Day 4: First day in Israel
Waking up early was hard after a night out, but any sadness
from lack of sleep quickly evaporated when I saw the breakfast bar. Holy cow it
was amazing! They had individual shakshuka, butternut raviolis, an array of
salads (tomato salad, Greek salad, avocado salad, you name it!), unbelievable
bread selection, fruits, yogurts, and juices. The bar also served espresso
drinks and there was an option for cook-to-order eggs. YUM. I had spinach
shakshuka for the first time and a bite of most of the salads and was a very
happy camper.
From breakfast we all boarded the bus to head to the Vonage
offices on the outskirt of town. There we spoke with the director of the mobile
R&D team and a product manager and learned about some of the strengths of
Israel as a source of talent for tech and a home for start-ups. In short, the
mandatory military service and the intelligence units’ use of tech outfits
young adults with many of the skills critical to entrepreneurship, such as
working with limited resources in complex situations and dealing with
uncertainty.
After the lecture we went to Jaffa which is the Old Town in
Tel Aviv. Our group photographer gave us a quick walking tour where we learned
about some of the history of the region, and then we all had lunch down at The
Old Man and The Sea on the waterfront. The food was plentiful and incredible,
and I left absolutely stuffed.
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| Jaffa Tower |
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| Tel Aviv Skyline |
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| Lunch at The Old Man and the Sea |
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| Harbor in Jaffa |
After lunch we returned to the hotel and had a lecture from
a general in the army. The lecture was titled “Shoot, don’t shoot; decision
making in the battlefield” by General Bentzi Gruber. Bentzi commands 20,000
troops and began his career as a tank driver. He spoke to us about the code of
ethics that is followed by the IDF (Israeli Defense Force), but then went
deeper about why it is important to be ethical in battle. He shared that the
goal of the IDF is to fight, win, and remain human, and elaborated on the
importance of preserving mental sanity and strength through always striving to
do the right thing in moments where you have less than 8 seconds to decide. The
talk contained several videos and real-world examples of decisions that need to
be made while fighting terrorist, such as changing the course of a missile when
a target changes course to areas where there could be collateral damage and not
engaging in fire when you cannot confirm the enemy. He also shared several defense tactics used by
terrorists to avoid fire, such as using kids as shields when crossing open
streets or utilizing UN ambulances for coverage and blockades. It was a heavy
conversation, and it got heavier when the general started talking about the
consequences of being in battle with collateral damage. He alluded to the fact
that in the US 400 active soldiers commit suicide every year, and 22 veterans
commit suicide every day due to the trauma of war.
He shared the importance of
admitting mistakes and openly communicating and discussing missions that went
wrong, or decisions that had negative consequences (whether they’re the right
or wrong ones) and talked about the routines and culture that the military had
in place to allow for that type of conversation. He even gave us an example of
a decision that he made early in his career in the Lebanon war that resulted in
the death of a 74-year-old woman, and how he still carries that with him to
this day. His honesty and openness were a gift, and although his viewpoints
were opinionated, he helped us to gain better empathy for soldiers and to
better understand war and the conflict in the Middle East. He closed the talk
by sharing his family’s personal story. His mother’s entire family except for
her twin sister were killed in a concentration camp, and his mother and her
sister were kept enduring experiments by the Nazi scientists. At one point they
departed and walked over 500 miles in the snow to escape. Because the sister
had been given injections in her legs and hips, she could not walk and had to
be carried by his mother most of the way. Bentzi said that for him it is a
great honor to be able to fight to defend the country that has given shelter to
his family and others. The talk was an hour and a half long, but it flew by.
The general was one of the most engaging speakers I’ve ever had the pleasure of
hearing, and I’m incredibly grateful for the experience.
At 4:30 we were free for the day and had some free time. I
went up to my room to change, went on a quick run, then headed to the beach
with a bunch of my friends for some sun and water. While there I was dared to
do a backflip, and after initially refusing I decided to give it a try, even
though I hadn’t done one in over a year. Thankfully I still have it, and I
landed on my feet. Phew!
After the beach we had a big group dinner at a kebab place
called Miznon. They served us beef, lamb, steak or veggie kebabs, roasted
cauliflower (YUMMM), and baked sweet potatoes from a table, and we all grabbed
a seat on a bench or chair or just stood in the sidewalk enjoying the food. We
had an Israeli Nutella and pita bread for dessert, and everyone was very happy
and content. Our hosts at the restaurant were lovely – they were kind, warm,
and inviting. We’ve had nothing but incredible hospitality so far in this
country.
After dinner we walked as a group to a club called Jimmy
Who? The club was cool, but it was absolutely PACKED. About 150 kids or more
from birthright were there, and so our 40 really made the place tight. I wasn’t
really feeling it since there wasn’t quite enough space to dance, so I grabbed
a GETT (the Israeli Uber) home and caught up on some writing. Tomorrow we have
a day packed with company visits at start at 8 a.m., so I’m happy to get a
little more sleep.
Day 5 of travel: Company visits
Day 5 was a day of learning. We started the day by touring a
desalination plant and learning about the business model of IDE Technologies.
We learned about the world water crisis, science of reverse osmosis, the plant
supply chain, the company structure and partnership with government, and the
costs of investment and operation of these plants. The biggest expense by far
is energy, but the initial investment for the plant is also around $720M,
making it a very expensive endeavor. The speaker estimated that the payback
period is around 10 years.
After the talk, our host took us on a tour of the plant. We
followed the path of a water droplet and began at the intake pump. Up until the
pump all water flows downhill assisted by gravity, but at the first plant power
is used to push the water up 4 massive pipes (there are 5 built for redundancy)
to a flat pipe about 10 meters high. The water then flows through the top pipe
to a series of sand filters that filter out the particulates as the water
passes through via gravity. From here the water undergoes reverse osmosis,
which requires a lot of energy to create enough pressure to push the salinized
water through the membranes. The facility also deploys machinery that
recaptures energy from the backwash brackish water, which recovers about 47% of
the energy. After the reverse osmosis the water is completely devoid of
minerals, so it is too acidic to drink. The final step of the process is
remineralization, which is accomplished by running the water through limestone
filters. After the tour we got to try some purified water, said our goodbyes to
our guide, and loaded back on the bus for lunch.
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| Reverse Osmosis at desalination plant |
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| I love plant tours! |
Lunch was a nice treat – we stopped at a craft brewery
called Jem’s for German-inspired food and Israeli beer. I had the schnitzel and
a glass of the amber ale and enjoyed both immensely. We also loved the
environment – my friend described it as being “industrial chic.”
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| Lunch break |
After lunch we went on a second company visit to Cardboard
Technologies. Cardboard Technologies is known for innovating to create a
bicycle that is made from recycled cardboard, but we learned in the
presentation that their mission as a company is to “create new and local
industries that breath new life into recycled cardboard, transforming it into
useful products for real people.” They’ve developed a business model that takes
advantage of clauses set in the Kyoto agreement that demand that corporations
are accountable for all the recyclable material that they put forth in the
world. Because of this, a company’s investment in Carboard Technologies
products can be seen as an investment in creating demand for recycled goods
(thus giving second life to the products they put into the world), and the
companies receive tax credits from the government, which often result in saving
that are greater than the cost of the product. I really enjoyed hearing our
speaker share his and they company’s story, and I was inspired by the vision
and the aspiration the company has to make a difference in the world. In
addition to creating products that are good for the world (use recycled goods
as well as provide affordable modes of transportation), they also have built an
employment model that allows for up to 40 jobs per plant for people with
disabilities. After the talk we had the chance to ride the bikes and pet the dog
of the head engineer. It was a lovely afternoon.
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| Cardboard Technologies talk |
After cardboard technologies we headed back to the hotel and
got home around 5:30 p.m. The sun was covered by a haze, so I decided not to
head to the beach, and instead called home to catch up with my parents and took
care of a couple of things in my hotel room. Around 6:45 I decided that it was
time to do something, so I headed out on a walk by myself along the boardwalk
and caught the full sunset over the next hour. We had a group dinner that
evening, but also an option to opt out so I took advantage and had a night
alone to recharge and get some sleep. Since we had been eating really heavy
meals I just grabbed a sandwich along the boardwalk during my walk, and after
the sun set I went back to my hotel and took a shower, read my book, and feel
asleep before 10 p.m. Glorious.
Day 6 of travel: The Holy City
I started day 6 the right way – with a 3-mile run along the
beach with my friend. Tel Aviv is hot, so although we started our run at 7:15
in the morning, it probably would have been smart to have left a half hour
earlier. The final mile was tough in the heat!
It took me a while to cool down, but I eventually did and
was able to dress for the day, pack my bags, and snag a quick breakfast before
we loaded the bus with all our luggage and departed for Jerusalem. A bunch of
people from my group had stayed out until 7 a.m. the night before, so the bus
ride was pretty uneventful as most people were conked out. It was about an hour
and half drive, but traffic was pretty gnarly at times.
Along the bus drive we had a guide named Steven who told us
a lot about the history of Jerusalem and the various religious claims to the
land. He did a great job of breaking down the points of tension in current
times, and then giving us historical background to better understand why the
exist. He also told us more about how Israel is governed, which was helpful
because our first stop was at the Knesset, which is the Israeli Parliament. The
“governing body is made up of 20 seats (reflecting the Great Assembly – the
governing body of the Jewish people in ancient times) and is elected through a
system of proportional representation where 10% of the votes is equivalent to
10% of the seats” (eTrek guide book). In our tour we learned about the
difference measures taken to create transparency, including continuous
broadcasting of committees and sessions, clarity on which parliament members
are in present in the building, and clear and accessible records on how each
individual voted on each measure. Surprisingly, one of the best things about
the tour was the art. There were beautiful tapestries by Chegale designed to
show the past, present and future of the Jewish state, and many other pieces
commissioned to celebrate the foundation of Israel on the roots on an ancient
Jewish state. We ended our tour with a discussion with Eli Cohen, a member of
parliament and the Minister of Economy and Industry. He shared his views on how
technology is the heart of economic strength of the country and the advantage
Israel has in human capital through the talented youth. He also shared that
Israel is investing in digital health as the next big industry behind the
current leadership in Cybersecurity and tech.
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| Knesset |
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| Chegale painting of the current Jewish state |
After our visit to the Knesset we ate a quick boxed lunch in
a park and then headed to the Old City for a tour. It’s hard to describe the
tour, as we were given so much information in such a short period of time, but
it helped me to better understand the conflict in the middle east, to learn
more about Judaism, Islam and Christianity, and to reflect on the incredible
fortune I have to be able to travel. During the tour we visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the site where Jesus was buried and resurrected), and learned about the Roman ruins, the old city layout, and how the city has evolved over time to host 4 major religious groups (Jewish, Christians, Muslims, and Armenians). The most moving part of the tour was
visiting the west wall, which is the only exposed remains of the temple grounds
of the Second Jewish Temple by Harrod the Great, which was built where Abraham
was supposed to sacrifice Isaac and also at the place where heaven and earth
are supposed to meet. Currently the spot, called the Temple Mount, is
controlled by Muslims (it is also the place where the prophet Muhammad ascended
to paradise) and Jews are not permitted to enter and pray. Because of this the
Western Wall is the closest place to the holiest site, which gives it
unbelievable significance to many people around the world. Many generations
have yearned to visit, and I felt very blessed that I have the chance to be in
Jerusalem, although I know there are many people who deserve it more. Our tour
took us through all 4 quarters (Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Armenian), and
then we took a second tour of the tunnels underneath the Western Wall that have
just recently been made available due to excavation. The tunnels helped me to
appreciate the scale of the original temple (it was massive), and I was in awe
of the size of some of the stones used in the wall. One stone that we saw must
have been around 100 feet wide!
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| Photo in front of church of Holy Sepulchre |
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| View of Old City from a hilltop |
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| Temple Mount and Western Wall |
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| Western Wall |
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| Site of Jesus' tomb |
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| Panorama of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre |
We departed the tunnels around 6:50 p.m. and headed back to
our bus and onward to the hotel. We had about an hour at the hotel before
turning back around to dinner in our big group. The dinner was located at a
restaurant called Mona. When I looked it up it was listed on Google as a fine
dining establishment, but I didn’t quite believe it since we were a group of
50. I was proven quite wrong though – it was a fabulous meal. We were given
unlimited red wine and shared a series of appetizers and entrees that included
raw tuna, beef tar tar, thin slices of filet, a glorious risotto dish, pasta,
and spiced chicken. For dessert we had yummy whipped cheese, chocolate mouse,
and a raspberry compote. A bunch of people went out after dinner (which ended
around midnight), but I was feeling full and happy and decided to head home for
a night of good sleep. Anyways – the next day was a big one.
Day 7 of travel: Memorials, Markets and Desert
We began day 7 with a super yummy breakfast at our fabulous
hotel in Jerusalem before loading the buses to go to Yad Vashem, the holocaust
memorial museum. The museum was beautifully designed, and our guide was very
inspiring and impactful. She helped to highlight the little actions that people
did throughout the holocaust to do the right thing (as recognized by the garden
celebrating the righteous of the nations), as well as helped us to understand
the power dynamics that led to such horrific events and so few people speaking
out. It was a devastatingly sad experience, but I am very grateful to her and
the rest of the museum staff for their tireless efforts to record and preserve
the events, and to study and understand the steps that lead to genocide so that
better education can hopefully lead to a fairer and just future. It was my
third time intimately experiencing the memory of the holocaust, as I have also
been to the museum in DC (twice) and the Mauthausen concentration camp, and
although the experiences are painful I’m grateful for the understanding and
humbled by the encounters. I find it very hard to believe or understand that
people deny the holocaust happened, and I think it’s incredibly important for
humans to know the evil that they are capable of by seeing examples of others
who may not have lived too different of lives yet still participated actively
in a regime that murdered millions.
After the museum we had some free time to explore the
Machane Yehuda Market. Markets are my favorite things to experience in new
cities, and I was energized by the colors, sounds, and smells that I
encountered throughout the various stalls. I tried a delicious affogato at a
coffee shop, and then sampled all of the dried fruits and teas and tahini
offered at each of the stalls. I noticed that there were no women working in
the stalls, so I decided to make my purchase from the one stall where I saw a
woman working. I wanted a couple of dried fruits and a tea to take home. I
learned a lesson though – it’s very important to be exact about how much you
want and to be stern in monitoring it. I wanted “just a little” and ended up
with 4 scoops of each thing. I didn’t think it’d be a huge deal, until I
checked out and learned that my bill was 250 sheckles ($70) and that I ended up
with 1.6 KG of dried fruits! That was a bit of a shock, but with language
barriers and a sense of “what’s done is done” I didn’t argue and went with it.
Now I have enough fruit for a year – if you see me you’re welcome to some!
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| Market corners |
After exploring I met back up with some friends and was
introduced to Todd, an old coworker of one of the members of the trip who is
living in Jerusalem getting his PhD. Todd took us all to an Iranian-Israeli
lunch place where we feasted on delicious foods – hummus and a variety of egg
plant and ground beef combinations. We had a great time laughing and joking and
hearing a little about his life in Israel. It was the perfect way to spend an
afternoon, and we didn’t finish our “lunch” until around 5 p.m.
Afterwards we went to our meeting spot and loaded the bus
for our journey out to the desert. We were spending the night at a Bedouin
resort where we had the chance to get to know about their culture. When we arrived,
we had a nice dinner that was served on a massive platter in the center of the
table and consisted of cous cous, chicken, meat balls, and stuffed grape
leaves. The set up was also interesting – we ate in a big tent at tables
without chairs, so we spent the meal sitting on cushions on the ground.
After dinner we were escorted to a different tent where a
Bedouin man shared about his culture and gave us 3 cups of coffee (as is
traditional in Bedouin hospitality). We learned about the importance of respect
in the culture, and the skills that Bedouins have in tracking. He illustrated
it with a story about a man who lost his camel and asked for help. The people
he asked knew that the camel was blind in one eye, was limping, was scared of
people, and had a short tail even though they had never seen the camel because
they were able to tell from clues in the land left by the camel as it passed through.
After the talk we were shown our sleeping quarters, which
was a BIG ole’ open tent with 55 floor mattresses. It wasn’t too far from the
camel pits so there was a pretty pungent odor, and unfortunately there were
also some bugs in the middle of the night. We had a 4 a.m. wake up call the
next day, so I opted to try and get some sleep rather than hang out by the camp
fire since it was already 11 p.m. by the time we got to the tent. Sleep, sadly,
was pretty elusive because of the combination of smells, temperature and sounds
from the others who were staying up through the night. It was a bit miserable,
but it was only for a night and I survived.
Day 8 of travel: Sunrise at Masada, Camels, and the Dead Sea
Despite the unfortunate sleeping circumstances of the night
before, day 8 started off right. We woke up at 4 a.m. and had the bus loaded by
4:40 with all of our luggage. I had packed the night before, so I was ready
quickly and got to enjoy some tea and biscuits while the rest of the crew was
getting up. Probably the funniest thing of the morning was walking past the
group of people who decided to stay up all night (much to my chagrin before
they decided to move away from the sleeping tent). They were dancing on tables
as if it were a club and hadn’t slept a wink. The funniest part was that a lot
of the people in that group were the “repeat offenders” who had been going out
to the clubs until 5 or 7 a.m. each of the previous nights as well. My prayers
are with them that they don’t fall ill after this trip!
The reason we woke up so early was so that we could see sunrise
on top of the Masada Fortress. The fortress was originally constructed by the
Greek, but served as a home to the Greeks, Romans, Jews and Christian monks
over the years. The sun was scheduled to rise at 5:36 a.m., and by the time we
got to the parking lot at the base of the fortress it was already 5:20. I was
told that the hike would take 14 minutes, so I was feeling the pressure that we
might miss the sunrise if I walked it, and after the sacrifice of sleep to see
it I was not willing to allow that. Instead, as soon as the bus parked I jumped
off and started running up the hill with one of my other friends. We had a huge
head start, so ended up on top of the mountain far before sunrise. There were a
couple other people up top, but not too many so we were able to scout the
perfect ledge to perch up on overlooking the dead sea and the mountains where
the sun was set to rise over. The view was absolutely stunning – not only could
you see the dead see and mountains, but there were countless canyons and
ravines at the base of the mountain that the fortress stood upon which carved
beautiful designs in the landscape. We had a couple of hours to explore the
fortress before returning back to the bus and then the camp for breakfast and
camel rides!
Before we could ride the camels, we had to watch a safety
video. I was really skeptical, but the video ended up being more about
educating us about camels, and it had the bonus of having really funny actors. After
the video we paired up and went out into the barn to pick our camels and mount.
Unlike horse riding, however, you mount a camel when it’s sitting, then you get
a HUGE jolt when it stands up with you on its back! Camels have the normal
joints in their front legs (just one knee like us), but their back legs have 2
pairs of joints, and their legs fold under them like an accordion. It was the
movement of the back legs that made the standing up process so abrupt and fun.
Our camel ride was a guided 15-20-minute walk around the
dessert with all 50 of us (minus the few that decided to sleep instead). The
terrain was rocky and sandy, so we had the chance to really feel the natural
movement of the camels. And, of course, it isn’t a camel ride with 50 of your closest
friends without a photo shoot, so we also took plenty of photos.
Our next stop was the Dead Sea. I was SO excited for this
part of the trip, and for the most part it didn’t disappoint. When we got there
our travel company had reserved us a private portion of the beach, and on every
chair, they left a fedora and a dead-sea beauty kit that included bath salts,
lotions, and most importantly – MUD.
Some people started right away with the mud, but I could
hardly contain my excitement at getting to swim in the dead sea. We had been
issued a couple of warnings before entering: 1) do NOT shave the day before, 2)
do NOT get the water in your eyes, and 3) do NOT drink the water. I managed to
avoid all 3 of the above, yet I still experienced an uncomfortable burn upon
entering the water. Because it is so salty (33% versus 3% for typical sea
water) it attacks any cut or opening with vengeance. I think the water reacted
with my face sunscreen because my neck started to burn, and I still have a
semblance of a rash from it. Despite the
burn, the dead sea was still a blast and a spectacular experience. It was SO
buoyant that it was challenging to even move your body into an upright
position. We had a blast floating through all of the different positions that
we were capable of accomplishing without splashing – like floating on our
backs, bellies, and verrrry slow turns. Another really cool thing about the sea
was the texture of the water – it felt a little like oil, and my skin felt SO
soft. I got out of the water after 10-20 minutes (it’s not safe to stay in
longer) and joined the group on the beach that was playing with the mud. I
poured the mud onto my hands and then lathered every inch of my body not
covered by my swimsuit, including my face! While we waited for the mud to dry I
did some handstands with my friend Jane, enjoyed a beer with friends, and
watched as my friends built a human pyramid. I rinsed the mud off in the sea
and enjoyed how amazingly rejuvenated my skin felt. Unfortunately, one of my
classmates got water in his eyes, so I helped guide him out of the water and to
the shower to flush it all out. Thankfully there was no permanent damage, but I
am super impressed by how well he handled the pain as I’m sure it was a
horrendous feeling. Sadly, our time was running out, so I grabbed a quick lunch
from the buffet, enjoyed one final float by myself, then headed back to the bus
for our journey back to Tel Aviv.
We arrived back at our hotel in Tel Aviv mid-afternoon, so I
had a little time to head to the beach for the afternoon. It was a blast, as
always. We had a small group, a couple drinks, many trips to swim in the less
potent water, and even a photo shoot for promo materials for one of the
restaurants on the beach! I ended the beach time with a run and work out with
two of my friends before heading back to the hotel to freshen up.
That night we had a Shabbat dinner hosted by a family at
their home. The family was a conservative Jewish family with 8 children, and
they were unbelievably gracious hosts. The father told us about his career,
taught us about the different blessings of shabbat, and then invited us all to
share about our experience. About 30 made the dinner, so we went until around
midnight going 1 by 1 to talk about our insights from our time in Israel. Things
that really stood out to me at the dinner were how cute the kids were, how
joyous singing can be (the family sings the prayers), learning about kosher
wine, and the teachings of one blessing: to maintain balance between your
personal life (all men and women are equal, and you must never see yourself as
better than another), your professional life (each person has a role in this
world and should strive to continue to grow and evolve in talents and
capabilities. It’s only through differences in roles that society can have
harmony), and your individualism (you must strive to approach problems and
decisions with a unique perspective and think for yourself so that you can
contribute to a broader society). Although it was long, it was a very special
evening and a great experience. I’m so grateful to our hosts for their
generosity and openness of sharing about their lives.
The group went out after dinner and I attempted to join, but
I didn’t last long. Instead I left with one other girl from our group and we
headed back to the hotel, but we decided to extend the night a little further
by having a cocktail at Imperial, a famous cocktail lounge just around the
corner from where we were staying. The drink was delicious, and I very much
enjoyed the conversation and making a new friend. It was a LONG day that
started at 3:45 a.m. and ended around 1:30 a.m., but it was a good one that I
will remember for a long time.
Day 9 of travel: Rest and sun
Day 9 was a Saturday, which is a day of rest in the Jewish
religion. I took this to heart, and I slept in until 12:30 p.m. to attempt some
sort of recovery from the many sleepless nights of the week. I did another
thing to take care of myself and my sanity: my laundry. After the camel ride
and over a week of traveling in really hot weather, my clothes were starting to
be unsuitable for comfortable wear. Instead of paying a bajillion dollars to
get my laundry done at the hotel, I packed my bag and set out on foot for a
laundromat a couple blocks away. I was able to get everything washed and dried
for about $5 and made myself very very happy to have clean clothes again.
By the time I was done it was already around 2:30, and most
of my friends had been at the beach for at least and hour. I put my suit on,
crossed the street and joined up with our group in a pavilion that the tour
company had set up and stocked with fresh fruit and beer. Throughout the
afternoon I played some sand volleyball, went swimming, and enjoyed a lunch by
the sea at a nearby restaurant. At sunset I headed back to my hotel to get
ready for our final dinner.
The dinner was amazing, and we enjoyed Moroccan food while
reminiscing on the week and toasting Haim and Grant many times for their
incredible effort in organizing and executing the trip. It was a very strong
end to a very strong week.
After dinner we went back to the same club we went to the
first night. I stayed out dancing until 2:30 a.m. and didn’t get home and
asleep until around 3. I considered it a huge success, but of course half the
group managed to stay out until sunrise and ended their day in the sea. I’m
telling you, my friends have incredible party skills.
Day 10 of travel: A journey to the north - Jesus, rafting, and puppies
30 of the 50 of our group left to return home, but 20 of us
remained on the trip for the north extension. We loaded up the bus nice and
early and departed on our 2.5-hour drive to the City of Nazareth. We had a new
tour guide for this portion of the trip who was absolutely awesome. He walked
through the bus to learn our names 1 by 1 on the drive up and taught us SO much.
To start, he gave us a background of the 3 religions (Judaism, Christianity and
Muslims), why they were similar and different, the basis for conflict of
beliefs and politics, and the holy sites for each. Throughout the rest of the
trip he would also explain to us a lot about the political history of the
region (through various regimes) and then break down the Israel-Palestine
conflict as well as help us understand Israeli interests as it pertains to
neighbors Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. Even though we did a lot the week
before, I definitely learned the most during the north extension.
Our first stop in Nazareth was the Basilica of the
Annunciation. It was here that the Angel Gabriel descended from heaven to tell
Mary that she was to carry and give birth to Jesus. The church was built over the cave that Mary
supposedly lived in, and many of the ruins from the time of Jesus are still
intact and on display. There are also murals present throughout the church that
are sent from countries around the world to portray Mary and Jesus. It was a
very moving experience.
After the basilica our guide treated us to Kanaffee, a
Middle Eastern dessert, and Haim treated us to Ice Coffee. We were happy
campers.
We re-boarded the bus to go to our next spot – the Sea of
Galilee and the town of Capernaum. This is known as “Jesus’s Town” for it is
here that Jesus began preaching. Our guide explained why it was a good region
to begin preaching – it was located on the border of the Jewish rule and Pagan rule
and offered quick escape from persecution. The city also was located on the
part of the lake with the most springs, so it had a dense population of
fishermen. In Capernaum we saw the site of the synagogue where Jesus first
began to preach, Peter’s house and the first church, and inscriptions of the
family name of some of Jesus’s first followers. We also all had the chance to
touch the water, although no one was able to walk on it 😉
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| Sea of Galilee |
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| Remains of the synagogue where Jesus began preaching |
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| Peter's House |
Our next stop was the Jordan River to go rafting! It was a
blast. There weren’t many rapids, so we didn’t have a guide in our boat, and
instead it was a leisurely paddle down 4 km of river. Our group filled 5 rafts,
so there were many splash wars, and even a few pirate takeovers and kidnappings
of members of other boats into ours. We were being very silly, and we were
having a lot of fun.
After the river we began our final bus journey of the day to
the Golan Heights where we checked into the Kibbutz Merom Golan. A Kibbutz is a
self-contained community that has some socialist principals. They work and eat
as a cooperative, yet they are known as being the best places for educating
your kids in the country. The Kibbutz that we stayed at was built into the crater
of a volcano, which is convenient because it protects the community from any
artillery from hostile neighbors such as Syria to the north. The Golan Heights
as a region has a very complex political background, but from an Israeli
perspective it has been a part of Israel since winning the land during the 6-day
war in the late 1960s and it has been fully annexed by Israel (unlike Gaza or
the West Bank). The border and the volcano are both not active right now, so we
were safe and had the chance to leisurely explore the beautiful lands. The Golan
Heights has amazing geography. It has fertile volcanic soil, many natural water
sources and rolling hills. This combination has led to a robust agriculture
industry (including wine) and a strong livestock industry as well. I was struck
by how similar the region felt to Texas, and it was confirmed by all of the
cowboy paraphernalia at the restaurant and in the reception area. During our
time to explore before dinner I met a very nice member of the community that
showed us around – he pointed out the coffee shop on the top of the mountain,
led us to a cherry tree, and suggested a couple of spots to visit. He also let
us pet his adorable dogs Guinness and Lucy. I climbed the cherry tree to pick
the fruit and enjoyed some of the best cherries I’ve ever tasted. Afterwards I
continued exploring and happened upon the barn where the horses were roaming. I
leaned against the fence watching and was incredibly pleased when 4 different
horses came over to say hello and let me pet them. I also loved watching the
sheep dogs jumping in and out of the arena trying to herd the horses. After a
while I had to leave to prepare for dinner, but it was a joy to get to connect
with them.
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| Pups at the Kibbutz |
Dinner was phenomenal. We had super fresh salads, and really
good meats that included slices of medium rare steak. I was a happy human. I
would absolutely love to return to this place one day.
Our tour guide, being the awesome man that he is, set up
some chairs so that he could teach us about Golan Heights and Syria and other
geopolitical issues in Israel after dinner. He kept his talk to 25 minutes,
then opened the floor for questions. I would need to type forever if I recalled
all of the facts he shared, but I’ll settle for recording my sentiment – I was
grateful he took the time to teach us and felt that I left with a much clearer
understanding of the middle east than I had before. After the lecture I
retreated back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep, since I was running on
around 4.5 hours from the night before.
Day 11 of travel: Final day in Israel - an adventure to the Syrian border
I woke up early to get a couple miles in before breakfast at
the dining hall. Although not anymore, the dining hall used to be the center
point of the Kibbutz communities, because it was a meeting place for everyone
and allowed everyone to share meals (and pool the work!). During the morning we
also learned that some of the first Kibbutz even had children’s homes so that
both parents could work. The children only spent from 4-8 p.m. with their
parents, but the rest of the time was spent in community with the other kids of
the Kibbutz.
Our first activity was to go up to the coffee shop at the
top of the mountain to overlook the Golan Heights and get our first glimpse of
the Syrian border. I must admit, it was rather thrilling to get to look into
Syria, as it’s a country that I will probably never get to travel to due to the
danger and conflict. Our guide told us a lot about the history of the conflict
within Syria and Israel’s position, and he also explained why UN forces were
stationed on the border (to count the weapons!). After the talk we got to
explore an old army bunker, which was reallllly cool.
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| Artwork at the UN bunker on top of the mountain |
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| War bunker on the Syrian border |
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| Border behind me! |
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| North extension group photo |
After the visit to the overlook we headed back down the
mountain and to the ATV garage. We then loaded 4 to an ATV and set off on a
tour of the land surrounding the Kibbutz and towards the border. We stopped at
an old Syrian intelligence post that was destroyed during the war (and hasn’t
been occupied since then) and went to the roof to learn more about the
different factions within the country and the conflict. Our guide also gave us
bubbles to blow towards the border with prayers and love for the civilians who
are caught in the conflict.
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| ATVing |
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| Old Syrian intelligence post in Golan Heights |
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| Sending wishes of peace and healing |
We rode the ATVs back into the Kibbutz then enjoyed a Druze
picnic lunch under the trees (Druze are a group that shares a common heritage
with Islam that still live in the Golan Heights after Israel annexed it). The
food was very similar to Israeli food with just a couple additions like a thin
pancake stuffed with cheese.
Our next activity was to visit a winery and taste the
different wines from the region. We learned what made a wine kosher and how the
volcanic rock creates good soil conditions for grapes. We also got to try a
cherry liquor, which basically is a wine made from cherries, but it can’t be
called wine because it’s not made from grapes. At this point I was feeling
super exhausted and was ready to get on the bus and back to Tel Aviv.
We took the bus from Golan Heights 2 hours to Haifa where we
stopped to see the Bahai gardens and learn about the Bahai religion. I was
starting to worry that I might miss my flight with the security at the Tel Aviv
airport, so from here I took a taxi to the train station and trained straight
to the airport so as to avoid any possible traffic that would delay the bus.
Luckily security went smoothly, and I had a little time before departing so I
brought in 9 of my travel mates who were also flying out to the lounge for some
snacks and final goodbyes. My flight was very short because I was just going to
Cyprus, and I landed in Lanarca at 11:45 p.m. Frustratingly the border patrol
was long, but my hotel was only a 10 euro and 10-minute drive from the airport,
so I was in bed and asleep by 1:30.
