Today was May’s Birthday!!! YAY! She is 16!!! (Just so you know, a lot of people have birthdays here but I blog about a few that I actively take part in.) So today she woke up and guess what? She is toran today!!! So she has to wake everyone up, clean the dining hall, clean the dorm common room, and take out everyone’s garbage. How much does that suck?? But anyways we all woke up and today we didn’t exactly have Core class. We had a speaker from the David project who showed us a presentation. It was about world anti-Semitism and what we can do to argue and stop it. The slideshow was amazing!! But also very real and scary. It showed colleges in California and all over the USA that have weeks devoted to just proving that Israel is apartheid state. And they have walls, posters, speakers, and fake beatings. It’s horrid! Then we saw a clip of a Palestinian children’s TV show. It was the scariest thing there, for me. It was literally brainwashing children! They had an Arab Mickey mouse talk about filthy Jews who are terrorists and stole their land. It was so wrong! They are brainwashing the children!! So the children will never make peace with us! (Here is a link. The videos are really worth watching. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcmHvczBGqg&feature=PlayList&p=A699DEE54F3D553E&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=27 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrieBhaGgHM ) (The second one is the last episode because world pressure and the UN made them stop the show. Now they have a racist Rabbit!) Plus, we learned about how many people report the truth about Israel however they fail to give context and the big picture, therefore the world is made racist against Israel. For example, there was an article in the New York Times about how Israel stops Palestinian ambulances with dying people inside on their way to the hospital. However the article failed to mention how before 2004 when Israel started doing this, there were hundreds of cases where Arabs smuggled guns and explosives into Israel. Then the explosives were blown up and tons of Israelis were killed. Basically, the speaker was really good and I think we should have that program at our school. After school we (Hanna, Ariela, Sofia, Cassie, May, Naomi, Karen, Adi, and I) went to a restaurant for dinner. It was really nice and yummy!! J And we got her a cake and it was SO GOOD!!! OMG!!! So yummy! Then we came back and I am here writing this. I feel like I end my blogs a lot by saying that…….
Today was so cool!! In the morning we got on the buses and drove to Rechovot to the Weitzman Institute. We were met by a few people who told us we would have three presentations today. One Physics, one Chemistry, and one biomedical. It sounded cool. Plus they told us what the institute does and what opportunities there are for us. Everything there is in English and there is a summer science research opportunity after 12th grade. It sounded really cool!! I wanted to get the website for it but forgot to. Oh well. In two years hopefully I will remember it!
Anyways so I got to go to the Physics presentation first. Basically it was a bunch of experiments and stuff. It was really cool and he explained everything and we learned stuff. Pretty sweet. The parts that stuck out to me was when he showed us the video of David Scott on the moon on Apollo 15 in 1971. He took a feather and hammer and dropped them at the same time. Galileo said about 700 years ago that without air friction they should hit the ground at the same time. And David got to test that. Guess what? Galileo was right! Shocker! So we saw the video and it was cool. (Btw this was the third time I had seen the video. But it’s still cool.) Plus, the dude mentioned Challenger and what happened and why it “exploded”.(its in quotes because it is not the proper technical term) He talked about the rubber and how it didn’t go back to its original state. But he did not mention the O ring, or how it sealed between the rocket booster and oxygen tank, or how it had gotten really cold the night before in Florida, or how it was already two days after the scheduled launch, or how the President was giving his State of the Union Address the next day and wanted to mention the teacher in space. (Her name was Judith B. Resnik) Plus he did not mention how in the investigation they found that three people were alive until they hit the water. Basically, he really skimmed the surface with it and many people felt they did not have the full story. And he mentioned Columbia and how NASA did not learn but that was COMPLETELY 100 % unrelated!! I wanted to punch him. But I did not.
Plus a few cool things we saw were dry ice, liquid nitrogen which froze fruit. Then he smashed it and people ate it. (Not me, it was on the ground) plus he had lots of different gases people inhaled. One was helium which makes your voice very high, and the other made your voice really low. Plus he made sound waves on a plate and showed us the patterns and places where it is still. Using salt! It was so cool! It made patterns on the plate. And he showed us other cool stuff. Then we went to this really cool sculpture garden. It had lots of really neat stuff. A water wheel thing, a gyroscope, a pengilum, and a moon swing. I thought the swing would be really cool but it was just ok. There was a wooden circle thing (like cylinder) and basically a harness attached to a pole really high up. You sat in the harness and swung around the cylinder. And kicked off of it. It was supposed to simulate the one sixth of the moon gravity. Whatever.
Then we had lunch and went to our chemistry presentation. We also saw a bunch of cool experiments there. Plus they drew stuff on the board and wrote a few chemical equations there. So we learned stuff. We saw Hydrogen Peroxide and something else react and it foamed a lot! Plus we then figured out what the products were by burning the bubbles. (to see if there was oxygen) Then we saw a few other things and lastly we got to make our own jello like stuff. It was bright orange and gooey. It kind of reminded me of Mad Science birthday parties we used to have.
Then we had a lecture on Animal Sex. That was the biomedical part. It was weird…..so anyways after that we got back on the buses and went to a Druze village in the Carmel Mountains.
It was so cool!! We got off the buses and looked around and saw a normal village. Much of the writing was in Arabic but the people were dressed normally and it was a nice place. Houses, cars, shops, food!!! We went to someone’s house and he told us about the Druze and his story. He was born in Lebanon, moved to Israel to have a better life, Druze don’t have a country so they are loyal to the place they live in, there are religious and secular Druze, you get the choice five times in your life of whether to become religious or secular, they believe in reincarnation 73 times, people can remember their past life (just one) and then dude told us about his past life. He was walking down the street in Lebanon and he saw a house that he recognized. He went inside and remembered everything! His past name, family, and their names! He then went into his old room and there you have it. That was his life before this one. (I don’t know if I really believe them. But they know names and stuff so maybe they are on to something…) They believe that men are reincarnated into men and women into women and Druze people stay in their religion. You can’t convert to be a Druze, you can marry a Druze but not convert. Then we got to eat their food. OMG AMAZING!! Like the Bedouin tents, the bread was so good! We had lafa, lafa with Zatar, chicken and rice and lots of side dishes. Plus we had tea and cookies at the end. (I still didn’t like the tea. I guess it’s just not for me)After that they played instruments and sang to us. Many people got up and danced and it was nice. And then we went back to the dorms. The end.
Tonight we had a “Tiyul”. We had a full day of school until 5:30 and then we got on the buses at 5:50. The weird thing was we didn’t know where we were going or what we were doing or what to bring. Many of us just brought our keys and phone. Plus it was still like 100 degrees outside. We were wearing tank tops and shorts. So on the bus we were told that we were going to IDC, a college in Herzlia. Ok, why are we going to a college?? Whatever…The great thing about TIF is that we can have school and then go on a trip at night and its totally normal. I love TIF because we can also go on a trip and then we will do a hike and go out to dinner in random cities, it’s totally normal and cool! When I return to Milken I will be in school waiting to go on a hike.
So anyways, we get to IDC and it’s this cute little college. We meet this girl who goes there and we got a tour with her. The campus is little, 5,200 students. The real pull for us is that they have over 1,100 students that study all their classes in English. It is a private Jewish Israeli college where you can get your degree studying in Israel. It’s cool! If it had majors I was interested in I would probably consider it.
Then we had a presentation by two kids (college students. One from Australia and one French guy. Both in college and made Aliyah) who had gone to the Durban Conference. It was really amazing and interesting. They went to support Israel because it turned very anti-Israel, to protest peacefully, and mainly to redirect the peoples and Media’s attention to causes that really need attention now like Darfur, human rights in Iran, problems in China and so on. They had pictures, videos, and speeches and their presentation. We saw their Jewish welcome center, Yom Hashoah ceremony, their peaceful protest and march, and their celebration on the last day. It was cool. They really succeeded and are very brave. It was pretty sweet.
Then we got on the bus and arrived home at 8:45. Now to do my homework…
Wow. Today we did a lot. But I am feeling lazy right now and tired so I will not write everything. So this morning we woke up at 7 and left at 8. We got to this place called Givat Haviva. It has a center for peace where Israeli Arabs and Israelis come together and talk. We met this lady who was nice but pretty boring. She talked to us for like 3 hours!!! Told us the whole history of Israel. It was so boring when she said it!! I was falling asleep! Then we had lunch and then we met this Israeli Arab named Amir. He told us about himself and we were allowed to ask questions. I had been looking forward to this but by the time we finally got to meet him I was so bored of listening and I was not in the mood to pay attention. Honestly, I doodled in my notebook and played games with other people for the first half of the talk. I don’t remember like anything he said! But I know that I don’t agree with him. We talked about the army, money problems, Palestinian refugees, borders, and how and why they feel like second class citizens. It was boring and that guy was an uninformed idiot. Or so I felt. But in real life by his looks he was normal. Shaven, nice car, and he was a lawyer. Whatever.
Then we got on the buses and got a tour of an Israeli Arab town called Barta. It is one of those cool Arab towns that grows outward from one family. Every person in Barta has the last name Habbaka. They are all related, how cool is that? But the bad thing was that when the green line was drawn, they used what they thought were “Natural borders” like natural stuff, valleys, that make a border. So Barta was cut in half by the green line. However the barrier was put outside of Barta. So from the barrier, its inside Israel. But from the green line its half in Israel half in the West Bank. Weird, I know. Plus all the houses there were so nice!! They were actual mansions and palaces! Since lots of the Arabs are builders they build themselves these amazing houses! Plus, many of them don’t have to pay taxes because they are in between the green line and barrier. They are lucky. But most of their houses are illegal anyways!
So after that we saw a Jewish settlement that was near Barta. It was nice!! The houses were very nice (the new ones) and it seemed like a cool place to live. It was one of Sharon’s seven stars. He wanted more Jews in that area so he made seven Jewish settlements. The one we visited one a particularly good and successful one. After that we went to a mall in Tel Aviv and had DOTS. I had frozen yogurt!!! It was so good! And then I did some shopping and I bought a belt. And then I got frozen yogurt again!! YUMMY!!! And then we got on the buses and drove to this theater in Yaffo where blind, deaf, and blind and deaf people put on a play. It was really amazing. They all have their own ways of communicating. The lucky ones were those who could still hear a little with their hearing aids or see shapes and colors. It made me appreciate what I have. Plus they baked bread that we could eat after the show and it was really yummy. They were so cute and there were a bunch of skits. Something that stood out to me was these two little ladies who could still hear and talk. They were always together and it says in the playbill thing that they are best friends in real life. How cute! And they put on a play every day. It was weird because the people had to be tapped to do their cues or lead around by people and everything was translated and spoken for us. It was so sad! Their play was about their hopes and dreams. They fulfilled them in the play. Plus the stage was genius. It had an incline so the people would know to stop walking and so they would not fall off the stage. It was nice and that is my short blog because I am not in the mood to write a lot.
Day 1:
This is going to be the best trip ever!! Do you know why? Because there is no learning, all we have to do is have fun in the sun on the beaches of Eilat and go SHOPPING!!! Today we left at 7:15 and drove for 3 hours (I slept really well!). then we visited a kibbutz in the Negev called Kibbutz Revivim. It is not a kibbutz anymore but they were there during the 1930’s and 1940’s. plus later on for a while. They settled in the Negev because they wanted it to be part of Israel, and the British only gave us places where Jews lived. While they were there they faced many problems. First of all, it’s the Negev!! Desert, no water, no people, nothing grows there! They dug and found salty water that was still drinkable, didn’t have that many people, and grew Olive and Date trees. The soil is fertile if watered. So yeah, they lived there.
During the Independence day war they were on the front lines and they fought and survived! They lived in caves and we got to go into the caves. A bit small and funny smelling, but livable. We saw their dining hall/hospital/armory/meeting room. It was big so it was basically everything. The weapons were cool! We also saw the original farming tools they used there and it was so old and weird looking. Like, “What the heck does that do?” It was cool. Then we saw two planes from the Independence day war. One was Dakota, one of the two supply planes Israel had, and the other was this tiny, TINY fighter plane. It didn’t even have a gun! There was one behind the propeller but the Israelis never trusted it so they held and shot rifles outside the plane. We got to go inside Dakota. It was old and the cockpit was cool! So many levers and buttons and controls. They also had a small tracking station on the plane and a bathroom in the back. EW! It smelled!
After that we got on the buses again and went back to Sdeh Boquer……AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!! (BTW: the olive grove is still there today in Revivim and it’s pretty big and amazing!) When we were driving there we drove right past our Gadna base. (We had Gadna is Sdeh Boquer) I was screaming inside my head, “Don’t take me back!!!” NO!! I hated it! We then had lunch in the exact same spot we had lunch before Gadna. It was hell all over again! THEN, we walked to where we had our closing ceremony! It seriously was like, HEY, Weren’t we just here? We all had a discussion by Ben Gurion’s grave (in our core classes) about what an ideal Zionist/true Zionist is. Ben Gurion thought they must live in Israel to be a true Zionist. I agree but I don’t think everyone needs to be a ideal Zionist.
Then we went on a hike. It was ok, fun, and pretty. I was first! (Duh. Actually there’s this girl who likes to walk in front of me. She won’t let me pass! IT’S ANNOYING! She’s mean. Whatever. I’m thinking about starting to not care about being first.) We hiked next to this weird river. What is dirty, green, mossy water doing in the middle of the desert? It was weird and just an hour hike. Very pleasurable.
Then we drove here to the Bedouin Camp. It’s nice! The tent (Girls side, boy’s side) is really big! And they have bathrooms, soap, showers, mirrors, and lights! It’s nice but not exactly a true Bedouin camp. We met this guy named Salam (Peace). And then we met someone named Mohammad. (Haha funny name) they are really nice! They introduced themselves and then half of us went to ride the camels while the others stayed in the tent. I went to ride the camels. Two people to a camel, (Hanna was my partner) and we sit in between the humps. We were third in line. Hanna was a bit scared but I was excited. (A little, I had ridden camels before. It’s no big deal.) The camel got up and it was cool. We were really tilted because it goes up to its knees in front then in back then stands up all the way. But then we were up, it was pretty high! Camels are tall! Then we started walking, it was painful! So much worse and different than horses!
Many people named their camels, the first few were Avichai, Jeremiah, Sheldon, Ernie, Bobby, and Eugene. (There were more camels after that.) Plus there was Stanley and Fredrick. I was on Sheldon (He is totally named for the Big Bang Theory) and behind me was Ernie. He was a creeper and really liked me! He kept nudging me, walking next to me, and putting his head on me! It was creepy and scary! He’s a camel! He was scary and making mean camel noises! Anyways, we got some good pictures! Our shadows were so cool!!
After the camel ride we sat in a tent while Salam told us his life story, sang to us, and taught us about Bedouins. He was cool! Plus, we got cookies (yummy!), tea and coffee. Everyone was raving about the tea and coffee but I didn’t like it! It tasted like dirt. Whatever….. I learned that Salam was born in Israel, is an Israeli citizen, has one wife (even though his culture permits more than one), and is part of a tribe. He’s not hostile and doesn’t hate Jews and Israel! He is nice and welcoming. After that we had a bit of free time and then had dinner. It was AMAZING!!! So yummy!! We even got to sit on the floor like they do and we all shared the food from one giant plate. The best part was the bread! It was so good! I loved it! After dinner we had free time. So now I am writing this. As I write I think about today which was really fun, and the upcoming days. I’m so excited to go shopping, snorkeling, parasailing (unless I chicken out) and just have fun on the beach. Yet for some reason I find myself nervous or worrying about something. But I have no idea why in the world I am! Oh well!
(Later that night) We just had a bonfire. (We have been having a lot lately! At home in LA we never have any!) the funny thing was that this bonfire was bigger than the one we had on Lag Baomer. And that’s when we are SUPPOSED to have huge bonfires. But anyways, we had a fire and a ton of food. Chocolate, marshmallows, cookies, wafers, and yummy stuff! I saw the people from San Diego who were next to us looking at our food, they had none. Sucks for them! After the fire we got ready for bed and went to sleep, ready for a really fun day tomorrow!
Side Note: When Salam sang to us, one of the songs he sang was Od Yavo Shalom Aleynu. (Peace will come between us/there will be peace between us.) it’s hard to translate but it’s a really nice song. And it’s in Hebrew! That made me realize how great this guy is! He’s an Arab who just wants peace like us! So there you go.
Side note: When Hanna and I were on our camel Sheldon, our saddle was tilting to the right and I’m a worrier and I kept thinking it would turn and slide and we would fall off and hurt ourselves. We didn’t. But there really wasn’t time to! It was a huge flat circle we walked around that took about 10 minutes. Whatever, I’m glad it wasn’t uphill or downhill, that would be so scary! But a funny thing that happened was our camel pooped while we were riding it. Actually many camels pooped and peed while they were walking, but luckily I don’t think the one in front of us did! However it was hard to tell because Hanna was in front and she has a BIG HEAD!!! Hahaha. Jk.
Day 2:
Today was SO FUN!!! We woke up at 6:15 and packed our stuff. (I slept so well in the Bedouin tent! It was great!) Then we had breakfast. It was amazing! But only because of their great bread! I ate like 5 lafas! DELICIOUS! Then we drove for a while (I slept very nicely on the bus.) and we got to these really cool sand dunes.
The sand was impossibly soft and so incredible! It was really hot and the sand was burning under my feet. But I didn’t care! And if you dug down you got cold sand. I ran down the sand, rolled down, jumped down, put sand on my arms, legs, and stomach. It was FUN! The sand was really small and it just got everywhere! When you tried to walk it gave way under your feet. Walking back up the mountain was so hard! I had to take breaks because I got so tired. Plus I had to use my hands and bear crawl. We were there for about 1 hour. many people jumped off the dune and did flips, summersaults, rolls, or just jumped really high! Even Phil, Danny, and Nitzan! (Lots of good videos) the cool thing was while people were rolling down there was sand everywhere! A cloud of sand around them, and it covered their legs, arms, feet, and face! Any exposed skin. After the sand dunes, we walked to the buses (which was painful because I didn’t put my shoes back on L) and drove to our lunch spot.
It was pretty and we had lunch bought by our madrichim. Which was ok, but not as good as last time. The good thing about the place was the little organic store next-door. They sold stuff like homemade jam, bread, dried fruit (the dates were delicious!) nuts, and homemade ice cream. It was SO GOOD!! I got chocolate and it was amazing and really chocolaty. Plus, I tried the peach which was really good. (I should have gotten a fruity flavor.)
After lunch we drove to our hike. I must say the Negev is beautiful, there are rocks, cliffs, (which are colors like Black, red, orange, and some green) , different colored sand, some trees, and stuff. Just the vastness and hugeness of it makes me amazed. We passed along the way this natural crater thing and it was awesome. Mountains on every side and a HUGE ENOURMOUS valley in the middle. It was so cool! When we got to our hike, I was prepared but some people weren’t. they did not have the right shoes, cloths, or enough water. People claimed someone said it was a nature walk but it was not! It was in the middle of this awesome valley and there was just rock on either side. Plus at some points it was steep and we had rails on either side that we had to hold and slide down. Then halfway there we turned around and went back a different way. This part was hard and uphill, YAY!! I didn’t have a problem but some people were really mad, oh well. I was first back to the parking lot. It kind of sucked and ruined it that we ended at a parking lot without of a view. Yes we had nice views the whole time, but we didn’t get the same satisfaction we do when we conquer a mountain and get to look around at the top. Oh well.
After the hike we finally got to go to Eilat!! Finally, I had been looking forward to it all day! The first thing I thought when I got off the bus was, “WOW, Its really hot here!” I took a look around and basically it was a beach paradise. A huge shopping mall (and no sales tax in Eilat!), a boardwalk with lots of shops, endless perfect beach, lots of people and places to rent Jet skis and boats, food shops, and tons of ships on the port and everything to make it perfect. The first thing I did was change into my bathing suit and hit the beach. All day I had been asking people if they wanted to go parasailing with me. Finally Ariela said yes! I was so excited! The first thing I did was put my stuff down, grab my money and go wait in line for the parasailing. I was so excited but nervous! There were like three groups in front of us (Ariela and I) but they were going banana boating. So when we got to the front he told us to go right away!
I was a bit scared, I thought I would have time to mentally prepare myself but we just immediately got on the boat. We drove out really far away and put on our lifejackets and harnesses. Then we sat down on the back of the boat (which was open in the back)and started. I think I should mention that it was the perfect day. Warm and windy out on the Red Sea. So we sat down on the back of the boat, and then the wind caught us and we slid off the back into the water. Then right after the boat started going we were in the air. It was amazing! We were floating (they said 300 feet high) and we could see everything! The beach, the port, and the water was impossibly blue and sparkly. Then we were really high up and it would have gotten boring but we were going lower and lower and splash! We went into the water all the way, got completely soaked from head to toe (with salty water) and then back up. It was awesome! They dunked us like four times! And up we went again. We were screaming and cheering (not even holding on) then soon after they pulled us in. we skimmed the water and were on the boat. We were so wet and just dripping everywhere but we forgot our towels on the beach. So we air dried on the way back. (Which I regret because then I had white salt stains on my legs the rest of the day) Plus they took pictures of us which we can pick up tomorrow, so we will see if they are good….the whole thing cost 190 shekels each so like 48 dollars. But it was worth it! So fun!
Then we got back and our friends who had been in line before us still had not gone banana boating! (They had to wait like two hours and that was most of our free time. L) So Ariela, Hanna, Hannah, and I went shopping on the boardwalk. It was so cool! I bought a strawberry banana smoothie. (It was so good!) a black dress (for 30 shekels) , and a pair of black sandals for 100 shekels. Yay I have a new outfit! Ariela also bought a sundress and Hanna bought two pairs of shoes. It was so fun! Then we went back to the beach and finally our friends had gone! They (Sofia, Naomi, Karen, Cassie, May, Adi, and Jake) said it was really fun! They basically sat on a boat pulling them (Shaped sort of like a banana) and held on while the boat that was pulling them zoomed around. They fell off a lot and May got kicked in the head. L And Cassie kicked Adi in the nose and gave him a bloody nose. Yet they still had fun….
After that we had DOTS so basically we had 3 ½ hours of free time. (Not bad!) We went into the mall and ate kosher Sbarros. It was ok, but it’s just cool that its kosher here in Israel. We met a few Israelis (11 graders). They live on a kibbutz close to Eilat. (Aren’t they lucky?) They say they can tell we are American even before we talk. IDK how.. After that it was back to the boardwalk and I bought black sandals. They match my dress! J I got so many compliments on my shoes. It was great!
Then we just sat on the beach and chilled. We watched and listened to the water and threw/skimmed rocks. It was cool, since it was dark we threw rocks but could not see them until they hit the water. If you picked up a handful of tiny rocks it was even cooler!! They all fell and it looked awesome!
THEN AT 8:05 we walked back to our meeting place, got on the buses, and went to Kibbutz Yahel. It is, well…yucky! Our room is tiny, stuffy, and full of bugs! Really, we came in and they were crawling over our beds! I killed them! Apparently out of my room (Karen, Alex, and Celine) I am the least afraid of bugs. So we got to shower (it was a bad shower. The bathroom is gross, bug infested, and the sink is in the shower..) and then we went to sleep.
Day 3:
We woke up at 6:30 and had breakfast at Kibbutz Yahel. It was yummy. They have a nice dining hall. It must be cool to live on a kibbutz! After we got on the buses and drove to where our hike was. Today’s hike was awesome! We started out at the bottom of a valley/mountains. It was rock and sand everywhere! So we started hiking. It was hot and uphill and hard. But then we got to a park/the top and we had the most amazing view! We could see the Red Sea, Eilat, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia! It was so cool! It all looked so peaceful from up there. However it was so windy! People’s hats kept lying off so I just held mine. It’s been cool because the day earlier we were driving along the border with Egypt. It’s just a small barbed wire fence. So anyways, we kept hiking and all of a sudden I feel something coming out of my nose. It was blood! EW! I just randomly got a bloody nose. And I was in the front, but I had to stop, get tissues (Which Cassie gave to me. Thank you!) and hold them up to my nose. It was gross! I hate blood and it kept coming out of my nose! But like 3 minutes later it stopped. Phew! By then I was at the back. I hate being last. It’s like a pet peeve of mine. FRONT! So when we got to the next stopping/break point I maneuvered to the front. (Front 3. I forgot to mention that both Hanna(h)s did not hike, AGAIN! They are missing out!) then we hiked down for a while. It was really steep and rocky but I did not fall, although Adi E. took a pretty bad fall. Then we were at the bottom and at the Red Sea! We hiked for 2 ½ hours and made it to the Red Sea! Yay! It was awesome! We really felt like we accomplished something.
So we then got our stuff for snorkeling and went to the place. We got changed into our bathing suits and then had an orientation about snorkeling. How to wear the mask, what to do, and what fish to look for. So then we went in groups of ten. I was in the first group and really scared! I had never snorkeled before, had gotten a bloody nose 2 hours earlier, and did not want another, and we learned about two poisonous fish that lived there. I was scared! But our guide person got into the water and we followed. I didn’t have to do anything to stay afloat! The lifejacket did it all. So I put my head down and breathed through my mouth. It worked! And boy it was amazing down there! Coral, fish, sand, colors, so pretty. I’m so glad I did it. And the water was warm and relatively calm. Though I did swallow salt water a few times. I saw lots of parrot fish, clown fish that look like nemo but have two stripes, and tons of other fish. I saw schools of fish, big fish, little fish, and really awesome stuff. I did not even see any poisonous fish! And they stay at the bottom which was like 15 feet below us. Basically when we got to the end like seven minutes later I was like, WHAT? We’re done already? NO! But we got out, returned our snorkeling gear, dried off, got dressed, and waited for everyone else.
Then we drove to the beach again where we were yesterday with the mall and boardwalk. We got money and had LOTS and free time. We had like 3 hours. So first Ariela and I went and got our pictures from parasailing. Then on the way back we got lunch. I was not that hungry so I just got frozen yogurt. Then we went to a food place, then another, then another! Finally she was satisfied! Haha. So she ordered there and ate. Then I went to the mall to meet up with Hanna and Hannah, and she went back to the beach. So I got to the mall and called the Hanna(h)’s to find out where they are so we can go shopping! 13 phone calls and 30 minutes later they picked up. Apparently they thought I was not coming so they went to the beach and ditched me. I was angry! But they came back and we went shopping. I bought a white dressy shirt, a locket, and a Michal Negrin necklace. It was a good shopping day! But now I realize how stupid I was! I should have bought people gifts there! I am bad at buying gifts. L oh well. Next time! So we then went back to our meeting place and left.
On the way to the kibbutz we stopped by the Shoko (Chocolate Milk) factory. However we only had 10 minutes there! I really wanted ice cream but the line was so long! So I just got a bottled chocolate milkshake. It tasted like a bottle of chocolate milk with extra chocolate. It was ok. (But now I regret getting it because I am addicted to them!) then we came back to kibbutz Yahel and got a tour of it.
This guy who has lived there for like 30 years told us the history of the kibbutz. Founded in 1977, by Americans, British, and Israelis, farming is 70% of their income. Originally the Jordan-Israel border fence was made 1000 yards closer to Jordan so Israel got lots of fertile land in the valley where the border was. In 1994 Jordan wanted the land back and Israel was willing to give it back, land is replaceable but children’s and soldier’s lives are not! However in the final agreement the border fence was moved and the fields were kept. The fields jut out in the border. And we got to go to the Pamela fields and saw the border. It is a road, then dirt road, then fence, then no man’s land, another fence, another dirt road, and lastly a road. That’s it! It is all about 30 feet long. And there are no soldiers or patrollers or anything! Then the dude told us about how he used to give Pamela to the Jordanian and Israeli soldiers. And how they were nice and once their families even had dinner together. Bonding over Pamela fruit, yay! Then we got to taste the Pamela. It was so cool because he peeled the Pamela and explained how it was a Jewish fruit because (and then he cut the top off and put it on someone’s head) we wear kippas! And then he explained how it was fruit of the Negev because we have to wear hats here. (he put the rest of the peel on someone else’s head.) It was cool, and the fruit tasted like Grapefruit but sweeter. Then we went back to our rooms, showered for Shabbat, and had dinner.
After dinner we had free time and then there was a party! I was so happy I could wear my new shirt! But the party sucked. It was in this little room and it was hot, smelly, and stuffy. Plus there were like 10 people from the kibbutz. Oh well. At 12 we all went to sleep. Yay sleep!
Day 4-(Shabbat)
Today we got to sleep in and wake up at 11. Then at 12:30 we had lunch. (I forgot to mention that this kibbutz is 40 minutes outside Eilat and it’s the first Reform Kibbutz in the Negev.) It was ok, better than food in the Hod. After lunch we were allowed to go to the pool. It was really hot and humid outside but I didn’t go. SERIOUSLY it was like 110 degrees Fahrenheit outside! So I read my book Message in a Bottle. Then at 4:30 we had snacks and after I went back to my book until 6:30. It was really sad and cool because the people who are making our TIF t-shirts had a meeting today. I want the t-shirt but don’t want to leave! We have so little time here! At dinner we got a really horrible announcement! Our only remaining free weekend has been cancelled! First Milken took away our second to last free weekend and now our last one has been cancelled! Plus it’s Shavuot! I want to see my family! Milken is being really horrible! So now I am pissed at Milken.
After dinner we had an activity where we sat in a circle with our eyes closed while a few people tapped us on our heads for various things. They were like “tap someone on the head who makes you smile, has pretty eyes, pretty hair, you have bonded with on TIF, has good fashion sense, and so on. It was really nice! People surprised me about some things. J it was fun! Then we had havdallah, our last havdallah on a trip weekend. (This is our last trip weekend) it really made me realize how little time we have left. L Then we got on the bus and left on our 4-5 hour bus ride back to campus. So now I am on the bus, finishing my journal and about to fall asleep. I look around at people who are sleeping, talking, reading, doing homework, listening to music, or just starting out the window. It’s nice and I’m really going to miss it when TIF is over. Plus two people have birth days tonight on the bus. Happy 16th Birthday!
A few nights ago we had a room bonding night with one of our madrichas, Samara. Basically, over the course of TIF we are supposed to have a bonding night with each madrich. So, we already had one with Leeyat (Where we sat around, drank tea, and talked) now we are having our night with Samara. We decided to go out and have fun. And there is this place Pastamia which we wanted to try. So we made a reservation and 15 minutes before the reservation we started walking. We knew where it was, we just did not know how far it was. We asked someone and they said it was 30 minutes away!!!! We blew that one! Darn, we did not have enough time to walk to Pastamia, so we decided to go to Cafeneto, its closer and pretty good. (Btw, on the weekend I walked to Pastamia, it is less than one block away from Cafeneto!!!! L we could have gone there. ) So we got there, ordered food, and started talking. Basically, it was really fun and we talked and bonded. YAY! I even bought a really good dessert. J And then we walked home (To the dorms) and yeah. That’s it.
Remember a long time ago I blogged about going out into town and how I went to this ice cream place and asked for frozen yogurt? The dude there pointed to frozen fruit and I was very confused. Well guess what? I figured it out!! I was at that place again and the person in front of me ordered frozen yogurt. They picked out different fruits, blended them together with frozen yogurt, and voila! That is what frozen yogurt means in Israel and that is why he pointed to the frozen fruit. I tried it and it was really good!! I got strawberries, mango, kiwi, cranberries, and pineapple. It was yummy! J Next time I think I will add chocolate too….
So one night in our room (81!!) we were all done with our homework and we were kind of bored. So I started putting up more candy on our closets but then we ran out of candy. What to do?? (By the way, now our candy collage fills up almost four closets!) We decided we should rewrite on our window with our special window markers. So we started erasing it. But we did not want to walk all the way to the bathroom (Next door) to get a wet paper towel. So Sofia found a pad on the floor and got it wet and wiped the window with it. It was hilarious!!!! She was so cute and she exclaimed, “It absorbs it right up!!!” J after using the pad she put it up on her wall!!! It is covered in green and blue marker it’s the weirdest thing ever! After that we were thinking of what to write on our window. So I said we should do things like adorable Ariela and stuff. Let’s just say it didn’t turn out exactly like that. Plus on our adjacent window we wrote random things like Red Hot Room 81, we “heart” core, home of the earmuffs, the candy room, and we have smiley faces, stars, and flowers. It’s really nice. J Then we took a video of us writing on our window and we were all screaming and just having fun. Plus they videoed Ariela, Cassie, and Sofia’s walls. They decorated them with pictures, ribbons, letters, boas, stars, stickers, cards, and mementos. By the way the whole time this was happening we were playing music and singing and dancing to it. It was really fun! I wish we could do it every day!
And our room is so nice and decorated, people come in all the time and compliment us. They say our room is nice, pretty, and stuff like that. Danny even said, “You guys really know how to live it up in here!” when he was inspecting our room after we cleaned.
This is a sad blog. We had to say goodbye to three people recently. Two people broke the rules and were sent home. They are now at home and might get expelled from Milken. They really mean it when they say don’t break the rules. The third person that left is Andrew. He had to go home, he was not kicked out of TIF. I’m really sad he left and we all really miss him!! I wish we could have bonded more!! It sucks that people had to leave and miss out on this great experience. Plus, now we only have 56 kids. It’s so little. L
Yam Leh Yam means sea to sea. We are all going to hike and bike from the kineret to the Mediteranean Sea.
Day 1-
I’m so excited!!!! Really. But a bit nervous too. We woke up at 6:15 and got on the buses an hour later. We drove and then came to a kibbutz on the kineret. Most people either caked on thick layers of sunscreen or took advantage of the last bathrooms we will see for a while. (For 4 days!) After that we all packed our luggage into this little truck and then we walked to the kineret for the opening ceremony. We literally stood on the water of the kineret and were told about how Abraham and Sarah walked around all of Israel and thought about their descendents at some point. I thought it was really cool that Abraham and Sarah thought of me on the path I am walking on!
So we started walking. It sucked because in the beginning I had to carry our extra water and let me tell you, it’s HEAVY!! (Plus my backpack weights a ton with the 3 liters of water we all need to have) then we kept walking through the valley. It was beautiful! We were walking next to the Nachal Amud (Amud River) and there were rocks, flowers of every color, birds, butterflies, valley sides, grass, trees, and tons of spiky plants and a river in the middle. It was so annoying!! At first I tried keeping my feet dry, but eventually when I slipped I gave up. I walked in the middle of that river! I got my feet thoroughly soaked in freezing water at least 5 times. (Just so you know, I was in the front from start to finish) The path/hike was the coolest hike I’ve ever gone on!! It was hard at times, easier at others. We passed cows, walked in water, and saw an amazing assortment of flowers and wild herbs. (Which smell amazing!!) We also walked through the thorniest grove ever!! Never ending spikes, scrapes, cuts, blood, and bites. It was horrible!! Eventually, we got to camp. The part right before camp was the hardest! Uphill and never-ending! Finally at camp we sat down, took a break, and then got up. We set up our tents (I am in a tent with Liron and Talia M.), had a nice nature pee, ate dinner, sat by a campfire, got ready for bed, and collapsed! However, it was raining, windy, warm, our mattresses were thin, cows were mooing, tent mate snoring, and basically it was a horrible night’s sleep.
Side note: Campfire. After dinner we had a bonfire, it was ok. Warm, but I was so tired! I wanted to sleep! However they gave us marshmallows which were yummy! Then I went to bed and apparently the last few guys that were awake helped put out the campfire by peeing on it. Haha!
Day 2-
Today we woke up at 6:15. It was horrible! No toilets, no sinks, no places to change, no mirrors, plus I was tired, sore, and my shoes were still wet! L We had breakfast (Which was yummy cereal!) and then left for the hike. Four people weren’t up for the hike today. It was hard. We hiked for 7 hours 30 minutes total. In the morning we went back into the valley, but it was harder and more uphill that yesterday. We saw the same scene from the day before except no field of spikes and thorns, no water in the riverbed, and it was hazy. The sky wasn’t clear and luckily it was breezy and very nice outside.
We had lunch at 1:50 and then a few minutes later we got to this little pond place. We were told we would go swimming today and this was the place. It was nice. In the middle of the forest/nowhere with trees and rocks surrounding it. However, there were like five other schools there. It was so crowded not a single one of us went swimming. And it was hot outside and there was cold water in front of us. (With about 500 eleven year olds in between) but a cool thing that happened there was a dragonfly landed on Jake’s hat. It’s so cool, there are so many animals here. Tadpoles, turtles, lizards, butterflies, dragonflies, snakes, (lots of ants and spiders), cows, dogs, and we even heard a wild boar when leaving the pond. But that was not cool, it was scary! We heard it groan and walk so we all walked very slowly and quietly. It was really scary!! After the pond we started walking, but there were like 5 groups in front of us. We passed all of them! That’s how good we are. J But it was so sad because as we were leaving in the other direction we saw tons of other spots we could have gone swimming in and there were no little kids there! Oh well, now they know for next year.
Then we got to the campsite and SURPRISE surprise!! There are bathrooms here!!! Though they aren’t that nice and they don’t flush, it’s still amazing!! Then we got the same soup as yesterday, (Onions, water, and croutons) oh well. And now I am here writing this!
(Later) After dinner we were all very cold. We got around the campfire and that’s when we first noticed the stray dog. It was very calm and friendly. It just sat next to us for warmth. Anyways, then we paired up with people to go on “dates” where we talk, ask questions, and get to know people. We even got a candle. I was paired with Amir, we had a nice talk. I really liked the activity because we all got to bond with people who are really nice but we just don’t always talk to. After that we went back to the campfire and the dog was still there. By now it was freezing and we went to bed. So I went to sleep. That had to be, without a doubt, the worst sleep of my life! I woke up six times (At 5:30 I could not fall back asleep) I was cold, cramped, and since our tent was broken on both sides my head and feet got soaked!! I was shivering all night! But I did not have the worst night. That stray dog that we saw earlier apparently went into Shaida, Ariela, and Hannah D.’s tent and spooned Shaida and barked at them. She got so scared she screamed, woke up the whole camp (practically, except for people who sleep like the dead like Hanna) and when the dog came in the second time they all slept in our madricha’s tent. But still I had a pretty bad night.
Day 3-
Today had a theme, COLD!!! In the morning it was FREEZING!! We got ready and started walking. The climb was supposed to be hard (and it was) so 3 sick guys stayed back and 2 injured girls got picked up after 1 hour. (Both Hanna(h)’s) (Not major injuries) So we started climbing and it was hard, and cold and windy. We climbed a lot and we were a bit behind schedule so we had lunch and then climbed the tallest mountain in the Galilee. It was cold!! And when I say climb, I mean we climbed rocks and it was so hard and steep at some points that we had to pull each other up! But it was super fun!! We could see Lebanon and Syria from the top. Nice view!! (And there was NO MILITARY BASE THERE!!!) Then we started hiking down. The downhill was steep!! But not as good as the morning, when we were rock climbing. (For a solid hour it was rocks and straight up!) Anyways, in the afternoon many people were tired because we had been hiking for about 8 hours. So for the last, flat, clearly marked, stretch we got to hike alone. (I was fifth) We basically got to walk alone for about an hour. There were amazing views!! And it was nice and quiet. About 50 minutes later I heard a “hey, HEY!!” behind me. It was Phil running up after me. He wanted to make it to the front because he was worried. There was no adult in front of us and he thought we would get lost or hurt. (We did not) I’m glad I was in the front because the person in back of me was the last person who got the nice relaxing walk alone. Oh well. Apparently, Phil sent us and then one girl behind us slipped and got a little bruise so Phil stopped sending people alone and ran after us but we were really ahead. Haha!
Then we got a quick bus ride to the campsite. We had a good bus driver because we were on one of those small, windy, one lane mountain paths, and there was a truck (and 2 other cars) going the other way. So we had to back up a lot! It was scary but he was a good driver. The campsite was horrible! The worst one we went to! Full of thorns and horse poop. It smelled disguising! I remember putting up my tent and seeing how the floor was two feet above the ground because it was on top of thorn bushes.
Then we had dinner which was really good, but I was jealous of the five people who stayed back because they got to go to a restaurant for lunch and eat Druze pizza. I hear they have the best food! Oh well. So we had dinner and it was cold and dark, then we had a campfire and FINALLY a little singing. Phil had brought his guitar so we sang a little, it was fun. Plus, we stuck a pot full of popcorn in the middle of the fire, (really, on top of the wood) (The wood was these wooden platforms that guys jumped on to break and burn, it was cool!) and it popped! YAY! Yummy popcorn! Then I went to sleep. I was really not in the mood to get wet that night, (Same tent that did not close on either side) so I put my bags at my feet and put on the warmest socks I had. It worked! But I did not sleep well anyways because there were thorns under me. L
Day 4-
Today is our last day!!! I’m so excited to go to the Mediterranean Sea!!!!!!! We woke up this morning at 6:00 again. This was the worst morning ever. It was freezing in the morning, I was cold, wet, (everything was damp!) hungry, and had to pee. Plus, I just did not have any motivation to get out of bed. It was bad! But I got up, got ready, took my tent down, (for the last time!) put away my mattress and sleeping bag, (for the last time! By the way, those sleeping bags were not very warm. Next year people should bring their own small sleeping bags!) and ate breakfast outside while standing in mud and horse poop. (For the last time of my life I hope!)
Then we were all ready! We started walking. About 1 hour later we came to a point when Phil thought it would be nice to take a walk alone like yesterday. But all of us would have a chance to go, and Phil would be in front. So we started walking and it was nice, but not nearly as nice as it had been the day before. Anyways about five minutes later I came to a turn and saw everyone just standing there waiting. (All the people who were in front of me) The road had changed and was very steep and downhill and Phil did not want anyone to do the path alone. So we had to wait a long time until another adult came. But every minute we just saw another kid!! We waited for about 45 minutes until an adult finally showed up! So then we started the descent which was fun. However at the bottom there was a turn that was not marked very well, so we waited a while for the rest of the people to show up because there was a huge gap. BUT no one showed for about 20 minutes so we just left a note on the rock and left. By now we were about 1 hour and 15 minutes behind schedule. And we had to walk 8 kilometers before lunch! So we started walking very quickly which was fine because now it was pretty flat. We were walking in the middle of a valley along the river.
Once we had to cross the river and there it was flat and shallow. About 1 inch of water. So I thought I would cross there instead of walking to the bridge about 20 feet away (FAR!) so I started walking and got about half way there when I slipped. What I did not know was that there was about 1 inch of slippery moss under the 1 inch of water!!! So I slipped and got soaking wet! Since I was in front and like everyone saw me fall, I was the only one who slipped and got wet. Oh well. Luckily I carried around a skirt the whole trip in case something like that every happened, so I put on the skirt over the wet shorts I was wearing. Then like two hours later we went to this place where some people went swimming, so I was not the only wet person. And I dried off eventually. However it was not that sunny or hot, lately the weather has been very cold. Anyways, by 10 am we were very behind schedule, Phil told us we would have to walk very quickly and we might make it to our lunch spot by 1 pm. So we walked!!! We were going so fast!!!! By 1:02 we (the people in the front) made it to the lunch spot!! Finally! No more hiking!
We had lunch and got on our bikes to bike until the Mediterranean. (About 10 kilometers) A few people did not know how to bike so they were bused, but I got on a helmet and got a bike. Then we started biking, at first it was rocky but flat. Then we biked on a road, and then we biked on a really rocky and bumpy path. It was funny because we had to have a whole talk about bike rules, safety, how to properly pass, and be careful on the road because Israeli drivers aren’t aware of bikers. So after about an hour (that felt like 10 minutes) we stopped. I was like “what???” but everyone got off the bikes and helmets and started walking. We were there!!! We biked 10 km in one hour and walked 8km in 6 hours!! HHHMMM, interesting. Haha, anyways yay!!!! The Mediterranean!! And no one got hurt or fell off their bikes. It was definitely a highlight of the trip. (Plus I was lucky and did not have to bike with my backpack, I gave it to a friend that was bused there. So yeah, after going to an Independence war memorial we walked to the beach and touched the water! It was so cool!! We had a little ceremony and then were bused to where we would go swimming. I did not swim because we had 30 minutes there. We had to change and go in the water, dry off and get dressed again in 30 minutes. It wasn’t worth it! So I just sat on the beach and thought about the past few days. How we bonded with people, hiked, biked, camped, and did everything that is yam leh yam.
After swimming in the Mediterranean Sea we were bused to a restaurant in Acco. It was really good food!!! Kabob! But the best part was the bathroom! It had toilets, soap, and mirrors! It was nice! After that we got on the buses (It was a girl’s bus and a boy’s bus, idk why) but like 10 minutes later both buses pulled over. Guess what? The guy’s bus had hit a car! It was a small collision with no one hurt and almost no damages to the car. However remember on Purim when the other bus (one I was not on) hit a car on the way to Tel Aviv? It was the same bus driver that hit the car again! You would think the school would not use him anymore…..oh well. Then we drove home and showered and slept!!!! I slept through the night, It WAS AMAZING!!!!!! (Pauses for dramatic affect)
Side note: Maps and ETA. We have one map we follow this whole trip. It tells us the trails, sights, stops, and just about everything. (The trails are marked periodically on rocks and stuff) it’s annoying because all the time people ask Phil, “Where are we?” “How much farther?” “How much longer?” and stuff like that. Phil usually doesn’t even know where we are on the map. Just somewhere on the trail, so he guestimates. He is sometimes wrong. He once said 2 hours and we were there 15 minutes later. Once he said the uphill stopped in 10 minutes and we were climbing for almost an hour!! oh well. I wonder what would happened if the map suddenly disappeared??….or got wet or ripped? …………….Jk!! It’s laminated!
Side note: Trip and fall. The trails we are on everyday are very bumpy, rocky, uneven, narrow, and sometimes steep!! I have slipped and fallen a ton. But it’s nothing compared to the scratches and scrapes I have from the thorns.
