NITZACHON.
It has been a number of days since I've been back, but I was reluctant to log on to LiveJournal. There's so much to catch up on, and I knew I would have to post about my time in Israel, and that post would take a way long time to write. But I've got to do it some time before I have even more to write about, so here goes.
Long story short, it was amazing. My bus was like a family, and when it was time to come back, I was not ready. It's been a week now, and it's still weird not having Hebrew around all the time, not being surrounded by 36 other kids, sleeping alone, showering alone, not having to wear a t-shirt and hat and sandals with backstrips and a camelback with 3 liters of water every day, and more.
It was great being back in Israel. I feel like it's my home more than any other place I've lived. It took me a few days to feel like I was actually there in the beginning, but once it finally sunk in, it was the best. I got to brush up on my Hebrew, I got to visit my old house because I know the people that live there, I got to live in a warm climate (as gross as 100-degree humid weather makes you feel, it also has a certain charm to it), and I got to eat some of my favorite junk food.
We went to so many places and did so many awesome things. For being such a tiny country, Israel has so much to it that even with what we did, there's so much more. We didn't make it to Akko or Mini Israel, and I didn't get to go to the Nachalat Binyamin craft market like I had a small hope for. This was basically our tour:
We went to Jerusalem a few times. There were these two crazy days that included a hike, volunteering at an Ethiopian absorption center, riding camels and staying at a bedouin place, hiking Masada at 4 am to see the sunrise, going to the Dead Sea, going snorkeling in Eilat, and having a night out to eat food of our choosing and shop. We saw the Baha'i Gardens in Haifa, which are always amazing, and I got to spend more time in Haifa on special interest week. We learned about the Druz people in Pqiin. We went to Sderot, which is a place that gets hit by rockets a lot -- it's really sad to see so many bomb shelters attached to buildings, a school protected as much as it can, and a bomb shelter as part of a playground. We built rafts and sailed them across the Kinneret. We stayed at kibbutzim, as well as hostels, which I had never done. Those are just some of the highlights - I don't have the time to list everything.
As great as all that was, more important are the people I spent the time with. I could write enough about the people on my bus that it would be a whole other extensive post in and of itself. I may do that another time, just as a personal, private post. Everyone was so great. Our counselors each had their own little quirks. Julia and Michael, some of my closest friends from camp in years before, were on my bus (and they ended up getting together, which is something I never could have expected in the least going into the trip). We had token douchebags who were an endless source of entertainment. We had a Sexy L.A. Girl, a competitive ruber, a girl with the voice of an angel, one who couldn't eat bread, and a guy with some of the biggest balls you'll ever see in your life all on our bus.
Some amazing things that happened that I didn't already mention include: All our bus jokes (sah!), my first YJ hook-up/summer romance, using the Algorithm March for maccabia, winning maccabia against 16 other teams, and representing the movement and going to the Shalit family tent to show support (look up Gilad Shalit), among other things.
Here, have some pictures to summarize the trip as well.
Sunrise from Masada
lol, long cow tongue
Waterproof camera provided much entertainment. I'm on the left.
At some sand dunes in the desert
We watched the world cup final at some public place in Jerusalem
Mexicans doing the hora. (This was in the Golan, leading up to an explanation of volcanoes.)
Best temporary tattoo EVER.
At Mt. Herzl.
Yep, that's my toenail. Mmm.
Long story short, it was amazing. My bus was like a family, and when it was time to come back, I was not ready. It's been a week now, and it's still weird not having Hebrew around all the time, not being surrounded by 36 other kids, sleeping alone, showering alone, not having to wear a t-shirt and hat and sandals with backstrips and a camelback with 3 liters of water every day, and more.
It was great being back in Israel. I feel like it's my home more than any other place I've lived. It took me a few days to feel like I was actually there in the beginning, but once it finally sunk in, it was the best. I got to brush up on my Hebrew, I got to visit my old house because I know the people that live there, I got to live in a warm climate (as gross as 100-degree humid weather makes you feel, it also has a certain charm to it), and I got to eat some of my favorite junk food.
We went to so many places and did so many awesome things. For being such a tiny country, Israel has so much to it that even with what we did, there's so much more. We didn't make it to Akko or Mini Israel, and I didn't get to go to the Nachalat Binyamin craft market like I had a small hope for. This was basically our tour:
We went to Jerusalem a few times. There were these two crazy days that included a hike, volunteering at an Ethiopian absorption center, riding camels and staying at a bedouin place, hiking Masada at 4 am to see the sunrise, going to the Dead Sea, going snorkeling in Eilat, and having a night out to eat food of our choosing and shop. We saw the Baha'i Gardens in Haifa, which are always amazing, and I got to spend more time in Haifa on special interest week. We learned about the Druz people in Pqiin. We went to Sderot, which is a place that gets hit by rockets a lot -- it's really sad to see so many bomb shelters attached to buildings, a school protected as much as it can, and a bomb shelter as part of a playground. We built rafts and sailed them across the Kinneret. We stayed at kibbutzim, as well as hostels, which I had never done. Those are just some of the highlights - I don't have the time to list everything.
As great as all that was, more important are the people I spent the time with. I could write enough about the people on my bus that it would be a whole other extensive post in and of itself. I may do that another time, just as a personal, private post. Everyone was so great. Our counselors each had their own little quirks. Julia and Michael, some of my closest friends from camp in years before, were on my bus (and they ended up getting together, which is something I never could have expected in the least going into the trip). We had token douchebags who were an endless source of entertainment. We had a Sexy L.A. Girl, a competitive ruber, a girl with the voice of an angel, one who couldn't eat bread, and a guy with some of the biggest balls you'll ever see in your life all on our bus.
Some amazing things that happened that I didn't already mention include: All our bus jokes (sah!), my first YJ hook-up/summer romance, using the Algorithm March for maccabia, winning maccabia against 16 other teams, and representing the movement and going to the Shalit family tent to show support (look up Gilad Shalit), among other things.
Here, have some pictures to summarize the trip as well.
Sunrise from Masada
lol, long cow tongue
Waterproof camera provided much entertainment. I'm on the left.
At some sand dunes in the desert
We watched the world cup final at some public place in Jerusalem
Mexicans doing the hora. (This was in the Golan, leading up to an explanation of volcanoes.)
Best temporary tattoo EVER.
At Mt. Herzl.
Yep, that's my toenail. Mmm.