Israel: It was a Birthright

I took the photo you see above our first day in Israel. We landed at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv at about 3 in the afternoon and immediately hopped a bus to make the 5 hour drive up to the Golan Heights. Note, our group of 35 kids had only met maybe 15 hours earlier.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect from the trip. All I knew going into it was that, a) I don't like group tours, and b) I'd likely be one of the oldest people on the trip.

To my contrary, I ended up being in the mid-age range for the people on the trip. We had a few youngins, 18 and 21, but most of us were between 24 and 26. Worked out quite nicely if you ask me. Like I mentioned earlier, there were 35 of us, from all over the US. Most were from NYC, some from Florida, a few from the LA area and then the rando, from SLC.

The trip started out on a Shabbat weekend in a town called Hispin up in the Golan Heights. If I were the trip organizer, I wouldn't have started it out that way because most of us freaked out when we realiezd there was nothing to do and nothing you could do because of Shabbat. (For those of you that don't know, Shabbat lasts from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and you're not allowed to use electronics of any kind during that period.) So what were we left to do? Drink. Earlier that Friday we were taken to a winery and some very smart people bought bottles of wine which saved us after dinner. It was definitely a good ice breaker to say the least.

So we spent a few days up in the Golan and then headed south to Jerusalem. We toured the Old City and saw the Western Wall. It's amazing the energy you feel at the Wall, even if you don't believe in what it stands for. So many people in one concentrated area feeling so many emotions. It's nuts. They let us run free for a night on Ben Yehuda St. in Jerusalem. We went to a hookah bar and drank some local beer.

From Jerusalem they took us back north up to Tel Aviv for the day to see the Mediterranean Sea and an outdoor market. It wasn't too exciting, but I blame that on the fact that they took us to the wrong part of town. Next time I suppose. From there we travelled south again to Masada. We woke up super early the next morning, 430 am, in hopes of climbing Masada to watch the sun rise, but alas that did not happen. We only left the hotel in time to see the sun rise. As we drove our way to the starting point we crossed path with a group of soldiers marching on the road and we got out to walk with them for a while. It was a pretty cool experience. Sun coming up over the desert, walking with a group of 40+ soldiers carrying automatic weapons.

We climbed Masada, saw some amazing views. Then we went to the Dead Sea. Let me tell you... If you ever want to feel like a human buoy, go swim in the Dead Sea. It's the most awkward feeling ever. The water is so slimy, but fairly warm. You just have to trust the water. So you get in, turn around and lean back. Next thing you know, you're floating through the sea on your way to Jordan. After the Dead Sea they took us to some strange animal refuge nearby where we hiked for a while. The day was rounded out with a solid 3-minute camel ride. That was a weird experience too, but a good one nonetheless.

Our last two nights were spent in Jerusalem, another Shabbat dinner. We went to the Western Wall again for Friday night prayers. The second time around was a different feeling. It was more happy and enlightened than the first time. 

Overall the experience was a really good one. I met 35 unqiue individuals with interesting stories to tell. I spent 5 days with incredible Israeli soldiers. I learned that being a Jew doesn't mean you have to believe in God. And that being a journalist is one of the most awesome jobs I could've picked for myself.