Israel

After spending a few days in New York City with family, I left from JFK for my Taglit-Birthright trip with Israel Outdoors for 10 packed days of Israel. After a sleepless (for me) 9 hour flight we landed in Tel Aviv at 7AM and got on a bus for a few hours to the north part of the country for our first day in Israel. That is pretty much how the entire trip was: a few hours of sleep at night plus whatever sleep you could get on the bus and sight-seeing. In other words, it was a lot of fun. 40 Americans and 10 Israelis, all in their mid-20s, spending 10 days together in close confines makes for fast friends and interesting times.

I do not want to give you an hour-by-hour break down, or even a day-by-day break down, nor can I because all of it kind of blended together. We went to the Golan Heights, Safed, Mesada, the Dead Sea, the Galilee, a (fake) Bedouin tent, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and other places I am sure I left out. Water hiking, floating, climbing, hiking, and diving were also included.

When the formal Birthright trip ended, several people had extended their return flights to spend more time in Israel or elsewhere. For the that first night, Carly, Limor, Jay (twin), Jesse, , Howard, Ehud (an Israeli student that joined us for the trip), and myself spent the night in Tel Aviv. Other people did as well, but this group shared a couple of hostel rooms together. After one night, Jay (twin), Jesse, and I joined Ehud in his home of Jerusalem (he left early in the morning) for a night. I really wanted to see the other Quarters of the city and, in particular, get a closer look of the Dome of the Rock. We went on a nice self-guided walking tour of the other Quarters, but the Dome of the Rock was sealed off. We tried sneaking in through a back way but still our efforts were futile. After a full day in Jerusalem, the four of us returned to Tel Aviv. The following day we rented a couple of surf boards and surfed, or at least attempted to, on the Mediterranean Sea. I would like to think that I successfully stood up on a small wave once, but I am probably just kidding myself. After a shower and some goodbyes, I left Jay (twin), Jesse, and Ehud in Tel Aviv for Haifa on a bus to visit an old friend.

After a few nights in Haifa I am now in, and posting from, the friend's family home in Ra'anana. I will leave to the south tomorrow and then onward from there.

Sorry about all the text. I will post some pictures as soon as I figure out where I can post them that does not take 8+ hours to upload.

In conclusion: I am having a good time and I am still alive and that means somebody owes me some money