Shalom from Israel! After a long eleven hour plane ride, cohort two is safe and sound at Shefayim Kibbutz Hotel. Our travels began when we arrived at the airport yesterday. We completed all airport proto-call and boarded our plane to JFK international airport. At the terminal, we came across birthright trip who accompanied us on our plane ride to Tel Aviv. To no one’s surprise, Zeesha and Steve were the only two who got a significant amount of sleep on the plane. Everyone else’s plane ride consisted of card games, summer reading, tabloid magazines, Ipods, and eating whatever snacks we could find. We were all anxious to get off of the plane at around 1 pm Israel time. We collected our luggage, went through customs, exchanged currency, and sat down for sandwiches in the airport. I discovered my new favorite drink, frozen coffee. Everyone here is extremely friendly. It’s comforting that most of the population speaks English. When our group comes across someone who doesn’t speak English, we are quick to call over Orly or Asher to translate. After lunch, we boarded the bus and met our tour guide, Hilik. Hilik is awesome! He learned all of our names in a matter of twenty minutes. On the bus, Hilik prepared us to go to the Caesaria ruins. In all honesty, our group did not have the most positive attitude going into the ruins, but the scenic Mediterian Sea and thousand year-old buildings settled any negative preconceptions. Hilik made the stories come to life as he told the ruin stories from a teenage boy’s point of view. The thirteen year old boy faced the challenge of living a Jewish life in an integrated neighborhood. We then explored the ruins for a little while longer. Asher was asked to preform part of his monologue on the ancient ruin stage. Zeesha, Asher, Jeremy, Noah, and Hilik raced around the track where the gladiator battles once took place hundreds of years ago. Zeesha wiped out while trying to turn, but he fortunately sprang up quickly and finished the race. At the end of the tour, we hopped back on the bus and got our room assignments. After freshening up in the rooms for a bit, we met up for an eclectic buffet dinner, featuring tasty homemade(?) ketchup as well as a variety of delicious desserts (the highlight being a cappacucino pudding cake). For Ma’gal, we met on a lawn outside our rooms and reflected upon our days’ activities, as well as playing a laughter-inducing game led by the junior counselors. The night concluded with a small game of Frisbee in the dark, and a group game of cards. So far, Israel is amazing, and we are all looking forward to tomorrow.
Challah at ya later
Emily Gorby and Noah Gupp
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