Israel: High up In The Clouds

Shalom!! My name is Samantha and I'm from one of the coldest and snowiest cities in the states: Syracuse, New York. Our first day on Taglit was pretty amazing. Our first stop was to the biggest waterfall in Israel, Banais. The weather could not have been better and the waterfall was gorgeous. It was a short but steep hike, and plenty of selfies were taken. Once we climbed back up we got to learn about Eli Cohen, one of the most famous and successful Israeli spies. It was amazing to hear how far into the Syrian government he was able to get into. After that we went to Mt. Bental. It was really cool to be looking out into both Syria and Lebanon at the border. What was even more interesting was learning about the long history of differences and conflict between Israel and its neighboring countries. Then we stopped for lunch and a bunch of us got our first Israeli falafel. The falafel here is 100x better than anything I've had in the states. It was also a good chance to talk to the Israelis on the trip and ask them about their life, favorite things to do, and what they like to eat. While this trip has been fun and more will come, it's also really important to learn about the realities of conflict and politics of Israel.

Our last official stop was at an olive oil factory. We got to learn about how olive oil was traditionally made and its relation with Israel and Judaism. At this factory, the leftover product of the olive oil is made into facial creams and lotions which we got to try. The mud-like product felt so good on your face, even though it looked really funny. We also tried many different types of olive oil that was made there with some spices I never tried. I bought some of the lotion we tried and am really excited to use it!

We got back to the Kibbutz unusually early and were able to have some free time. It was nice to unwind and talk about my day with my friend, Beth. Also we were able to catch some Big Bang Theory on tv- which was pretty cool to get it here in Israel! After dinner we had some programming where we got to know people in our group better and played some really fun games including 'Where the wind blows'. I haven't laughed that hard in a while! It was a long day, but a really fun one and I can't wait to embark on the rest of the trip!

Photo credit: @katrielaa (header), @rachelcr