TL-46-334 Update 1

Hi!

Birthright Israel Outdoors #Bus334 hit the ground running from day one! Everything ran smoothly starting at JFK, our group hit a record time with the check-in process in under an hour. Israel Outdoors staff were impressed from the get-go that everyone was speedy and punctual. A true blessing!

After landing on Thursday evening, we took the bus up north near Qiryat Shmona. On Friday, we started our morning with a fun and creative activity. Eli, our Israeli tour guide, shared that the Israeli participants were joining us in the afternoon. We split our 33 American participants into two groups and assigned each group an Israeli participant to focus on. The two groups then had the task of making a song, poem, skit, or interpretive dance to welcome their Israeli participant, without having met them yet. They were given some background information about their Israeli and worked with that to make something special.

Hidden talents began to shine through. The participants are talented beatboxers, writers, dancers, and comedians. Below are some pictures of the brainstorming process and performances.

We then went for a light hike in the upper Galilee:

Quest Bus 334 then headed to the Jordan River to go rafting. And boy was that a fun start to the trip!

After about 2 hours we headed back to our hotel to prepare for Shabbat. Shabbat was a beautiful time that we spent together. Participants shared what Shabbat meant to them. We had a nice relaxing Shabbat day with some workout classes, including a sunset yoga class, taught by one of our participants!

It’s now Sunday morning, and we are on our way down south to Tel Aviv, With a stop first to Tzvat.

Will report back soon! Yalla bye 

– Lilly & Lauren