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So here is my second entry and i hope i can type pretty quickly as internet is fairly expensive here.
It has been 10 days since the beginning of birthright and it has ended after 10 amazing days in israel. We literally did almost everything, albeit very shortly, in isreal. I will briefly go over all the highlights of the places i visited and you will have to ask me for the details.
Day 1: Arrival and Caesaria
We arrived after a long 12 hour flight in ben guiron and all of us really just wanted to sleep and hit the showers. However, we were whisked right away up to Caesaria towards northern isreal close to the golan hights. This town is equivalent to Montreal's westmount. Very rich, bigh houses, and they even had a private golf course there. The main tourist attraction however is the ancient harbour used for over 1000 years built by king suleiman. After having a quick tour of the harbour overlooking the mediterranean sea, we were taken even further north to the city of tiberius, close to the sea of gallile (lake kineret in hebrew) where we checked into our hotel, the
shalom plaza.
Day 2-4: Golan Hights
We travelled all around the golan hights. We went to the very borders of isreal overlooking both syria and lebanon. And when I say border, I mean 15 meters away from lebanon. I mean you could look down at the lebanese houses and see the villagers burning stuff, guards patrolling the streets etc. It was very interesting to see as it put things in perspective about how much of a conflict these close borders can pose. Aside from the borders we also met up with a very famous artist (metal sculptor) in these areas named jung de jong. His artwork was very interesting to see and I thought that all the pieces were very creative. Furthermore, since he worked in a kibbutz, it gave us a chance to see what kibbutz life is like. Needless to say, i'm glad that I didn't choose to volunteer on a kibbutz because if i had to work in these regions i would be thouroughly depressed.
We got a chance to go to the yarden wine company which manufactures kosher wines of the highest quality. We had a very nice tour of the factory and
actually got to sample some of their wines which were very delicious. During one of the nights we hooked up with another birthright group and partied on a cruise around Lake Kineret. Other highlights included taking nature and water hikes in this region. After exploring this region for about 3.5 days we headed down to Jerusalem.
Day 4-6: Jerusalem
We arrived in Jerusalem and was thrown right into the ben Mahane market as people were rushing to get ready for shabbat. It was a huge frenzy with so many people walking around. It was a site truly to behold. The organized chaos of the marketplace was undescribable. And as quickly as everyone was walking around, all the stores closed and everyone dispersed. Again quite a site to behold.
From there we head to the sheraton hotel's Kedem Towers where we would be spending the next couple of days and nights. It was also here that a group of 8 soldiers joined the group to discuss there experience and views of isreal. Mostly though they were there to hang out with us. We showed them the true meaning of being canadian.
That evening we had a group shabbat, as well as a group oneg shabbat which I had never experienced. The Oneg Shabbat is a 'sweet' way to bring in the new week and celebrate the week past. You eat some sugary fruits and candies and share stories and discussions. Very involving.
The following morning we had a day off and i got to sleep-in use the pool the weight room and it was a good and refreshing. That afternoon we met at the park of the nation where it is surrounded by 3 buildings in a triangle. The national bank, Supreme courthouse and parliament as Israel feels that everything should be balanced in terms of money, justice and government. We played soccer in this park as the activity and talked about the conflict of the gaza strip and west bank. That night we went to Ben Yehuda st in jerusalem and i clarify that because there is a ben yehuda street in tel aviv as well. I thought that downtown montreal was busy however it is NOTHING compared to this street. Even late at night this place was literally crawling with people openly drinking in the streets (even straws in whisky) which apparently is very legal here to do. It was kind of weird as I am so accustomed to canadian laws. However it was a blast.
The following day we finally got to explore the old city of david and jerusalem and that included the western wall. We did a waterhike through the old aqueducts of the city in a very long and narrow tunnel, not to mention very dark. There is some history here to discuss but i will do so at a later time as my time on internet is running out. The old city itself was a lot of fun and so full of history that it is almost overwhelming. The highlight of this area in jerusalem was of course the western wall but more so the fact that 4 different cultures/religions can live in harmony in such a small area. From here we headed down south to Massada and the dead sea.
Day 6-8: Massada/Dead Sea/Bedouins/Desert
It is interesting to see that as soon as you leave jerusalem headed south it is vast desert. And I mean absolute desert. North of Jerusalem is very green and could be any city. South Desert.
We reached Massada and stayed in one of the nicest hostels i have ever seen or been in and after some evening activities with the soldiers it was off to bed early as we arose the next morning at 3:45 AM to climb this mountain and see the sunrise behind the jordanian mountains. I managed to climb it in 30 minutes and it was pretty intense. I was literally drenched in sweat.
After a tour of the old city of massada we went to do a nature hike with swimming and we followed that with floating in the dead sea. It burns but it is very relaxing as you use no energy to stay afloat and it is very easy to swim to Jordan across the sea.
After the sea we went to stay at a bedouin tent and we rode camels there, ate a questionable meal of rice and mystery meat (probably beef but we all like to think it was camel meat) and spent the night in a tent.
The following morning we went up north and headed to tel aviv but not before a quick repel down some cliffs and caves.
Day 9-10: Tel Aviv
In Tel Aviv we stayed in a hotel next to the med sea. And here we got to party in tel aviv which is a town based on sexy time! The next morning we went to explore independance hall, yithak rabin square and free time to swim in the sea. The last night we held closing ceremonies in the old city of jaffa and then we went to party as a group. The next morning some of us extended our trips in isreal and others went home.
Which brings me here to this internet cafe in tel aviv. We found another hotel for about 25$ a night. Nothing to fancy but the real trip begins here. I know that I left out many details in this trip but it gives you a sence of how busy and packed the trip really is. I left out our visit to Tzfat, Mount Herzl, Yad Vashem (the holocaust memorial) just to name a few but I may write another post to fill in the blanks.
My plan for now is to stay in tel aviv for the weekend and head down to eilat the following day
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