After a long day last Tuesday/Wednesday, we arrived at Ben Gurion safely and a little bit ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, we lost that time waiting for our baggage due to the strike (not the last time we will encounter the effects of the strike I'm sure). Our wonderful madricha, Shirel, met us at the airport, and we then went to the tayelet (promenade) overlooking Jerusalem. We made a kiddush there and said shehecheyanu on our arrival as a group in Jerusalem. After that, we went to our hotel, at Ramat Rachel (a kibbutz in Jerusalem). To give an idea of how intertwined the city is, we are in a Jewish area, but overlooking Bethlehem, Tzur Baher (an Arab villge), and Har Homa (a new Jewish neighborhood). The hotel is nice, and the grounds have many gardens
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