The Beginning of Our Journey

Day 1
Walking into a JFK airport those on Birthright saw many faces, some familiar, most new, but all to be future friends formed on this enriching trip through Israel. These future friends came from all over the country, with many from the Tri-state and the Chicago area. As we waited for what seemed like forever in the airport, we slowly began to get closer as a group and learn more and more about each other. 

As we were led out of the airport to the buses we were inundated with our first tastes of our new home for the next 10 days. 

From the airport, we traveled north from the Tel Aviv airport to the kibbutz of Afiq. Exhausted, ready to shower, and excited for our trip we finally unloaded off of the bus to our new homes for the next couple of days. 

Our first full day in Israel gave us a real taste for what to expect for the coming trip. We met the Israelis who would be with us for the entire 10 days, and embarked on our way to the Golan Heights. Once there,  we embarked on a three hour hike to a water hole where we got the chance to swim. Along the way, we climbed through the arid terrain. I can't ever remember air conditioning having felt better than it did following that hike. After a quick excursion to Mt. Bental to check out the view of the surrounding countryside and the Syrian border, we came to better understand the conflict from our Israeli tour guide, Maya.
From this vantage point, we slowly wound down the mountain to a small village where we got our first taste of Israeli food. Some got Shwarma others got falafel, all loved it. 

After being insanely full, we all got back on the bus and headed to the Jordan River where we lazily drifted down the river's current for a while and all got some nice color. 
Friday after all is Shabbat, and in light of the holiday we did some celebrations as a group. To make bring in the weekend, the guys of the trip followed a Shorashim tradition and each chose a girl to present a rose to. Everyone dressed to the nines, we had an unreal time and bonded together in the evening as a group. 

Day 2
The second day started off quite interestingly. We underwent an exercise to understand the amidah. While at the end of the day, this exercise ended with us understanding the value of community and prayer. Many of us dubbed the process as the start of pledge education. Pledgemaster Audrey had us do over 70 iterations of the same hand gestures to understand the amidah. Safe to say, this morning was one few of us will ever forget. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the amenities of the kibbutz, including the pool and the lookout over the Kinneret. The evening was spent doing a ceremony to end Shabbat and then we all went to a town for dinner.