Day One from Bus 181
We arrived at the airport all separately, but all eager to board our flight to Tel Aviv. Once we all got through baggage checks and security, which seemed to take forever, we all gathered in gate B31 for a mini-orientation about our upcoming flight, and our arrival in Israel. The flight had movies, Israeli music, and of course a flight map telling us where we were as we flew halfway across the world. After eleven hours, we finally arrived at Ben Gurion Airport. (Lizzie Haskell)
As we stepped off the plane in a haze, we made our way to Customs. It could only be described as controlled chaos sprinkled with tourists, and it took us an hour to cross the 50 meter platform. Once through, we were greeted with 7 Israeli participants singing, dancing, and cheering as we walked onto Israeli land. With bags collected, we made our way to the center of the airport and proceeded to jump and scream "Achim (brothers), Simchah (joy)". As our voices left us and our energy returned, we boarded the our massive 50 person bus, fully equipped with wifi and comfortable seats. We then proceeded to drive across the desert and finally arrive at the Kibbutz where we would be staying. (Ariel Finberg)
The way to the airport was tough.
It was a 20 minute car ride and it was pretty rough.
Once we got there, all hyped and excited,
With a huge smile on our face, we didn't really fight it.
The smile little by little went away because of the wait,
Like a fisherman waiting for a fish to take the bait.
Then we saw them coming out
And man I swear we welcomed them all with a hell of a shout
They were all stunned and shocked
So we turned down the fuss, grabbed a tuna sandwich and board the magic bus.
(Ely and Yaniv)
Waking up at 7:00am we headed to an elaborate breakfast that the kibbutz provided for us. One hour later we boarded the bus and headed to Mt Arbel for our first hike in Israel! Our first stop on the hike was the gorgeous view of the Sea of Galilee, and a view of Haifa from the top of the mountain. When we were at the top, we had to get down somehow, so we scaled the mountain with ropes and used muscles many of us haven't used in a very long time. Once we got to the middle of the mountain, there was an opportunity to see ruins of an old town. Although it was more hiking uphill and up more stairs, it was definitely worth it for the sights and information about the history. Once we finished hiking, we went to get lunch for the first time.
Many of us ate falafel and Schwarma which was very delicious. After lunch, we made our way to a park. There, we learned about many stories of soldiers in combat, as well as enjoyed the gorgeous view that we could only see at this park. On top of a hill, we saw the border of the Mediterranean and Lebanon, which was breathtaking. We got back to the kibbutz to prepare for Shabbat. Our Shabbat service was beautiful, held outside and filled with many memories. Once the service was over, we had our Oneg, which consisted of guitar playing and getting to know each other games. We concluded the day with lounging out in the kibbutz central area. We're excited to rest up on Shabbat and then continue our trip.
Photo Credits: Header Image-@yaniv_siegel, Image 1-@danifofannii
