Day 4
We started off the day by meeting our 'chayelim'-the soldiers from the Israeli army that will be joining us for the next five days. There are eight of them and we are super excited to get to know them. It is a great opportunity since they are our age and it's interesting to see how we will relate to each other. Next we went to Arad, which is the sister city of the Jewish Federations of both Delaware and parts of New Jersey. We did a Partnership Community P2K project with the children from the area, which consisted of a baseball game. The kids did not make it easy for us-and they were only 10 years old! Then we had some time to explore Arad-it turns out it's a Russian community. Privet! Following that, we drove to the Bedouin Hafla, where we took turns riding camels and/or donkeys. This was one of the most exciting parts so far for many of the participants. Natalie wasn't quite pleased with her donkey, as he was being an ass. While quite a few others named their saddled friends, including names such as Herb and Irving. Then we continued to learn about the Bedouin's culture-they showed us some of their rituals and gave us a taste of their cuisine. Many of us found this to be the most delicious meal we've had so far. We then had a very deep discussion in the desert and had the chance to explore and connect with our more spiritual side. Our overnight stay consisted of sleeping in the Bedouin tents and much bonding over campfires.
Day 5
We woke up at 4am today in order to see the sunrise at the top of Mount Masada. We had a lot of fun learning about Masada's significance within history. The way up was not bad via the Roman Ramp, however on the way down we took the Snake Path, which was quite long and frightening for some. Afterwards we drove to the Dead Sea and had a blast floating in the water and covering ourselves in mud. Though, it did turn out to be painful on cuts and wounds. Then we went to Ein Gedi, which is an oasis in the middle of the desert. It was incredible to see the gushing waterfalls and even personally experience them as we went swimming and hiked through. We then drove to Jerusalem and attended the 'Shehechiyanu' which was a welcoming ceremony for the Taglit-Birthright Israel: Hillel groups. This was a fun event consisting of drums, dancing, and prayers. Rachel even had a dance-off. Sababa! She was great :) After this we arrived at our hotel in Jerusalem and all of us were super excited to finally take a shower. After dinner we had a great program planned for us by our new soldier friends, which was a competition based on Israeli knowledge of pop culture as well as history. Shout out and much love to the Chernavsky family. Dear Mom, I know this is supposed to be a shout out, but my IsraelPhone sucks and I'm sorry and I love you.-Hilary. Hi Sheynmans! Dad, sorry we keep playing phone tag!-Love,Shaina. And to all the parents---we miss you and hope you are enjoying your vacation from us :)
Mariya Badu RU 2011
Natalie Sheynman RU 2009
Natalie Fenchel RU 2011
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