By; Talia Levin
This past week we all slept in the desert together for three nights. What did this look like? How did we manage this?
To start, none of us knew what we were getting ourselves into. The day started with a hike up a mountain to look at the neighboring countries and the beautiful views. We all were lending each other a hand and wondering out loud how much longer we needed to walk. As we headed back to our campsite, the sun was setting and the skies lit up with the most incredible colors. Between mixing up duffel bags and laughing at the foreign concept of sleeping without a tent, we managed to fit all our sleeping bags next to one another. Dinner was a loud affair filled with delicious warm cooked food and sighs of contentment. We then all piled around the campfire to make “Israeli S’mores” since they don’t have graham crackers in the holy land. The next morning we all awoke at 4:45 am to begin our first real hike.
For the next three days time seemed to blend together. Each morning we woke up at the crack of dawn, hiked in incredible rock formations, ate breakfast on our hike, and then finished around 10 am. The days were filled with trips to the famous ice mall, incredible beaches, and snorkeling. Some of our favorite moments included discovering “desert dip”, which is zaatar and olive oil, watching the sunrise, and sleeping together under the explosive stars. As we left the desert on day 4, we all felt a new bond settle around us. We had gone through a completely new experience together and can’t wait to find out what comes next.
