were crushed by a very lite touch. -camel spiders -Sababa
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 21:36:59 +0000
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