By Becca Segal, NFTY in Israel Participant, Bus 1
NFTY in Israel bus one arrived in Israel at 3pm. We boarded the bus and drove to an overlook where we could see the city of Haifa. We tried Israeli oranges and got to know one another better. Extremely tired we returned to our hotel, set down our bags, and went to dinner. After dinner, our group participated in bonding activities as we began to prepare for the coming days.
Our first real day in Israel we woke up early and enjoyed Israeli salads and plenty of granola for breakfast. We began the day at a park where we worked on our orientation of the country and familiarizing ourselves with important Israeli location such as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Mediterranean Sea, and a collection of others. We were all incredibly excited to explore and play on a playground nearby. After the park we headed to an archaeological sight to explore an ancient underground pageant city. Using our pickaxes and buckets we found ceramics, bones, and lots of rocks. Everything we found was collected by the staff at the location and it will be used to gather more of an understanding of what life was like in the underground city.
We then traveled to Tel Gezer. Tel Gezer is conveniently located between Jerusalem and the ocean and the view was incredible. We discussed the origin of Judaism as we began the Jewish history of Israel. Jonathan taught us about Abraham’s life and how he served as the father of Judaism. We visited a baby alter, an alter that would continue to reinforce Abraham’s commitment to monotheism. Finally, we returned to the hotel dirty and tired. After dinner, we began discussing our coming journey: a four day trek through the desert.
Early the next morning we left the hotel with our bags full of water and hiking shoes. We drove a few hours to southern Israel and met our tour guide at the sight of Ben Gurion’s grave. We learned about his life and the way he lead Israel to the independent nation it is. We then went on our to the bus to drive down and to eat pizza in the desert! Everyone is tired but incredibly excited for the next four days. The complete lack of showers and toilets is absolutely going to be a new experience but hopefully, baby wipes will get us through it all. I’m very excited to sleep under the stars every night and explore more of the Israeli landscape.
