The last 24 hrs...

The stunning view we woke up to from the shady last hotel in Tel Aviv.




We went to independence hall which is where in 1948 Israel was declared a state. This scary image of Ben Gurion is most burned into my brain.



But this is where the magic happened.



One of the five rooms of the interactive Olympic Museum in Tel Aviv. None of us have any idea why we went there. But it was pretty damn cool.



Lisa and I with Assaf.



The last Birthright photo I took before Lisa and I separated from the group and joined up with family in Tel Aviv. We had such a wonderful group of people! We feel so honored to have been part of the experience and look forward to keeping in touch with many!

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Hodgepodge...

Most likely, if you are my mom, you've noticed that it's been a few days since I updated last. And Lisa is not happy about it. Here a quick summary of the last few days of birthright:

Zfat - a town of mysticism and the birthplace of Kabbalah. We visited a few temples and wandered the old streets. There was also some great shopping there...



Lisa standing at the start of the narrowest street in Israel.




Never have I ever seen any wash u merchandise anywhere but at the wash u store... Guess Zfat, Israel knows where the American Jews are...



Noah's Ark made out of candle wax! Look at how realistic it's occupants are!

Then it was time for a mud hike... up to this point each hike had just been a baby hike, so I hadn't thought to take them seriously to dress for a hike. And this one was no different, until we got to the mud. My poor shoes still have not recovered. The hike, however, was really beautiful and went along the Dan river.

Later we went to a winery to learn how kosher wine is made (except for the blessings I think it's pretty much the same as other wine...) we did get to watch a video where we were warned of what would happen in the case of premature fermentation...


Israeli wine storage room.



Vineyards pretty much look the same in the winter everywhere.

The next day we went to the Golan Heights which are about as far north as you can get in Israel and on the border of Syria and Lebanon. It was COLD and windy. Lisa was about the only one in the group who dressed appropriately. We learned a lot about how Israel claimed the territory and got a view of the border with Syria.



A little aid to get your bearings.




Lisa engaging in combat before we ran to the bunker to seek some shelter from the cold.




Our group in the trenches listening to Assaf explain how these borders came to be.

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Sababa...

...Hebrew for "it's cool," and a catchphrase we've all picked up here. Here's a bit of a hodgepodge of some of the "sababa" things we've been up to the past few days... First up, Neot Kedumim, "where men, nature and history meet." Our guide there was not please with the group as he tried to lead us through a natural retelling of the Torah, where we ended by planting acorns we had found along the trail (not as easy to spot as you'd think), he kept yelling us we needed to be much more hurrier...


...somehow Lisa and Amanda ended up having fun despite the need for more hurry. Then we've had our fair share of hours spent on the bus. Good thing we have our handsome and witty guide Assaf to orchestrate some games. This one was Jeopardy.


Next up... CAMEL RIDES!!!


My artsy shot of another key word of the trip... Camel toe...


Lisa and I enjoying a nice little loop on the camel. Only a big camel hump separated us. We had to be careful around the camels though, as they've been known to bite...


Getting off isn't quite as nice, ask Sam (pictured here in the front). Next it was off to the Bedoin tents for a night. While sleeping in a cold dirty tent in used sleeping bags with 45 others is HARDLY my idea of a good time (and is Lisa's personal version of hell), I got through it...


... Rough conditions. We DID however get a chance to play one of my favorite games... BIG BOOTY!


Me, Lisa, Sam, and Amanda on a hike through En Gedi. The body of water behind us is the Dead Sea.


The "beach" at the Dead Sea, which is 33% salt (the ocean is 4% salt...) The salt deposits make the shoreline white and SHARP, not foam... We were there on a windy day so it was a tad dangerous and cold. Lisa and I along with our new friend Allison decided not to go in. (Lisa and I DID go in when we were here 15 years ago so we didn't feel that bad about it.) after everyone came back badly cut, we patted ourselves on the back for making good decisions. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Geniuses, geniuses...

Unless you are on our particular birthright trip, the title of this post will mean nothing to you, but it's been the phrase of the trip and the way our fearless leader, tour guide Assaf, addresses our group. Variations include, "fucking geniuses," "ladies and geniuses," and "geniuses and gentlemen." Turns out, it's a great way to get a groups attention- when there are tons of other birthright groups in an area, we know we are the ones being summoned! Assaf has been a wonderful part of the trip. His funny one-liners and gripping stories have brought much of Israel's history to life. Yesterday we went to Masada, an important historic site where over 900 Jews (the total population of the fortress) killed themselves rather than be taken as slaves and prostitutes to the Romans. We hiked up to the site before sunrise to watch the sun come up over the little town on a hill and then the fun began. At this point I still wasn't sure of the significance of Masada. Then Assaf lead us to a platform and told us he had something to help us understand what happened there but he had to go grab it at another site. He ran off saying he'd be back in five and then...


...he appeared in the above! Fully dressed as a Roman, who told the complete tale. It was hysterical, it was informative, bur most of all, it reaffirmed how glad we are to have such a fun and engaging guide! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

In all seriousness...

We had two pretty serious days here in Jerusalem. First we set out for the Kotel (the western/wailing wall) where we got the opportunity to write notes to God and have personal moments of reflection and prayer. The Kotel is considered the most holy place for Jews because it is "the remains if the outer wall of what was once the Temple Mount; a site of pilgrimage and emotional and traditional meaning for Jews worldwide."


Lisa and I in front of the wall.


Lisa writing her prayers.


My note in it's crevice in the wall (the purple-ish one). Then we went to Mt Herzl. This is where the greatest Israeli leaders and military personnel are laid to rest.


Lisa laying a stone on Theodor Herzl's (the father of modern Zionism) grave. In Judaism it is customary to lay rocks on a grave rather than flowers. I'm not an expert on why but I think it has something to do with helping to bury that person.


Rows and rows of military graves. What is unique here is that soldiers and officers are buried side by side regardless of rank because each has offered the same and biggest sacrifice to their country. The following day we went to Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, which is the most visited site in Israel. It is an impressively laid out building that has much meaning in it's construction and design. It is a triangular cement hallway that gets narrower as you go through (to represent the lessening of freedoms during the holocaust) and rooms with different bits of history, documents, and accounts of the ghettos and camps on either side. It is impossible to move straight through the museum, so every visitor winds through and has exposure to each room before exiting.


Lisa and I overlooking the view from the museum. (no pictures allowed inside...)


The ceiling from the outside looking in. Before even going in, however, we were lucky enough to hear firsthand an account of the holocaust from a survivor. She wasn't even 4 years old when her mother and brothers were taken to the camps and had a fascinating story of survival from parent figure to parent figure, the ghetto to the camps and ultimately, at the age of nine, a rescue and series of events that lead her to adoption in the US where she lead a typical rest of childhood and then adulthood. She moved to Israel in the 1980s. She spoke candidly from both memory and research and we were all moved. It really made me reflect on the word "lucky" and how relative it's meaning can be. We all also feel honored to have been able to hear such a firsthand account as holocaust survivors are becoming a more and more rare group. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Night of fun before the day of rest...

For our nighttime Shabbat program we had a few fun activities planned. First we had a fun secret Santa-like gift exchange where we'd each drawn another birthrighters name and bought them a little gift at the market yesterday for 15 shekels (about $3) or less. I bought a a purple kippa for our new friend Jordan who has a lot in common with Lisa as he was a theater major at Northwestern. I received a really nice leather bracelet with a hamsa charm from another girl in our group, Melissa. It was a lot of fun to see how thoughtful people could be after only knowing each other a few short days. Then we were divided into groups for some activities planned by the Israeli Soldiers we have been with. Our first challenge was to dress someone in our group in an IDF (Israeli Defense Force) uniform - and do it correctly. With all the adornments, this is no easy task.


Lisa wearing Shimrit's (a darling IDF air force soldiers) uniform.


The birthright "soldiers" and Israeli lay people.


Afterwards we had the night off and a morning to sleep in so got a chance to really know each other better in the hotel lobby. (like when I travel with my mom, it seems with Lisa I become the photographer... Looks like you'll be seeing pictures of her and comments by me. Pictured here a Mallory (the elder of the other set of sisters on the trip, from Phoenix) , Lisa, Amanda (one of the funniest people ever), and Keith (Lisa and I can't stop talking about what a darling he is). - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day in the holy land...

I'll post a more serious update later because today was really a somber day for the most part, but since I don't have the time to discuss the Western (wailing) Wall and Mount Herzl Cemetary to do them any justice, I'll post some picture of the "lighter" parts of the day.



We were ravenous and ready to dig into our falafel laffas for lunch at the market in Jerusalem.




Can you believe these strawberries? They taste every bit as good as they look. Israel certainly is fruit-a-plenty!



Yes. It does get cold in the middle east. Lisa had five layers on and still claimed she was chilled to the bone. Other people in our group? Short sleeves or a light sweatshirt.

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The Alpha Day and the o-MEGA EVENT...

I'm in Israel! In case you didn't know, my sister Lisa and I are on a Birthright trip (google it - 10 free days in Israel for Jews age 18-26)!!! We just had to get ourselves to Philadelphia by January 2, the reason for our nice and relaxing pre vacation in New Jersey with Uncle George and Kathy (we've decided every vacation should have a pre vacation).
We flew into Tel Aviv arriving yesterday afternoon and so far it's all been a blur. Everyone is so nice and friendly and we feel like we've done so much and yet soo little already. Today we began with a quick walk around Jaffa (Tel Avivs nearby twin) and then drove into Tel Aviv where we were split off into groups to examine different aspects of the city (we were assigned fashion).



Lisa and I standing in front of Tel Aviv (in case you are bad with geography, that's the Mediterranean Sea...)




Floating orange tree sculpture in Jaffa.



Bits of the fashion we observed at the market.
One of our scavenger hunt assignments was to buy something "designer" for 20 shekel (about $6) and we were encouraged to haggle for it. When our leader Dahlia tried this approach, the shopkeeper gave us an earful and told us she wouldn't sell to stupid Americans. So that didn't go over well...



Lisa in front of a dog park - her favorite thing. Ever.

Then we went on to Jerusalem. We are lucky to be here for a Birthright MEGA EVENT. I capitalize this because it was written as such on our itinerary and was referred to this way by our leaders. We didn't know much except that all the otherBirthright groups (Jewish kids from all over the world) who were currently in israel would be there. We were also warned that security would be tight. And what a scene it was!
At least a few thousand of us were lead into a huge auditorium for performances that included pyrotechnics, speeches including one by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and then a concert by a big Israeli band! Though we were extremely tired (jet lag is not treating Lisa or I well this time 'round), the whole thing was pretty spectacular.



Lisa and I gearing up for the MEGA EVENT.




The full center. We noticed that the Brazilian and Argentinean groups had the most energy and danced pretty much the entire way through.




The PM giving a really motivating speech about why Birthright exists.




And then the party really got started!

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