Light After Dark
Shalom from the Bedouin tents in the Negev!
Today, we woke up to an impressive breakfast spread, which we enjoyed before rushing off to an experience we were forewarned about, but couldn't have possibly been prepared for. Yad Vashem (Memorial of Names in Hebrew), Israel's national Holocaust museum and most visited site, blew us away.
The visit was a very powerful and emotional experience, and afterwards we all agreed that it was necessary. The museum designers seemed to think of every possible symbol and detail in creating the museum. Everything from the flooring below to the lighting above had important symbolic meaning and made our experience unforgettable. Our guide through Yad Vashem answered every question with extraordinary detail and seemed to have more knowledge to offer than we had time to spend.
After our moving experience at Yad Vashem, we visited a nearby mall, where many of us enjoyed our, first-ever kosher Chinese food for lunch! We also did a bit of shopping, which was nice.
After the mall, we drove for two hours down south to visit Nachal Be'er Sheva, or Be'er Sheva River. We learned that the river is a JNF project and that only a few years ago the river was filled with sewage and trash, making the whole area an undesirable location to live due to the sight and smell. The JNF's intention in cleaning and rebuilding this river is to help beautify and stimulate the area. The project is far from finished, but already we saw flowers, trees, and a beautiful park. Nachal Be'er Sheva will be a must visit within the next few years!
About forty minutes later, we arrived at our Bedouin tents, Chan Hashayarot, to find about 30 camels in the parking lot waiting to greet us and 12 other Birthright busses. We entered the Bedouin camp to find our tent, grabbed a mattress to sleep on for the night, and headed to a wonderful dinner. We sat on pillows on the floor surrounding a gigantic platter of pita, rice, chicken, vegetables, hummus, Israeli salad, and more! It was by far the best meal we have gotten since arriving in Israel.
Following dinner, we were greeted by the Beduoins. We all gathered in a tent where we learned about the Bedouins, their lifestyles, and drank some delicious "welcome" coffee. They even taught us how to grind coffee beans and make a fun beat to clap along to!
We headed back to our tent to enjoy an activity planned by the Israelis on our trip. They explained a game they play at parties, where a present is wrapped in layers of wrapping paper and you pass the present around a circle of people with music playing. When the music stops, the person holding the present must unwrap one layer. The layer can have a "mission", or a game, on it which the person has to complete to continue passing it around the circle! It was so much fun to laugh along and play this game with the group!
We ended the night by walking out in the desert and looking at the stars. Too often in our lives are we surrounded by buildings, lights, etc. that obstruct our view of the night sky. We all appreciated being in the desert for a night where there is dramatically less light pollution. We took a short walk to get away from the light at the Beduoin tents and although there were a couple of clouds in the sky, it was an incredible view and could see so much more than back at home.
If day seven is anything like our first six days, we're in for another treat!
