Holy Land and Back again
A fresh start indeed. Let me bring you up to speed. Two weeks ago I was in the holy land (Israel) and I had an amazing experience. The people were great and so was the scenery; being of legal drinking age wasn't bad either. People who came with me included Jeremy, Ben, Matt R. and Kate. Our itinerary consisted of spending 4 days on a Kibbutz (small commune), a night and day in the desert in a Bedouin (a nomadic tribe)tent and the other 4 days at the Regency Hotel in Jerusalem.
The kibbutz was cool, I thouroughly enjoyed the bar at night. This is where my group (bus group) forged into the wonder that was Bus 48fun (we were the four-eighty-funners). We saw Ceaserea (King Herod's beach castle) and we took a Jeep tour of the Golan Heights, both stunning experiences in their own right.
I had the pleasure of riding a camel and smashing my fairly innebriated face into some sand in the desert (entirely seperately) at the Bedouin encampment-they make great coffee. After spending a night in a massive tent we headed out for what would be one of the most memorable days in our itinerary: Massada and the Dead Sea.
Massada was breathtaking in its cleverness and panoramic view, if it wasn't so historically valuable it would be a great place for Yani to play. Nothing could prepare me for the Dead Sea; a turquoise teardrop of the saltiest water at the lowest land on Earth. Our orientation leaders (two spunky Israeli women living in Cleveland) had the foresight to give each of us an disposable underwater camera. As much fun as floating was (it hurt my skin ALOT) it couldn't even compare to the mud. I covered myself (with help) head to toe including my hair. The sulfur shower to remove it was a bit of a shock though.
Then we were in Jerusalem. I love Jerusalem. I have never before seen a place so full of history and present day action and beauty. Jess Mauer (of Jess Mauer's Israel Blog) came and chilled with us for two days, she's currently in Israel for a year with Ozma .
After a few days of Jerusalem, we were ready for the Mega Event (catcy name right?), an enourmous party where all the Jewish kids from all over the world (about 5,000 total) got together in one giant concert hall/dancefloor with Israeli house music (which I am now infatuated with) thumping and video screens spaztically flashing. It was amazing.
I have never seen so many Jewish kids in my life! There were groups from Chile, India, France, Russia, and Argentina to name a few. Not to mention the Israeli soldiers who were split up about 5 to a bus (40ish kids per bus). Each bus also had an armed guard/medic, ours (named Alone which means Oak Tree) will be meeting up with us in California for spring break and is awesome.
Tel Aviv was a lot like San Francisco near China Town, except more beautiful, every building is white (hence the White City). I got a sweet sweatshirt custom made on the street for a few shekels. Additionally I got to see some of my friends from Contra Costa Midrasha who are on Yearcourse right now.
I saw the Wailing Wall, I stayed in Jerusalem, I realized that I know a lot of people who live on the other side of the world in a country as big as New Jersey, which is where I went next.
After a day of recouperation, I headded into New York City to meet up with my cousin Oded. We spent thr day walking around the city and the Museum of Natural History (which was great). I met some other cousins of mine (and his naturally) and got a chance to see my great Aunt Carol. Then it was back to Jersey to meet up with the missing roommate Matt Stokes and return to campus.
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