Day Two Update

Alarms rang at 7:45 am, as we rolled out of bed, excited for our first Israeli breakfast. We had to fuel up for a physically demanding day that was planned to a tee. Breakfast was provided by our Kibbutz, a community of people who live and work together for the benefit of everyone, including visitors.

We headed to the Zavitan in the Golan Heights for a combination of deserts, cliffs, mountains, and a water oasis, for a very memorable hike. Our Israelie tour guide, Ido provided brief bursts of history lessons and fun facts throughout this three hour adventure. 

We all headed to a small strip mall for lunch, where it was a safe assumption that we ate shawarma or falafel. After lunch, we headed to Bental Mountain which overlooks Syria and Lebanon. Ido taught us the history and significance of these borders and battles fought on them. It was eye opening and moving to hear Ido's first hand experience as he served in the IDF in Lebanon. We were able to walk through an old bunker and experience what the soldiers, such as Ido, experienced.

The next part of our days activity was kayrafting in the Jordan River. For those wondering what kayrafting is, it is white water rafting with 5-6 people, hold the white water and insert the calm Jordan River. Well, what we thought would be a calm journey down this sacred River turned into splashing, boat jumping, capsized rafts, and Israelis mitating pirates.

There was a quick turnaround to the 18 minute window to lite the Shabbat candles. We exchanged Shabbat traditions among the group and we're excited to experience many of our group mates first shabbat's. We shabbated really hard, learning the prayers for wine, challah, and washing of the hands.  We were told that we would be at the kibbutz for the next 25 hours relaxing and enjoying each other's company and the simpler things in life. 

With everyone energized to simply be and live in the moment, we decided to go out at the kibbutz.