Blogs from Be'er Sheva, South District, Israel, Middle East
July 18th 2011
The other day we went on an underground tunnel tour beneath western wall. It was very interesting to do. The tuneless were discovered by one of the first biblical archeologist Charles Warren. I was shocked to see that the western wall was mostly under ground. My two favorite parts were the spot were you could see the two rocks Charles Warren removed when he tried to escape when he trapped in the Tunnels. my other was the spot were people pray above people were praying underground below . We saw how big the rocks used to make the wall and they were huge! It was like 100 feet wide! Crazy hu?!? The other day we went to the north of Israel here are some of the things we did while we were there. First was Gomla ... read more
July 18th 2011
Last week we went to Bethlehem. We had a nice tour guide named Yamen who showed us the separation wall. The wall was covered in political graffiti and has many words of peace and power. I spray painted a peace sign a heart and my name on the wall with all the other graffiti. Yamen brought a bag filled with marbles and balloons and together we handed them out to the kids in the Aida refugee camp. Yamen showed us how the West Bank is broken up into three zones area a, b and c. Area a is controlled by the Palestinians, area b is shared control between the Palestinians and the Israels and area c is controlled by the Israelis. Then we went to the church of the nativity were we saw a Catholic ... read more
A Crazy Trip, A Great Play and a little country
Published: June 27th 2011Middle East » Israel » South District » Be'er Sheva
June 27th 2011
Today we went to Mini Israel. It was like going into a miniature world. Mini Israel is a model of the whole country of Israel made very little. It has little cars, trucks and people. It is the big-est model of its kind covering many acres. We all had a great time seeing all the places we had gone to, in miniature! At ten o clock last night last Tuesday, dad drove us through the Negev desert to Eilot (about 3 hours from Be'er Sheva). We were on our way for a 24 hour trip to Cairo, Egypt!We went straight to the Taba border crossing and waited for our tour group... but nobody was showing up. Finally our tour operator came at 3 o clock am and took us to through Israeli customs. Then we had ... read more
June 27th 2011
Last week we went to mini Israel. It is basically what it sounds like - a miniature version of Israel. You could find most of the basic landmarks such as the skyscrapers in Tel Aviv to the underwater observatory in Eliat. In fact, it was altogether like walking through a giant 3d map of Israel. The day after that we went to see the oldest arched city gate in the world. It belonged to the city of Ashkeon which means shekel (Israeli money). It was a very rich city in it's time and it was really cool to see it. The arch was almost in perfect condition which really gave one a feeling of what it must have been like to live back then. The city was very close to a wonderful beach were we spent ... read more
A Hut, A Holiday and Hamlet
Published: June 7th 2011Middle East » Israel » South District » Be'er Sheva
June 7th 2011
The other day my family and I went to the Ben-grunion hut. It is where the first prime minister of Israel, David Ben-grunion, retired to. The prime minister of Israel is almost like the president for us. So even though he was like the Israeli version of George Washington, Ben-Grunion retired to a humble house in the middle of the desert. Wow! David Ben-Grunion's dream was to see (or make, in his case) the Negev desert bloom. Even though it has not totally happened yet, the Negev is one of the most settled desert places in the world! A holiday where bonfires are made. Cats beware! There have been “Incidents” in the past that I am forbidden to speak of. (It has to do with cats). Lag Bo'omer is a Jewish holiday with the the Sephardic ... read more
A trip to Ben Gurion's Hut and more!
Published: June 7th 2011Middle East » Israel » South District » Be'er Sheva
June 7th 2011
Not long ago I went to Ben Gurion's hut on Kibbutz Sde Boker. This was the house he lived in after he retired from politics. It was very small and modest. The house was left exactly as it was the day that he died in 1973. It was very moving to see that a person of such high importance would choose to live so humbly after serving as Israel's first Prime Minister. He was greatly loved and respected by many people in the country, and played an important role in the creation of the country. The airport and the university in Be'er Sheva are both named after him. We were home in Be'er Sheva the evening of a holiday called Lag Bo'Omer. Its a holiday that comes from the Sephardi (Jewish people who come from the ... read more
April 30th 2011
Today, I went to the camel ranch by Mamshit where our family got to ride in a camel caravan. Our camel was very nice. Her name meant love. She was tall and had a big hump. All the camels at the camel ranch that people ride are girls (because the boy camels are more aggressive). Camels are much gentler than people say they are. We got to ride on the actual spice route that people would have taken thousands of years ago. We all really enjoyed riding the camels and we got to learn a lot about them, too. We learned that camels have one baby at at time. Camels do not have hooves - they have a two-toed foot and footpads. Lastly, some people think that camels carry water in their hump...but this is a ... read more
Along the Spice Route...on a Camel
Published: May 3rd 2011Middle East » Israel » South District » Be'er Sheva
April 30th 2011
The other day we went camel riding by Memphis (Mamshit) on the spice route. It was very fun, but a bit scary because our camel was super big. One of the first things I noticed - once I had come closer to my camel - was that her nose was oddly shaped. I learned it was to keep sand in dust storms from blowing in. The ride was very enjoyable - even though our camel had some minor hygiene issues. I have decided people should invent camel mints for minty fresh camel breath! What?!? They make doggy mints! Who's laughing now, huh? So anyway, we actually really got to spend time with our camel. We learned her name means long life in Arabic. We had a lot of fun riding camels, but I could not feel ... read more
Haifa and Theatre Festivals
Published: April 26th 2011Middle East » Israel » South District » Be'er Sheva
April 25th 2011
This last week, we went to the Baha'i Gardens in Haifa. People who are from all over come to see it. It is built on all sorts of tiers, on a steep green hill. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. In the center of the hill, is the golden domed shrine. The shrine is dedicated to the first Baha'i prophet. He is Sayyid Ali Muhammad (the Bab). We also went to prehistoric caves on Mount Carmel. They are located at Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve. The caves go back as far as 200,000 years ago. One cave, used to be the home of Neanderthals. Another cave used to be a coral reef, and you could see the indentations of shells and rocks in it. The caves looked straight out of a movie, and they were amazing to see. ... read more
Hikes, Museums and Theatre
Published: April 15th 2011Middle East » Israel » South District » Be'er Sheva
April 15th 2011
We did many incredible and far beyond amazing things this week. At the beginning of the week, we hiked to the Zohar Stronghold by the Dead Sea. It was an almost straight down hike. At first, it was raining a little, so we half slid down. We had lunch and then explored the Stronghold - which has walls made out of stones. We then climbed back up in the sweltering heat. Later in the week, we hiked to two places. First,we hiked to a petrified forest. There were huge fallen old trees that looked like rock! There was rainbow colored sand. Then, we hiked the Small Crater in the Negev desert. It is called the ha-Makhtesh ha-Katan. The view was stunning! You could actually see where the crater's edges were! One evening, we went to a ... read more
