Friday 26/12/08

This morning we went to Mount Herzl, the Israeli national cemetery where the leaders of the nation are buried alongside the soldiers who died while serving. Every Israeli knows someone buried there and every grave has a story. Daniel walked us around telling us some of these, and Divon did as well. The soldiers were still on the younger side so many didn't know anyone, yet. It was tough. It seemed like nothing really uplifting was in Jerusalem for the trip.

To lift the spirits a bit, we went to Ben Yahuda Market for the coming of Shabbat. It was a madhouse. We got more falafal and shawarma for lunch, grabbed a few things and then headed back to sneak in a nap before heading to the Kotel. Katie got lost so that was stressful.

I sat at the dinner table with Daniel and his family. His 4 year old son, Hunky, and I taught each other words. His favorite was flower. He screamed it a lot. David ran into his sister on another trip and I ran into a camp friend, Harrison. It's so crazy that you run into people. The chances of being in the same room in the same hotel all the way across the world. Or like last time, how I ran into people I knew on top of Masada. It's incredible!

We did a short Oneg Shabbat in the bomb shelter in the basement of the hotel and then some people snuck out, and others came down to my toga party. That turned sloppy quickly but everyone had a good time.

Thursday 25/12/08

Wake up early as usual, have some veggies for breakfast, and headed to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum. It was very emotional for most of the people in the group. I almost felt like I was watching a movie today. I don't know why. I got a little teary eyed when I saw a map of where my family came from. That lasted about 3 seconds and I went back to being numb. It was very weird. It was also weird how they had us take our group picture at this place. Not cool. Everyone was exhausted and then we had to sit and listen to a survivor which I am sure would have been interesting any other time but I slept through it. Most of us did.

We went to the old city after and grabbed some lunch. I got a free bagel (not the first) and then we took a short tour. The rain really put a damper on the day. If there is one thing that makes me miserable is being wet and cold and seeing no end in sight. I found out the hard way that my shoes were not waterproof. We went to the Kotel and saw the Menorah lit which was cool. Just when we thought we were done, we find out we were going to Divon's house.

This was nice and bizarre at the same time. They fed us all soup and had us watch a video about an American who joined the IDF and died in the 2nd Lebanon War. There was no notice for the video and after an already emotional day, this just put a lot of people over the edge. The trip was doing really well about not preaching too much but today was way cult like. The good thing was that most of the participants were old enough and mature enough to realize this. They knew it was just part of the nature of the trip and knew enough to not fully believe everything they say. For instance, "You are making the wrong decision if you stay in the USA."

We made it back for dinner and then went out in Jtown. The big thing there is getting beer and a shot for free and free hookah. There was some miscommunication and Big Mike and his friend Jared got wasted and stumbled in way past curfew. I had to wait up for them and Hallel refused to leave David and me alone which was kinda funny. Daniel didn't even care at this point cuz his family was there for Shabbat. But when Big Mike came tumbling in, I think it may have been the funniest thing all trip. He was panting, hands on his knees. Telling us some Jamaicans gave him the wrong directions and he was lost and then there were kids throwing CD's at him from their balcony. You can't even make this shit up. I think I went to bed at 4am.

Wednesday 24/12/08

I am glad we weren't staying in this hotel for long because the bathroom was awful. For some reason Israelis think a good way to make a shower is to just put a drain on the floor and hand you a squeegee.

We head over to Mount Tzfachot. Daniel hiked here during training and watched one of his friends fall down a cliff and break his leg. Good story to start the hike! You can see Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt from this point in the country. Ethan fell down and scraped his elbow and I'm sad I missed that. I hiked a bit with one of the soldiers who complimented me about how I'm not a typical girl on the trip and he could tell I'm outdoorsy. We talked about living in Columbus cuz he has family there. It was nice to just talk to someone else and get to know them genuinely.

Then we headed off to Coral beach for an afternoon break. I wish that's what it was for me. Instead it turned into an intervention with one of the girls who seemed to have secluded herself from the group and was on the phone, speaking very loudly and rudely the entire time. In the end though, it all turned out for the best. As frustrated as she made me, I still felt bad about how she felt. But she was very close minded and I have very little tolerance for that. Anyways, it all worked out.

We grabbed some lunch at a falafel place, and the falafel man had a huge crush on me. It was entertaining but I still had to pay for lunch. We got on the bus to head to Jerusalem and watched Superbad. Daniel asked me if it was a relevant movie and I said yes because they were Jewish. He was not very happy when it was over. If I knew we were going to get a lecture on the movie, I would have said forget it. I understand where he was coming from, but at the same time, we just needed a break from the whole learning thing.

We arrive in Jerusalem and do Shechehiyanu (the prayer one says at times of new experience and blessed events of all occasions) at the top of a mountain overlooking the city. It was freezing so it was fast and we all ran back on the bus. We have dinner and amazing showers in the Kaesar Hotel and then do a workshop about Yad Vashem that I led.

Most of the kids snuck out that night, and some of us just chilled in the lobby. Sarah came by to say hi. Her and Gina, one of her roommates just came from the crackhouse. Apparently these South African friends she has, needed a place to stay. They somehow got hooked up with these two girls who were in jail and needed someone to stay in their home and take care of their puppies while they were locked up. So they entered this sublease type deal with them. But there are a lot of details missing. Sarah is convinced the girls are dead and had a bunch of their stuff like bracelets in her bag that she took from the crackhouse. I guess I will be there at some point next week when I stay with her because she goes there a lot now. Woohoo!


Soldiers taking it all in.

Tuesday 23-12-08

For some reason I woke up at about 4:30. Angie and I were texting until some Arabs broke in for our wake up call. I was so scraed cuz they were in full uniform and didnt speak english. I thought they were going to shoot us. I was like "Who are you?" And he answered "Good." I said, 'No not HOW are you, WHO are you?" and he goes "Wake up!" and then walked out.

We get dressed and ready for the hike. I was truly running on adrenalin and had no problems staying awake or getting through the hike up the Roman Ramp. We all watched the sunrise on top of Masada which was lovely. Masada is the site where the last battle against the Romans during the First Uprising occured (67-73 C.E.) All the Jews committed suicide before the Romans could reach them. Pretty intense. Then we hiked down, playing would you rather most of the way. During lunch I met some people on an Oranim trip and one of the staffers was telling me she wasnt getting along with her tour guide and it sucked. But this trip was different because the first time you go on birthright, you are going for selfish reasons and the second time you go as staff, you are going for selfless reasons. You are there to make other peoples trips better. I also met a medic who faked an Israeli accent for th first 4 days of his trip and on the 5th day told them he was actually from Florida. Yoni was awesome and we kept in touch the rest of the trip. Facebook is pretty funny cuz all the Israelis are obsessed with it. Im glad though cuz I have been able to keep in touch with many of them.

We skipped Ein Bokek and went straight to the Dead Sea. At first I wasn't going to go in but I did and I am happy I did. I burned like crazy and was freezing but worth it. I was pissed they got rid of mud baths though. Apparently it was a health violation but I think it's just a scam to get you to buy their mud. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth. For Big Mike, it was opposite day. We said don't dunk your head, he did. Don't rub your eyes, he did. Don't bring your cell phone or passport into the water, he did. A-mazing.

We had a lunch, I got locked in a shower, and then we got back on the bus to go down to Eilat. Angie and I had Mike in our room because he had some leg problem and had to go to the hospital but didnt have a phone, money or insurance so after that we needed a break. Everyone was pissing us off and we had to do our review anyway. So everyone else went out to dinner without us and we just relaxed for a while, walked on the boardwalk ourselves and met up at the disco later. Daniel was the first on the table to dance and after that, no one got off the tables. It was really fun and we all chilled after for a while. I was officially exhausted.

Monday 22/12/08

Mifgash! This morning we had some soldiers join the trip. We already had one because one girl on the trip had her brother join us. He has been in the army the past couple months and got a couple days off to join the trip his sister was on. They are all really nice and everyone was excited to have them. It's such a crazy experience to have these kids with us.

We all head to Rabin square where the kids mingle with locals, asking them questions. Everyone was into it and I was really impressed. Big Mike lost his wallet. Then we headed to Independace Hall. Again, I was not too excited for this part of the trip because last time we went, it sucked. But to my surprise, it was one of the highlights. The speakers were incredible. One of the women really nailed it when she said, "Israel is something you have to feel. You have to be here and experience it." Then the main speaker was full of jokes, but got cut off due to schedualing conflicts with another group. So that was cut short we were all disspointed. I am glad we got to spend the time in Tel Aviv because before this, I really didn't feel like I spent time there or enjoyed it and I felt completley different after. After IH, we had some free time and a group of us went on a scavenger hunt for a bank, and then we went to a coffee shop and headed south again. But first we had to wait for Jeremy's passport to arrive in a cab from the hostel, but not Mike's wallet. We stopped at some Dairy Farm and then ended the trip in the middle of the Negav, at the Beadouin tents in Kfar Hanokdim.

We were rushed onto these camels. I asked the American who had just moved to the tents, and was bitter about being from Boston, told me which one I should go on. Turns out this camel loved to cha cha and side kicked the entire time, with the seat not fully attached. I got whip lash. David hopped on the back last minute and I will never forget this camel ride. I have terrible luck with camels! We skipped the donkey rides and went into the tents to learn about the Bedouins and dance and listen to music made by them. Ben made a joke about if they sell the CD and sure enough, they did! It's such a tourist trap!

We had some down time, and went into the sleeping tent, picked out our beds, played some catch, talked to some people. Found out of of the girls was a lesbian, which I had thought all along. But it took me for a ride when she told us the older women who we thought was her mom at the airport, was actually her partner of 5 years. So after a heavy conversation, we went to dinner which I found out through the miserable American, that is was catered! Then we went on this insane walk into the desert. It was pitch black. Some people were freaked out but we all did it, in silence, as Daniel asked us to. The view that we all witnessed that night, into the sky, was unbelieveable. We all got into a circle, people got emotional, and then we went back to "go to bed". Of coarse most of us didn't. A bunch of us stayed up outside, chatting and what not. People tried to get deep but I was just tired of the heavy conversations at this point.

When it was finally time for bed, I found myself stuck in a snoring trifecta of hell. Before we went to bed, the Russians set up their own little apartment in the corner and were laughing and told us they were laughing because they were waiting for everyone to go to bed, cuz if they went to sleep first, no one would get sleep because he snores so loud. So that was in one corner. Then Big Mike in another corner and to complete the triangle was Ethan. David and I were next to each other and Ben kept us up with stories for a while but after he passed out, we just laughed until we passed out of exhaustion. All in all, I got maybe an hour of sleep because we had to wake up at 5am for a sunrise hike up Masada.

Sunday 21/12/08

After the typical breakfast of veggies and dips, the bus gets packed with time to spare and we drive to Mt. Arbel for a morning hike. You can see almost all of the Southern Galilee and the Kinneret (the lake where Jesus walked and the source of much of Israel's water, which is in a drought at the moment). I had to sit this hike out originally because one of the participants has a leg condition but then Big Mike and Alisa decided not to go as well. Well, Big Mike didn't really decide, he was told to turn around. So the bus drives around a bit, slightly hits a car, and then we pick up the group at the bottom of the mountain. I was kinda sad I missed this one, it looked really fun.

We head to Tsfat (Safed, "Air City"), which I was really excited for cuz it's such a cool little town. It is one of the four holy cities of Judaism, located in the hills of the Galilee, and the center of Jewish mystical study and the Kabbalah. Everything is in turquoise blue there and I think its a beautiful place. Unfortunately, it was rainy and cold so we didn't do much there and then the candle factory was so packed we skipped it. This place was one of my favorite parts of the last trip and I felt like the group kinda got gypped out of it this time. Also, when we got off the bus, one of the girls wasn't feeling well so I had to escort her to a bathroom, where she was miserable and I had to buy a drink so she could use the restroom and wait in the cold and rain for her, miss Daniels speech in a temple, and she didn't even say the slightest thank you. Then we poured falafel down our throats cuz I couldn't bare the thought of another homemade Sachlav sandwich for lunch.

We stopped for lunch at this forest on the way to Dalton Winery. It was this huge playground and was a really beautiful park. It's crazy how driving 15 minutes in any direction of the country and the landscape changes so drastically. The north is very rocky, from the old volcanoes. Drive 15 minutes south of Jerusalem and you are in a desert. It's pretty cool. The winery was OK. I liked the one I went to last time better. It was a quick trip, a quick tasting, and we were back on the bus, rushed as usual. I never felt rushed on the trip, but Daniel always apologized for pushing us. It kinda became one of the jokes of the trip.

I took a nap on the 3 hour bus ride down to Tel Aviv. When I woke up, I was eye to eye with a cow. There was a truck full of cows right next to the bus. It was hysterical to wake up to that and I started laughing so hard I woke up half the bus.

We get to the hostel at Tel Aviv which we were dreading but it turned out to be one of the nicer places we stayed. David M. and Divon met up with us and since it was Hanukkah, we all sat down and had the typical donuts and read a passage and Melissa sang while lighting the candles. Then we all went upstairs to get ready for a night out in Tel Aviv. I was pissed off because I got booted out of a real bed and onto a cot so I tried to just distance myself from certain people that night because I would lose it if I didn't. It's really cool how Daniel lets us kinda do our own thing. I was not expecting that at all. After waiting for Big Mike because he fell asleep in the tub (apparently he's become narcoleptic on the trip), a bunch of us walked down to the water, I got harassed by a drunk Arab, and then we went to dinner at this place on the beach. Daniel ordered us hookah, I ate french fries, sat with great kids from the group, and listened to awesome songs like Valerie. I couldn't be happier at this place. It was perfect. After a couple hours of just chillin, Ben, David and Justin walked me back. Daniel and I did room checks, and then I stayed on the phone way to late cuz I still was dealing with jet lag.


Group at Red Bar on the Tel Aviv Beach.

Shabbat: 20/12/08

It was so nice to sleep in! Thank goodness we stopped at the food place the day before because I was starving and missed breakfast and got yelled at by the staff when I tried to sneak in for coffee. (That lunch stop was also where I introduced some of the group to Buger Ranch.) After lunch and a game of basketball, we went on a walk through the crappy town of Tibrius to Rambam's grave. He was a humanitarian, a prominent rabbi, physician and philosopher from the Golden Age of Judaism in Israel. The Russian tried to make a Jewish joke and I thought Daniel was going to throw him over the cliff. We took in the scenery for a little, and then headed back for Havdalah (which I missed), dinner, and a night out on the town!

Finally I felt like the participants were getting really comfortable with each other. Just need a little drinking and dancing. Sad, but true. We walked on the boardwalk for a bit, got harassed by a couple of locals, and then proceed to get wasted at the disco. The biggest challenge was getting everyone into the sheruits home. Once we got back to the hotel, some people decided to go get pizza. David stayed with me while we waited for them. Apparently they took over the store cuz I heard they were making their own pizzas and answering phones. Oh they also had to get hash which took them an extra hour and I was not happy I had to stay up.


At Rambam's site.

Staff for Sachlav-19-138, Angie, Daniel, Becca.

Day 2: The North

We go to the Golan Heights for a hike which I was not excited about because I remembered last time it was rainy and cold and boring and depressing. But it ended up being a really awesome hike through the Jeelabon Creek, in fact my favorite one I think. Daniel assured us this would be an easy hike. He forgot we aren't tour guides though and many of the girls had some problems with it, as did some of the guys, but we all helped each other through it. It's these types of experiences that bond people together and I already see the group getting more comfortable with each other. I personally didn't think it was very hard and enjoyed the hike, but that's cuz when your father is Mr. Nature, you get accustomed to things like this. One guy, Big Mike, pretty much had an asthma attack and that was not fun. If only I knew what was to come with him! There are 2 married Russian couples in the group who take way too many prom pics and are slow as hell. They will be a problem. Otherwise, good stuff so far. Lesson of the hike: Israeli's are like cacti. Rough on the outside but sweet on the inside.

We hop back on the bus for phase 2. We get to the top of Mount Bental, an ancient volcano that was once an Israeli military bunker where you can see into Syria. Immediately, Ginette and Big Mike run off the bus to throw up. After that we met up with the group in the bunker and learned about attack methods of the IDF and such. There was also a really out of place but cute coffee shop that was like a cabin. One of the girls decided to tell me she had weight loss surgery which was odd but I guess she was feeling sick and wanted me to know. I start to get worried this trip may not be as easy as I thought. On the walk back to the bus, there are sculptures made of metal which I find out were made from scrapes found from tanks and such in a war.

We head back to the hotel to prepare for Shabbat. I decide to try to take a nap and miss candle lighting. I meet everyone in the dining room and we have a lovely dinner followed by Oneg Shabbat. The group circle was interesting. The Russian's made everyone feel uncomfortable and after everyone went upstairs I had a really intense conversation with Nosson, a boy who used to be Ultra Ortho, Alisa, and Mikey. It's really interesting to see the opposite rebellions, non religious kids became more religious and religious ones became less as they grew up.


Hiking through the Jeelabon Creek.

Day 1

Got to the airport, still can't believe it's real. Excited cuz Angie seems cool. Everyone seems a little shy but I know that will get better. Just a little awkward. Was happy to finally meet everyone. Most people were what I expected. I hope I at least seem a little good at what I'm doing.

Arrive at Ben Gurian after all of us sitting in middle seats. That was tough but it was the first thing we could all laugh about. We already have 1 lost luggage. Then we cant find the guide. Then we find him and he loses most of us. Mikey and I go to find a phone and bump into someone he knows who lends us their phone. Israeli miracles are already beginning. Daniel, the guide finally comes back to us and once we exchange some money and get our phones, insurance and such, we set off to the north. Make a pit stop along they way for sandwiched dinners and a chat with Divon.

Arrive in Tibirius and one girl doesn’t have a roommate so she rooms with Angie and I. We had to switch rooms with two guys but it was a warmer room anyway so I didn’t care so much. It was nice of them. Angie and Alisa are both Russian so they immediately bond. We head downstairs for an ice breaker. Went around the circle introducing ourselves and I knew once it was over, Daniel would say by the end of the trip we would see that there is more to us then where we are from, what school we went to, and our jobs. I tried my two truths and a lie game but everyone was so tired we did about 2 and then we dispersed and somehow ended up on the roofdeck to chill. That was a nice, chill night, with some drinks, cards, and good times.

First sunrise from the Hotel Astoria.

Return of the Blogger

Took and unintentional exact month off but now I think I am back! Contemplated ending these shenanigans but after a conversation with my new boyfriend, I think for now, I'll keep it going. Like I've stated before, this thing is really for me. So I can remember what I do and think, and maybe make someone laugh along the way. Israel recaps to follow this entry cuz that's where I've been the past month and there are def. some stories to document.