July 13 2011
!שלום Hello! ברוכ'ם הבאים! Welcome to our blog!
Our first day was at Camp JRF. Lacking 5 of our 47-member family, we gathered together and started on our journey. Most of our time was spent playing ice-breaker games and spiritual activities, preparing ourselves for Israel. We felt like celebrities in South Sterling as everyone showed their excitement for our trip. It was great to be at our home-away-from-home but we were ready to take off for the homeland.
Stray Cat Count: 0 Cats
After a long but exciting (11-hour) plane ride, we arrived in Tel Aviv at 4:15 where we united for the first time as our entire family, with our awesome Israeli guides. Right as the sun was setting, we went to an overlook of the beautiful city of Jerusalem. It was magical as we said our first prayers in the land of milk and honey. We also saw our first stray cat of many. We then took the bus to our hotel to have a nice dinner and a much needed night of sleep.
Stray Cat Count: 1 Cat
We woke up bright and early to eat our first Israeli breakfast. We set off to an archeological dig site just outside of Jerusalem. We learned about what a Tel is, a mound of land with layers and layers of history beneath its surface. Our guide led us into ancient caves and handed us shovels so we could connect with our roots in a hands-on way. After digging and finding bucketfuls of little treasures: ancient pieces of pottery, bones, and ashes, we went spelunking! In other words, we crawled on our hands and knees through unexcavated caves. Don’t worry moms, we all made it through!
Covered in the desert’s dust, we climbed back on our bus and journeyed back to Jerusalem, stopping on the way to each plant our own tree with JNF. Next we went to the newly renovated Israel Museum. We saw a model of Second Temple era Jerusalem, the Dead Sea Squirrels (oops I mean scrolls… that’s a hard word for Israelis as we learned from our guide Maya), the sculptures, and the gift shop. We hopped back on the bus, and headed for the Jaffa gate, going into the Old City for the first time! We stood before the Western Wall in awe, before having a tour of the ancient streets of Jerusalem, now contained in tunnels beneath the street. Exhausted and overwhelmed from our nonstop and activity-filled day, we finally headed back to our hotel for another delicious Israeli meal and some down time.
Stray Cat Count: 11 Cats
https://picasaweb.google.com/noar.hadash/July132011
Love, your Blog Brigade 2011, Ilana, Molly N, Evie, Emily S, and Anna T