(no subject)
here's what you've all been waiting for; a day-by-day account of my trip to Israel! in case I hadn't mentioned before, I went with a group of 40 other american jewish teens called Nofim as part of a youth movement called Young Judaea.
monday, 7/10: boarding the plane at JFK airport
tuesday, 7/11: arriving in Israel very early in the morning and meeting our madrichim (counselors) at the airport. as we were on our way to the first place where we stayed, we stopped in some random location and were pulled off the buses to plant trees on some random plot of land...it didn't feel nearly as meaningful as it should have (because it's a mitzvah (good deed) to plant a tree in Israel) because we were all exhausted and had just gotten off the plane. we then arrived at the judaean youth hostel (first place where we stayed) in Jerusalem, had lunch, had some time to shower, had a meeting with our trip coordinator, ice breaker activities, and dinner. we were supposed to go to the western wall, but there was a huge event going on there so we weren't able to. instead, we had an opening ceremony on the haas promenade in jerusalem.
wednesday, 7/12: went to the city of david (old city jerusalem) and walked through the water tunnels. it was very scary since the tunnels were dark and you couldn't quite see where you were going unless you had a flashlight...i remembered to bring mine but unfortunately the batteries kept dying so I had to keep asking other people to turn theirs on. afterwards, we went to the western wall, and surprisingly enough, i didn't really feel a connection to it.
thursday, 7/13: went to the kotel (western wall) tunnels (old city again) and had a guided tour, had lunch in the Jewish Quarter of the old city (they have very good pizza and falafel), participated in an archaeological dig, and then drove down to Kibbutz Sde Boker (founded by david ben-gurion, the first prime minister of Israel) in the Negev (desert) which was the 2nd place where we stayed. it was there that we met some groups from FZY (F-Zed-Y), the sister movement to Young Judaea in England. met some really nice Brits who offered to help us with our luggage.
friday, 7/14: went on a short hike to Ein Ovdat (a waterfall), then to Carmei Ovdat (a vineyard) where they showed us all the steps involved in their winemaking business, and David Ben-Gurion's grave (which was right near the kibbutz), but when it got too hot we walked back to the kibbutz to get ready for the craziest Shabbat ever. we had our own little service right near ben-gurion's grave, then headed to dinner where we met up with the Brits and a group from South Africa. The South Africans started singing and chanting, as did the Brits, so our group started shouting out the National Anthem to try to join in....it was chaos! afterwards, my group had some activities that I co-organized (including a game called "Guess the Guest").
saturday, 7/15: had shabbat services with the Brits, which were very interesting, because I didn't know they used some of the same tunes we did...saturdays on this trip were very chill because on Shabbat in Israel you can't really go out in public. at night, we had havdalah (end of shabbat) and a drum circle with a group called Jaman.
sunday, 7/16: spent the whole day volunteering at a place called Yad Ha'Adam (a facility for children and wives of prisoners) and then camped out in the desert
monday, 7/17: hiked for 4 hours through machtesh katan (small crater). it was one of the most strenuous hikes I have ever been on, being that there were tons of rocks that I had to climb down, I fell on my rear-end various times, and it was very steep. we then drove to Kibbutz Keturah (a Kibbutz founded by Young Judaea alumni) for a seminar, then drove to Eilat, checked into our hotel (which was very nice), and had a free night on the town.
tuesday, 7/18: went to Kibbutz Lotan and had an ecological seminar there (which included making bricks out of mud!), went snorkeling in the Red Sea, and went to a disco with the FZYers at a real Israeli bar! i didn't dance much...i just chatted it up with the Brits.
wednesday, 7/19: i sat out of the hike that everyone else went on because i was afraid i would break something (i have to take special caution because easy bone-breaking runs on my mom's side of the family), went to a place called Yotvata (where they have this really good chocolate milk that comes in bags as well as milkshakes, ice cream, and a whole lot of other great things), drove to the Dead Sea and spent some time there, then headed back to Jerusalem to our hostel there. it wasn't as nice as our hotel in Eilat, unfortunately. i did meet some college guys (one american and one brit) who were staying in Haifa but were re-located to Jerusalem because of the war.
thursday, 7/20: the day started out with a meeting/discussion with a group from Boston who promotes Israel trips. afterwards, we went to the Tower of David and drove to Neve Shalom for a co-existence seminar. Unfortunately, it turned into a heated debate, but people thought it was very valuable. We then headed back to the hostel to quickly change clothes and then went to the Israel Experience Mega-Event where I ran into some of my hebrew school buddies who were on different Israel trips.
friday, 7/21: we visited Yad VaShem (Holocaust memorial), then headed back to the hostel for our shabbat seminar facilitated by a youngish Israeli couple. for our evening activity, we played "The Dating Game" which was madly hilarious because guys were doing girls' voices
saturday, 7/22: we had services and activities, lunch, free time, and a short walk (or hike, rather) to a woodsy area where we had a discussion. after dinner and havdalah, we had a free night on Ben-Yehuda Street in Jerusalem where I mostly bought gifts (and also had my first real Israeli falafel!)
sunday, 7/23: the day started out with a mid-trip discussion and evaluation with our trip coordinator, went to Mt. Herzl/Ammunition Hill, then came back to the hostel and prepared for maccabiah (kind of like color war) for a few hours. will, jed, emily, and I co-wrote a song for our group that we would sing at the talent show. we sang it for the rest of the group at our meeting that night and the response was amazing :)
monday, 7/24: drove to maccabiah and met up with all the FZYers I had met before. we set up our educational display, which was about david ben-gurion. we had brandt dress up as david ben-gurion and had 2 other people pretend to be security guards for "benny-land" (the name of our exhibit). as for the talent show, the feeling of just being up there with will, jed, and emily was amazing, and everyone in our group, including the counselors, was just amazed. we slept outside (right by Benny-Land) that night.
tuesday, 7/25: the 2nd part of maccabiah was at the beach and included a bunch of inflatable water slides, beach games, sparkling tattoos (I got one of a cat that wasn't very well done), kite-flying, and announcement of the winners. Our group won 2nd place in the educational display, but didn't win overall. after all that craziness was over, we drove to a crappy hotel in Arad, had an extremely disappointing dinner, and then Jared (one of our counselors) took a group of us to Kenyon Arad (Arad Mall). We walked back to our hotel from there, which was very nice.
wednesday, 7/26: we went rappelling, but I was so overridden with fear by a certain point where you had to go down without a harness with just a knotted rope...I was afraid I would break something so i'm happy I didn't take any risks. afterwards, we drove to Ein Gedi (right near the Dead Sea) and hiked up to the Ein Gedi waterfalls. our youth hostel there was nicer than some of the others, but not as nice as the hotel in Eilat.
thursday, 7/27: we woke up at 3:45 a.m. to climb Mount Masada, and it was even more strenuous than I expected it to be. luckily I had Danielle (israeli counselor) and Tal (our medic) near me, and we met up with some other stragglers just as we were about to climb the last flight of stairs to the top. when I reached the top of Mount Masada, the feeling was just AMAZING. it's probably one of my biggest accomplishments yet. after Masada, we drove to an art colony in Arad, went shopping at the Sea of Life factory (where I got more gifts), and then to our youth hostel in Ben Shemen (near Tel-Aviv, and the hostel was pretty disappointing).
friday, 7/28: we started out by visiting Neve Tzedek (the first neighborhood in Tel-Aviv), Independence Hall (where Israel was declared a Jewish state in 1948), stopped for ice cream at Glidat Savta, and spent a few hours at Nachalat Binyamin, where my dad's cousin Lily (who is an artist) has a jewelry stand. I got to meet Lily, her husband, and two of her kids (she has 3 kids, but one wasn't there). I bought myself 2 pairs of earrings and some earrings from Lily's stand for my mom. I also got my 2nd israeli falafel that day.
saturday, 7/29: It was shabbat, so it was a pretty chill day. At night, though, after havdalah, we went to Dizengoff Tower in Tel-Aviv (which is a very nice mall). I hung out with Lindsey, Tom, and Tal (our medic). We ate dinner at a restaurant called Aroma (spelled in hebrew there, of course), which was amazing compared to our disappointing hostel food. I also got a necklace and a pair of earrings at this one store called Diva.
sunday, 7/30: in the morning, we spent a few hours on the beach in Tel-Aviv and then drove to a bedouin village where we rode camels (and donkeys for the people didn't get camels), had a great dinner and a campfire, and slept in a bedouin tent.
monday, 7/31: we drove back to Jerusalem to the Judaean Youth Hostel (where we started out) for an end-of-trip evaluation with our trip coordinator, had lunch, had some time to shower, change, and pack, and then had some closing activities. We were about an hour or so late arriving to the airport for our flight back to the states because there were so many groups flying home from Israel.
tuesday, 8/1: we arrived back to the states after an 11-hour flight, and I was happier than ever to see my parents (my brother had gone to camp while I was still in Israel). it was so sad to leave all my groupmates after three weeks together, but we're all staying in touch (mainly through facebook and e-mail), and I've created a website with pictures and member profiles on it for us to stay in touch. i'm hoping to co-organize a Nofim reunion someday, even though most of us live in different parts of the country.
~Dana~
monday, 7/10: boarding the plane at JFK airport
tuesday, 7/11: arriving in Israel very early in the morning and meeting our madrichim (counselors) at the airport. as we were on our way to the first place where we stayed, we stopped in some random location and were pulled off the buses to plant trees on some random plot of land...it didn't feel nearly as meaningful as it should have (because it's a mitzvah (good deed) to plant a tree in Israel) because we were all exhausted and had just gotten off the plane. we then arrived at the judaean youth hostel (first place where we stayed) in Jerusalem, had lunch, had some time to shower, had a meeting with our trip coordinator, ice breaker activities, and dinner. we were supposed to go to the western wall, but there was a huge event going on there so we weren't able to. instead, we had an opening ceremony on the haas promenade in jerusalem.
wednesday, 7/12: went to the city of david (old city jerusalem) and walked through the water tunnels. it was very scary since the tunnels were dark and you couldn't quite see where you were going unless you had a flashlight...i remembered to bring mine but unfortunately the batteries kept dying so I had to keep asking other people to turn theirs on. afterwards, we went to the western wall, and surprisingly enough, i didn't really feel a connection to it.
thursday, 7/13: went to the kotel (western wall) tunnels (old city again) and had a guided tour, had lunch in the Jewish Quarter of the old city (they have very good pizza and falafel), participated in an archaeological dig, and then drove down to Kibbutz Sde Boker (founded by david ben-gurion, the first prime minister of Israel) in the Negev (desert) which was the 2nd place where we stayed. it was there that we met some groups from FZY (F-Zed-Y), the sister movement to Young Judaea in England. met some really nice Brits who offered to help us with our luggage.
friday, 7/14: went on a short hike to Ein Ovdat (a waterfall), then to Carmei Ovdat (a vineyard) where they showed us all the steps involved in their winemaking business, and David Ben-Gurion's grave (which was right near the kibbutz), but when it got too hot we walked back to the kibbutz to get ready for the craziest Shabbat ever. we had our own little service right near ben-gurion's grave, then headed to dinner where we met up with the Brits and a group from South Africa. The South Africans started singing and chanting, as did the Brits, so our group started shouting out the National Anthem to try to join in....it was chaos! afterwards, my group had some activities that I co-organized (including a game called "Guess the Guest").
saturday, 7/15: had shabbat services with the Brits, which were very interesting, because I didn't know they used some of the same tunes we did...saturdays on this trip were very chill because on Shabbat in Israel you can't really go out in public. at night, we had havdalah (end of shabbat) and a drum circle with a group called Jaman.
sunday, 7/16: spent the whole day volunteering at a place called Yad Ha'Adam (a facility for children and wives of prisoners) and then camped out in the desert
monday, 7/17: hiked for 4 hours through machtesh katan (small crater). it was one of the most strenuous hikes I have ever been on, being that there were tons of rocks that I had to climb down, I fell on my rear-end various times, and it was very steep. we then drove to Kibbutz Keturah (a Kibbutz founded by Young Judaea alumni) for a seminar, then drove to Eilat, checked into our hotel (which was very nice), and had a free night on the town.
tuesday, 7/18: went to Kibbutz Lotan and had an ecological seminar there (which included making bricks out of mud!), went snorkeling in the Red Sea, and went to a disco with the FZYers at a real Israeli bar! i didn't dance much...i just chatted it up with the Brits.
wednesday, 7/19: i sat out of the hike that everyone else went on because i was afraid i would break something (i have to take special caution because easy bone-breaking runs on my mom's side of the family), went to a place called Yotvata (where they have this really good chocolate milk that comes in bags as well as milkshakes, ice cream, and a whole lot of other great things), drove to the Dead Sea and spent some time there, then headed back to Jerusalem to our hostel there. it wasn't as nice as our hotel in Eilat, unfortunately. i did meet some college guys (one american and one brit) who were staying in Haifa but were re-located to Jerusalem because of the war.
thursday, 7/20: the day started out with a meeting/discussion with a group from Boston who promotes Israel trips. afterwards, we went to the Tower of David and drove to Neve Shalom for a co-existence seminar. Unfortunately, it turned into a heated debate, but people thought it was very valuable. We then headed back to the hostel to quickly change clothes and then went to the Israel Experience Mega-Event where I ran into some of my hebrew school buddies who were on different Israel trips.
friday, 7/21: we visited Yad VaShem (Holocaust memorial), then headed back to the hostel for our shabbat seminar facilitated by a youngish Israeli couple. for our evening activity, we played "The Dating Game" which was madly hilarious because guys were doing girls' voices
saturday, 7/22: we had services and activities, lunch, free time, and a short walk (or hike, rather) to a woodsy area where we had a discussion. after dinner and havdalah, we had a free night on Ben-Yehuda Street in Jerusalem where I mostly bought gifts (and also had my first real Israeli falafel!)
sunday, 7/23: the day started out with a mid-trip discussion and evaluation with our trip coordinator, went to Mt. Herzl/Ammunition Hill, then came back to the hostel and prepared for maccabiah (kind of like color war) for a few hours. will, jed, emily, and I co-wrote a song for our group that we would sing at the talent show. we sang it for the rest of the group at our meeting that night and the response was amazing :)
monday, 7/24: drove to maccabiah and met up with all the FZYers I had met before. we set up our educational display, which was about david ben-gurion. we had brandt dress up as david ben-gurion and had 2 other people pretend to be security guards for "benny-land" (the name of our exhibit). as for the talent show, the feeling of just being up there with will, jed, and emily was amazing, and everyone in our group, including the counselors, was just amazed. we slept outside (right by Benny-Land) that night.
tuesday, 7/25: the 2nd part of maccabiah was at the beach and included a bunch of inflatable water slides, beach games, sparkling tattoos (I got one of a cat that wasn't very well done), kite-flying, and announcement of the winners. Our group won 2nd place in the educational display, but didn't win overall. after all that craziness was over, we drove to a crappy hotel in Arad, had an extremely disappointing dinner, and then Jared (one of our counselors) took a group of us to Kenyon Arad (Arad Mall). We walked back to our hotel from there, which was very nice.
wednesday, 7/26: we went rappelling, but I was so overridden with fear by a certain point where you had to go down without a harness with just a knotted rope...I was afraid I would break something so i'm happy I didn't take any risks. afterwards, we drove to Ein Gedi (right near the Dead Sea) and hiked up to the Ein Gedi waterfalls. our youth hostel there was nicer than some of the others, but not as nice as the hotel in Eilat.
thursday, 7/27: we woke up at 3:45 a.m. to climb Mount Masada, and it was even more strenuous than I expected it to be. luckily I had Danielle (israeli counselor) and Tal (our medic) near me, and we met up with some other stragglers just as we were about to climb the last flight of stairs to the top. when I reached the top of Mount Masada, the feeling was just AMAZING. it's probably one of my biggest accomplishments yet. after Masada, we drove to an art colony in Arad, went shopping at the Sea of Life factory (where I got more gifts), and then to our youth hostel in Ben Shemen (near Tel-Aviv, and the hostel was pretty disappointing).
friday, 7/28: we started out by visiting Neve Tzedek (the first neighborhood in Tel-Aviv), Independence Hall (where Israel was declared a Jewish state in 1948), stopped for ice cream at Glidat Savta, and spent a few hours at Nachalat Binyamin, where my dad's cousin Lily (who is an artist) has a jewelry stand. I got to meet Lily, her husband, and two of her kids (she has 3 kids, but one wasn't there). I bought myself 2 pairs of earrings and some earrings from Lily's stand for my mom. I also got my 2nd israeli falafel that day.
saturday, 7/29: It was shabbat, so it was a pretty chill day. At night, though, after havdalah, we went to Dizengoff Tower in Tel-Aviv (which is a very nice mall). I hung out with Lindsey, Tom, and Tal (our medic). We ate dinner at a restaurant called Aroma (spelled in hebrew there, of course), which was amazing compared to our disappointing hostel food. I also got a necklace and a pair of earrings at this one store called Diva.
sunday, 7/30: in the morning, we spent a few hours on the beach in Tel-Aviv and then drove to a bedouin village where we rode camels (and donkeys for the people didn't get camels), had a great dinner and a campfire, and slept in a bedouin tent.
monday, 7/31: we drove back to Jerusalem to the Judaean Youth Hostel (where we started out) for an end-of-trip evaluation with our trip coordinator, had lunch, had some time to shower, change, and pack, and then had some closing activities. We were about an hour or so late arriving to the airport for our flight back to the states because there were so many groups flying home from Israel.
tuesday, 8/1: we arrived back to the states after an 11-hour flight, and I was happier than ever to see my parents (my brother had gone to camp while I was still in Israel). it was so sad to leave all my groupmates after three weeks together, but we're all staying in touch (mainly through facebook and e-mail), and I've created a website with pictures and member profiles on it for us to stay in touch. i'm hoping to co-organize a Nofim reunion someday, even though most of us live in different parts of the country.
~Dana~