On the morning of the 24th, we left our home away from home at the kibbutz. Eager for the day, we loaded into the bus and as we weaved through the hills, we said our goodbyes to the Sea of Galilee and Golan Heights. In classic Birthright style, our day was scheduled squeezing in as much as possible. Our first stop was at Haifa, the sister city of Boston, and home for many of our Israeli friends. We went to a high school where we collaborated with the students.
Everyone seemed lighter, friendlier, and excited for the next part of our adventure. We may have only spent one day in Tel Aviv, but the beauty and exhilaration of the city was like an exotic perfume that lingers in your hair and on your skin.
We walked to the largest shuk, or open market, in Tel Aviv, Shuk H'Carmel and it was incredible! There were merchants shouting out their prices and boasting the superiority of their products. We were offered "special" prices everywhere we went because we were on Birthright but our Israeli friends and our staff made sure we were getting the best deals possible!
Experiencing the local cuisine and atmosphere are my favorite ways of appreciating a different culture, and I'm looking forward to all the delicious tastes Jerusalem has to offer.
I met Brandon, Ben, and a few others. As more people showed up I learned more names. I introduced myself so many times that I forgot what I said to whom. After putzing around the airport for a few hours we finally got on the plane at 5:30, took off at 6pm.
We were greeted at the airport by our Israeli counterparts who were excited to join us on our Birthright trip. Eylen (our "tour guide") didn't waste anytime. He immediately had us stand in a big circle, in the middle of the airport, with our arms around each other screaming "Achim Achim Simcha Simcha" which means "Brothers Brothers Hapinness Happiness".
We escape the museum to see Israel under the glittering sun
To remind us that we’ll always have this home now that the war is done
The night ended with quiet reflection as we looked up at the stars high above the desert. As we dozed off in our big tent, we were exhausted from another action-packed day but excited for new adventures still to come.
A guide led us through the exhibits, and a lot of us watched the videos from survivors of the Holocaust. We each reacted to the experience in a different way, but we all thought it was incredibly powerful.
The last two days were extremely meaningful to many people in the group including myself. Our second day in Tel Aviv consisted of a visit to Independence Hall and a view of the exact room Israel was declared a state in 1948. A lot of emotions came with this tour of Independence Hall because so much went into the declaration of this state and also our speaker was very informative of the event. I can say on behalf of the group we all left feeling very proud and glad to be Jewish, leaving with the goal of making a positive influence over our peers.