i'm home from the homeland!

Shalom!
For those of you who don't know, I just returned from a fabulous week of doing Birthright in Israel! I thought I would post about it so that anyone who is interested could read about what I did and the people I met.
First off, I had to fly to New York to meet up with my group of 40 participants (ages ranging from 19-26) and our two american staff Gabi and Nanaxhi (pronounced Nuhnahshee). We waited in the longest line of my life and finally checked our bags and headed off to our El Al gate. We played a couple of icebreaker games to start learning each others' names and finally it was time to fly! The flight was approximately 10 hours I think and it went pretty well. We flew into Tel Aviv, took our first group picture (in which I look ridiculous) and boarded our bus for the drive to Jerusalem.



It was evening by then, so we got to eat, hang out, and go to sleep. The next day we did a walking tour of Jerusalem with our tour guide Racheli (pronounced with the hebrew 'ch') who is the woman on the far right. We saw the old city, the new city, King David's tomb, the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and lots of shops! Then we drove to a town called Zichon Yaakov in which we stayed in a hotel built into a mountain... it had an elevator that moved diagonally! We all hung out by the pool and got to know each other, and then there happened to be a dance party inside! We teased that it was someone's Bar-Mitzvah.
The next day we traveled to Tsvat, which is an art village where Kabbalah was first started. We did some shopping (although I ended up losing everything I bought...), saw inside of a synagogue, the famous candle shop, and found some really cute little hasidic boys!


From there we went to an army outpost up north by Lebanon. It made us stop and really see the world around us from a different perspective. The soldiers in the Israeli army are not really soldiers at all. They are people who have all sorts of professions, but once a year they are called back on reserve to serve a month with their brothers for their country. It's amazing.
We spent that night in a Kibbutz. We had a bonfire, told stories and secrets, and toasted marshmallows.
The next day, it's Friday now, we went rafting/kayaking on the Jordan River, visited an archaeologically dug up ancient city, and then went to Tel Aviv where we would spend the Sabbath. We had a short Shabbat service on the beach, had dinner, and then spent a couple of hours hanging out in a bar. On Shabbat we got to go to the beach! It was so nice to relax and lay in the sun after being nonstop for the past few days. We also got to party that night in a club! (after our Havdallah service of course)
Sunday we picked up our soldiers!!! We had 8 Israelis join us, 4 boys 4 girls, who are all my age and all in the navy. FYI, all Israelis have to join the army when they are 18. The boys serve 3 years, the girls serve 2. Understand that serving in the army does not mean fighting, there are also office jobs, medics, and even a band! However, my new friends are all fighters in the navy.

We went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum, and then to Mt. Herzl where the veteran cemetaries are. After a long, sad day, we went to the Bedouin tents! We rode camels, smoked hukkah (don't worry, just tobacco), drank tea, beat drums, danced, and had a really good time!
We woke up at 3:15 the next morning to go climb Mt. Masada and see the sunrise! It was BEAUTIFUL! After touring the fortress and hearing the history, we went to the Dead Sea and covered ourselves in mud and floated in the salt water! It starts to burn after awhile, so we moved the pool and go to relax some more!

That afternoon we went to Eilat, which is the southernmost tip of Israel and a fun town! The Israelis showed us how a typical Israeli birthday party is with the games and prizes. That night we went to another club and danced, danced, danced! I love it!
We spent the next morning in Eilat. We went on a hike in the desert mountains, and we could see the border with Egypt. Then we spent a couple of hours on the beach! As you can tell, the beaches were some of my favorite parts! That afternoon we drove back to Jerusalem for Shavuot. We woke up at 3:15 the next morning to walk to the Western Wall and see tens of thousands of people, all wearing white, all visiting the wall for Shavuot. It was incredible.


The next morning we woke up at 4:15 to head to the airport in Tel Aviv. So sad! The trip went so fast, I can't believe it. It was such an amazing experience! I think that every one of you needs to do birthright or travel to Israel in some way. It is so important to our people, and I promise you, even if you don't feel a connection to Israel right now, you will when you get there and realize that you're at home.

Love,
Kim