Day 13

Unfortunately, our trip is coming to an end. Today, we started the day off right with an exciting and adventerous jeep ride through the Golan. The ride was about 2 hours long and lets just say, we ended the ride a lot dirtier than we expected to be. After the refreshing jeep ride, we took a quick bus ride to Bintal, a mountain that gave us a view of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel. The view was beautiful and cool. We were all surprised to see snow on the top of one of the mountains. Then, we took a 40 minute bus ride to Katzrin for lunch. Most of us ate Shawarma, while others enjoyed their pizzas. Shortly after, we arrived at our next site, Chavat Kineret. We then learned about the life of those who first settled in Chavat Kineret. Our guide, Don, gave us a quick lesson on Kibbutz life. After an awesome lesson, we tried on the old Kibbutz clothes. We then took a quick stroll to our 18th cemetery (Just kidding, but we have been to many cemeterys) and then continued to learn about people of the Kibbutz. After the cemetery, we had a nice discussion about heros and heroic traits. Then, we took a long bus ride to Tel Aviv to go shopping. We then arrived at Azrieli Mall and were given money to eat. After eating, we shoppedd for a few hours and then took cabs to our hotel. The hotel is beautiful and we are all so sad that this is our last night together. It has been a great trip and none of us are ready to return home to the states.

--Leehey, Harrison, and Cam

Today we started out at 8:00 this morning. We went hiking up in the Golan Heights. On the bus ride there we could see buildings that had been damaged or destroyed by combat between Israeli and Syrian forces. On the hike we saw beautiful scenery including two waterfalls. We couldn't resist taking a quick swim in the beautiful water. After the long hike we journeyed to this shoe factory (Naot) where we took a gander at there products.  After that we visite  this huge super market were we shopped for lunch as well as other pleasure foods (none of which were nutritional). We then went to a museum about Jews in the late 19th and early 20 century where we talked about Israeli national pride. We then headed to a different part of the Golan Heights where we visited a memorial dedicated to Israeli troops who died taking that position of the Golan. We talked about Eli Cohen, a Mossod agent, who contributed to the defeat of Syrian forces in combat. Afterwards we arrived back at the Kibbutz.                                                                                                      
Good night.

Zach C. and David

DAY 10/11- LAST GOODBYE NOAH

Hi family and friends, everything has been going well here. Yesterday for Shabbat we all went to the beach with our hosts. For many of us, it was the first time seeing the Mediterranean Sea and it certainly did not fail to impress. With water as blue as the sky and sand as white as the clouds, we had never seen anything like the beaches of Caesarea. While the girls played volleyball, the men chose to spend their time playing full-contact American football on the beach. Needless to say, the Americans dominated (it wasn't even really fair; it's not their sport). The Israelis did, however, overwhelm the Americans at both soccer and not getting sunburned. Despite the tight competition between both nations, all enjoyed spending time in the water with each other. Later that night, many of us chose to meet up at the bowling alley. In addition to two rousing games of bowling, many also enjoyed the arcade games, such as broken pinball, broken air hockey, and punching a fake punching bag with no sensible scoring device (but Cam did get the new high score). While Brian knocked down strike after strike, Barry and Yaniv suffered the pain of pushups after agreeing to put their bodies on the line for each strike or spare scored.
The next day was our last day with the Israelis. We woke up early to go to a hospital to volunteer as construction workers in building a concrete lizard with the hopes of beautifying the area in front of the Children's Wing. We all helped to construct the giant, concrete lizard, with several workers laying cement while the others carefully placed the bricks. After finishing the volunteer work (Tikun Olam- the continuing perfection of the world), we each participated in a friendship circle where both Americans and Israelis alike shared their emotions upon leaving each other. We then took a short bus ride to a memorial dedicated to members of the Nahal and Educational Corps. Then, we enjoyed a Moroccan lunch with excellent pita, chicken, shwarma, and various livers. We then returned to the high school where we had first encountered our Israeli hosts and said our meloncholy farewells to all the life-long friends we had made. Many tears were shed among members of both nations.
Off to the Druze we went after our farewells. Found in the mountains to the North, the Druze are a very welcoming people dedicated to Israel, their warrior traditions, and their clandestine religion of which little is known. After enjoying a passionate conversation with a member of the Druze, tradtional tea and dessert were enjoyed by all. Afterwards, we took a long bus ride to Kibbutz Gadot near the Golan and the Jordan River. After enjoying dinner, we had an intense match of soccer followed by a moving session of meditation. All in all, it was a very eventful two days (enjoyed by all, of course).
On a slightly more tragic note, we are all mourning the loss of our close pal Noah who unfortunately abandoned us to return to the U.S. to his native land of Pennsylvania in order to participate in a Native American camp. In a moving ceremony, his number of 11 was retired for good. Each time we count off, we fondly remember his divine visage upon reaching his number.
More to come tomorrow. Yallah bye!
Love,
Sydney, Barry, Noah's ghost, and Brian (but only sorta)

DAY 9 - SHABBAT SHALOM

Yet another "chaperone" post, as the teens are scattered at different host homes around the city of Hadera. 

Judging by the smiles, yawns, and comfort level of the teens around each other this morning, they had a great time at their bbq last night.  Most of the teens joined with their hosts and each other to enjoy dinner and friendship. There was a lot of talk about the delicious chicken, so I doubt that anyone went hungry!

This morning we all boarded our bus to head to Tel Aviv.  Once there we learned about the beginnings of the city and the people who were the founders of Tel Aviv built on their vision of a great city in Israel.  We walked through Neve Tzeddek, a once beautiful area of the city.  We spent some time at the Gutman Museum, an art musuem dedicated to the work of Nahum Gutman, a prolific artist who worked in many different media.  He is known for being a pioneer in breaking away from the European style of art and creating a new "Israeli" style.  We also saw an exhibit by illustrator Ora Eitan who has illustrated many famous children's books. 

We then headed to Independence Hall where we saw and heard about the signing of the Israeli Declaration of Independence.  Quite a moving experience!

Of course, we were ready for lunch by then.  Most of us enjoyed street falafel or shawarma and spent some time shopping and chatting with locals at Nahalat Benyamin. Before leaving Tel Aviv we made a stop to see the memorial spot where Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. 

We headed back to Hadera by bus, so that we could have time to prepare for Shabbat in our host homes.  We all headed our separate ways for our second Shabbat in Israel.  I think that everyone was most looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and enjoying the day at the beach. 

We are making great friends and memories.  Shabbat Shalom.

Mindy

Day 8

Hello All,

To continue with the chaperone blogging, I just wanted to bring you up to date on what we did today. We got on the bus at 8 am, and the miracle was that with 19 different host homes (including the chaperones), everyone was on time! Everyone told us what a great time they had with their host families during the hour-and-a-half bus ride to Tzfat. In Tzfat, we visited two different synagogues that were from the 16-17th centuries and associated with famous Rabbis - one a scholar of Jewish law and one a scholar of Jewish mysticism. Afterwards, we visited the Safed Candle store where we saw the most elaborate candles (including a representation of Noah's ark that included tweety bird made entirely of beeswax). We had some time to make purchases, the most popular of which was almond juice. We also met Avraham, an artist who was very excited to teach us about Mysticism.

From Tzfat, we got on the bus for a short ride to Maayan Baruch, where we made sandwiches for lunch with a variety of different fillings. After cleaning up and getting changed, we started rafting down the Hatzbani river. The ride turned out to be very calm (unless you count the numerous pranks that the guys pulled off in the second half of the trip). After we got back to our bus, we changed and loaded up for what SHOULD have been a 1.5 hour trip, but we got stuck in an hour long traffic jam, where, despite Aron's pleas, no one could get out. After we eventually got back, everyone headed off to their hosts' homes, where rumor has it they were going to have a bar-b-que.

That's all for tonight.
--Daniel

Day 7 in Israel, Day 1 in Hadera!

Hi Parents,

Since all the kids are scattered around the city of Hadera, I will take over as blogger for tonight.  (Just a few words to let you know what we're up to.)

This morning we had a great breakfast at our guest house with pancakes and yummy chocolate spread for our bread, in addition to the usual salads and delicious dairy products.  We were well-fueled for our hour bus ride to the spot for our archeological dig.  We climbed through underground caves that were once homes during the time of the Maccabees.  We learned a bit of history and archeology and had fun getting down and DIRTY digging in the dirt searching for clues from the past. Our group found bones, coal, and lots of pottery shards.  We even had a chance to take some cool pieces with us.

We had lunch at the dig (Holy Bagel) and then another hour plus bus ride to Hadera to meet our host families!  Most of us recognized our hosts by their facebook profiles, and were greeted warmly.  After a few ice breakers we had a dynamite speaker, named Neil Lazarus, who spoke to us about the current political situation in Israel.

After that it was time to go off with our host families.  Everyone seemed happy and there were lots of smiles.

As for myself, I was happy to connect with Israeli friends whom I met when they visited Nashville in past years. We all had a lovely dinner together by the water and talked about what a great group of kids we have this year!  I am looking forward to hosting them when they visit us in July!

Mindy

Days 5-6

So yesterday we went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Mueseum in Jerusalem. It was a heavy but enriching experience. Although we already knew a good amount about the Holocaust, the mueseum really impacted us in a way that could not be achieved in a classroom back at home. We learned alot not only about stories of survivors from the museum, but also family experiences from others in our group. Following the museum, we headed to the Bedouin village which was an amazing and unique experience. We arrived and were immediately put on camels, which some thought were adorable, and others thought were the ugliest things. Riding on the first camel was I (Stephanie) and Leehey, and behind were Arnold (also writing this) and Daniel Hoffman. I kept wanting to pet Arnold and Daniel's camel, which they named Ace, because it was the cutest thing but consequently the camel kept brushing against Leehey's legs, since she was on the back hump. This greatly disturbed Leehey, frequently shreaking to show her discomfort. After the hot ride in through desert, we listened to a Bedouin talk about the culture, and were also able to experience the culture through native tea and coffee which were served to us, and he taught to us their meaning. Everyone seemed very interested and intrigued by the contrast in the Bedouin culture to our own. For dinner, we all sat on decorative mats in groups of four, around a steel stand where a platter of food was served. We indulged on traditional Bedouin food which included rice, chicken and lamb (soy meatballs for us vegetarians), and pita bread. Then after that, we pretty much lounged around and bonded with our group through various games and talking. We were supposed to be in "bed", several mats layed out in a tent which the whole group shared, by 10:30 because of our 3:30 wake up time, but of course the majority of us stayed up and stared at the constellations in the desert with its low light pollution; it was beautiful. Most went to bed at some point, but a rebellious group of boys (Arnold included) decided to pull an all-nighter. We woke up bright and early (not so bright), and hiked Masada to see the sunrise. After the sunrise, Don, our tour guide, taught us a PLETHORA of history.....Anyways, when it was time to hike back down the mountain, it was scorching hot, but Arnold still decided to run down the whole thing, not an easy thing by any means to do. We spent 6 hours total hiking and learning about the mountain. While others decided to take their sweet time, Arnold still continued to chug along. when people finially finished the hike down, they were greeted by our very cool bus driver, who gave us a coupon. It was cool... :]
    Lastly we went to the Dead Sea and ate lunch. As we aproached the sea and finially entered the water, our pain surged through our bodies due to the cuts on our feet and irritated skin thanks to the hikes. As we got acclimated to the water we swam about 50 feet across the shore and splattered our sexy beach bods with miracle mud (Dead Sea Mud).
    After the Dead Sea we went to the waterfalls that neighbored the sea by a 5 minute drive. As a scorching heat of 109F, the cool water of the waterfalls quickly broought us great pleasure and truly topped off the day.

-Stephanie and Arnold