TL-47-506 Update 1
After much anticipation, the trip finally began when we walked up to a blond, curly-headed, Tori, one of our American staffers, holding a guitar on her back and a smile on her face greeting everyone with a warm “Boker Tov”!! Our huddle (and future dubbed mishpacha) spent many hours waiting for security and getting to know the names and hometowns of some other members of the trip. I got to meet just some of my future trip-mates and connect about music, living in LA, and Judaism. I even realized I had met Ali, a fellow participant, once at a shabbat dinner in college 2 years ago and quickly we became friends again. We all asked each other so many questions (but still not enough to prepare us for El Al’s TSA interrogation). After some ice breakers, a plane ride, 4 movies, and a brief nap, we finally arrived in Israel.
In Israel, we made our way through customs and stretched out our cramped legs with a helpful yoga session lead by Isra, our other American staffer. We were then greeted by sandwiches from Naomi, from Israel Outdoors and Chaim, our Israeli Guide, who reiterated some important rules, participated in more ice breakers, and set the tone for our upcoming trip. 2 hours on the bus to Tiberius passed quickly with conversations with Julia and Jason about farming, food, and the growing LA jazz scene. We arrived at the King Solomon hotel, understandably exhausted and hungry, but were shepherded into a full buffet where we recovered and many of us caught a second wind. The day ended with an unfiltered and silly ice breaker session where we learned that among us are pole vaulters, archeological diggers, and a semi-professional toe thrower. Afterwards some of us continued to hangout and share some music (we have 3 DJs on the bus) and games until we crashed at 11 pm.
Our first full day started with a hot breakfast/ dance lesson and a much needed (and now renowned) Isra yoga session. We hopped on the bus to nature walk and learn with Chaim, who we have discovered is a lovable and passionate singer, dancer, and Israeli historian. Chaim explained the theme of the day is water and borders and we have certainly kept on theme with informational discussions of Israeli borders and the recent shift from dependance of water from the sea of Galilee to desalinization from the Mediterranean. For lunch, many of us enjoyed our first Israeli shawarma and took a walk through an Israeli supermarket.
Next stop is the hot springs for a soak. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the trip brings!
Golda Gershanok
