Day Nine: More Desert

Unfortunately, yesterday was our last day of sight seeing in Israel. After waking up in the Bedouin tents with my fellow group #995 members all around, we went to Lakiya, which was a Bedouin Center Women's Rights. There we learned about how the Muslim woman have to fight for a better life, because according to their laws, men come first and women must serve their every wish. After serving us tea, they showed us their beautiful weavings which they make for profit with other women from around Israel in their organization. As we left their village, we all felt very fortunate to be Jews, each and every one of us living freely. We then went to the Israeli Air Force Museum, where we learned about all the ins and outs of the complexities of the air force, and how important their services are to Israel. After our tour around the museum our tour guide, Rome, took us outside to look at many of their fighter jets. We were able to take pictures inside the jets, and get a taste of how it felt to be in such a small space and have such control all at the same time! After we left the museum, we went to a farm called Salad Trail, located in the south. Our tour guide took us around the different green houses they had, showing us all of the herbs, plants, tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries. It was interesting to see how they grew the plants, and of course we were able to taste everything, and it was all so delicious! We were then individually given a piece of dough which we shaped and then eventually made into fresh pita. After being cooked, everyone enjoyed their pita bread with a fresh pesto sauce, and a cup of tea, all made from the plants, herbs, and vegetables from the farm. We were sad to leave the farm, but by 4:30 pm we were all exhausted from our action packed day, and were ready to get to our last hotel in Ashkelon. After dinner we had our last group discussion,which was emotional, heartfelt, and sad, knowing that this was our last night together in the amazing state of Israel. After our evening program we had a very special surprise, our soldiers came back and hung out with us in the hotel on our last night. -Lindsay