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Friday, July 4
It's kind of weird -- it's the Fourth of July and no one's celebrating. Not that I mind...I'm still celebrating the fact that I'm in Israel!
There's not much to write about for today. We prayed, ate breakfast and went over some rules. Then we did more ice breakers, although we still barely know anyone. After that we went to the Tayelet which is a boardwalk along a cliff that overlooks Jerusalem. The view was amazing. We could see the whole city, even into Jordan, and it looked like it came straight out of a fairytale. While we were there, we talked a little about Israel and ate lunch. Then we came back to the village and we're getting ready for Shabbat. I'm so excited about my first Shabbat in Israel...it seems so magical...
Saturday, July 5
Tonight concluded my first Shabbat in Israel. It was very awesome. Last night, we all got dressed up and went to the Old City. We found an area near the Kotel and prayed Mincha and Kabbalat Shabbat. We lit candles in an area overlooking the Old City, and it was just beautiful. Then we went down to the Kotel to do Ma'ariv individually. That had to be one of the most awesome experiences of my life. I just stood there praying, totally focused, adding so much more than just what's in the book. When I closed my eyes, it was like the whole world disappeared -- just me and G-d were left in the most holy of places. After everyone had finished praying, we walked back to the village -- it was about an hour walk, but it was fun. Then we had Shabbat dinner and shira [singing], which was nothing extremely special, and went to bed.
This morning we all went to different synagogues. Rachel and I went to one called Yididyah. It was liberal orthodox. There was a mechitzah, but women wore tallit and kipot and they tried to incorporate women into the service. Also, they sang everything, in lots of beautiful tunes I've never heard before. Aside from being really tired, I had a lot of fun.
After lunch, we studied Torah a little and slept. Then we sang a little, had dinner, played another getting-to-know-you game and did Havdalah, which I love.
This Shabbat was a lot different than last week. Last week was more spirited, and this week was more spiritual. It's hard to compare the two because I love both ways.
Tonight we had free time in Jerusalem on Ben Yehuda Street. First we went to the kosher Burger King, which was totally awesome. I haven't had a good fast food hamburger in a long time. Then we just walked around and looked in some of the shops. I bought a new purse and a few kipot. It's been a fun day, but I'm going to bed now because we have to get up early tomorrow...
Sunday, July 6
As I write, we're sitting in a Bedouin tent in the middle of the Negev Desert. It's so crazy, but I'm having so much fun.
This morning we went to the Holy Land Hotel and saw a model of Jerusalem during the time of the second Temple. We met the guy who built the model thirty years ago, and he gave us all Jerusalem stones from the model. Then we went to the Old City and went to a little museum where we learned about the city during the time of the first Temple. We returned to the Chava for lunch and then got ready for our trip. After Mincha we took a three-hour bus ride past the Dead Sea and to the Negev. We rode camels which was a crazy experience and ate a traditional Bedouin meal. Now we're hanging out, singing and doing campfire stuff like that. I'd love to write more, but it's 11:00 and we have to get up at three in the morning...
Monday, July 7
Would you believe we got up at 3:45 this morning? We ended up staying up until after midnight, and I'm not really sure how we got through today.
When we woke, we took a two hour bus ride to Masada and slept more on the way. We climbed up the mountain and then walked around the ruins to learn the story. It's such an amazingly beautiful place, overlooking the Dead Sea and lots of other smaller sand and rock mounds. And the story to go with it is cool too, like something out of a fairytale. The 900 inhabitants of the mountain were under attack by Romans and instead of waiting to be captured and forced into slavery and idolatry, they all committed suicide in order to preserve their Judaism. We talked about this a lot while we were up there and I think their actions were noble and heroic, but I'm still not sure if it was right.
We took the cable cars down, which was an experience I'd like not to have again, and ate breakfast by the gift shop. Then we drove to Ein Gedi and Nachel David where we hiked up to some waterfalls where King David got his inspiration and actually wrote the Psalms. That was amazing, sitting where one of Israel's greatest rulers once sat, where the beautiful Psalms which have given us so much pleasure and guidance were created.
Then we went to the Dead Sea which was really nasty. I only stayed in for about five minutes. Then we ate lunch, though it already seemed like it was about six in the evening.
We returned to the Chava for free time to rest, and I called my family. Then we went to Israel's mall, which used to be the largest mall in the Middle East, but it isn't anymore. And now I'm going to bed...
Tuesday, July 8
It's only Tuesday night and already this has been the longest week in the history of the world. I'm not even sure I remember what I did this morning...
Well, we got up early and drove to Yad L'kashish [Lifeline for the Old], which is a charity that gives the elderly places to work. They started out doing just book binding, about thirty-five years ago, and now they've expanded into lots of skilled crafts like wood and metal working, crochet, painting, ceramics and silk painting. They sell all their stuff in a gift shop there and all the money goes back to helping the elderly.
I bought a few kipot for my family and two mezuzot. They were really cheap, and I'm glad it's going to a good charity.
After that we went to Mea Sharim, which was a freaky experience just because we were so worried about offending the residents. They're a group of ultra-radical, ultra-orthodox Jews who don't believe in the state of Israel (they think only Moshiach [the Messiah] can rebuild it) and they've basically living in the 1800's. It was funny though, because we saw one of them -- in his long pants and long coat -- riding a motorcycle through the streets.
After that we went to a cave (I don't remember what it was called). We ate lunch there and then toured the cave. Then we went to Sataf which used to be an Arab village. We walked down the mountain and visited some springs there. It was really pretty, and the view of the land from so high up there was amazing.
We came back to the Chava for a little rest and dinner and then went to the Old City to tour the Kotel tunnels. I hadn't realized the Kotel wasn't the only part of the wall to survive. Pretty much the whole Western Wall still exists underground, and there are parts of the Southern Wall too. I didn't especially like walking through all those small tunnels, but it was interesting to see everything.
We prayed Ma'ariv at the Kotel. This was the first time I've prayed at the Kotel and actually been able to touch the wall while I prayed. I leaned my head against the wall and it was such an amazing experience. I felt so close to G-d and for the first time in a long time praying actually meant something.
We're going to Tel Aviv tomorrow...
Thursday, July 10
We're in our northern base of Hodayot now, near the sea of Galilee. But, first about yesterday...
We went to Tel Aviv, which is about an hour and a half drive from Jerusalem. First we went to the Diaspora Museum, which basically tries to answer the question: How did the Jews survive without Israel for so long? After all, it seems like all the other big empires had their day and died away -- the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, etc. Yet the Jews have remained constant. We read, again, part of an amazing essay by Mark Twain about that. The museum is interesting, but we only had an hour so it was kind of rushed.
After that we went to Jaffa. We ate lunch there and walked around the Old City. We rested there awhile because it was so hot, and then we went to Kikar Rabin, which is the place where Rabin was shot. There's a memorial there where people can write messages to him. Lots of them talk about peace and how he gave us things to believe in. It was really sad, seeing just how much the dreams of peace were thwarted by the assassination.
We also went to the Arab marketplace where a guy tried to sell me a pipe for hashish, and then we went to the mall where we ate kosher Subway for dinner. Then we returned to the Chava and packed to come to Hodayot. I'm going to fall asleep, so I'll write more tomorrow.
Friday, July 11
Right now I'm at a beach at the Kineret [Sea of Galilee], and it's so awesome. But...yesterday first...
Anyway, we started our trek to Hodayot. On the way, we first stopped at Caesaria, which is more ruins of an old Herodian city. We didn't stay long because it was very hot and we had little shade, but we walked around a little and had an "impromptu salon" at the amphitheater. Yoni played his flute and some of the guys got together to sing their harmony of "The Star Spangled Banner," while the other guys jumped around behind them trying to do some sort of ballet. It was a lot of fun. The guys in our kvutzah [bus group] are crazy, but they are awesome singers.
We then went to a beach to swim in the Mediterranean. That just sounds really cool -- we swam in the Mediterranean Sea. After that we started on our final leg of the journey to the north. I was talking to Matt about my poem and Josh heard and ran to go read it to the whole bus. It was totally embarrassing, but it opened up conversations with people I wouldn't even think of talking to otherwise.
We finally made it to Hodayot, which is so different from Jerusalem. So far I like the Chava better, but it's not bad here.
We had a little program with David and all the Eastern Europe people. It was really great to see everyone again. I know it's only been a week since we've been together, but we have a special bond that no one else has. We've been through a lot together.
Then we had a barbecue with all the people on Seminar. It was so much fun.
Today we got up around five to go on a hike and the other Chativah [group of several bus groups] went to Jerusalem. We went to a mountain called the Arbel and hiked up to the top to pray Shacarit. We hiked down, and that was one of the most awesome experiences of my life. On some parts, we were basically hanging on a vertical edge of the cliff. It was very cool.
Now we're at the Kineret and it's really nice. It's such a beautiful place, like a resort. The water is perfect and it's so relaxing.
Tonight is Shabbat again, which should be amazing as always...
Sunday, July 13
Kabbalat Shabbat Friday night was really nice. We did it outside as the sun set, just like at camp. Dinner was nothing special, and afterward we did an activity with the kvutzah. We played yet another getting-to-know-you game and then did an insane version of the dating game. After that we had free time, and I talked to Phil from the Baltimore group (you know, the ones who helped up get on the train in Prague). We talked for about an hour until Rachel pulled me away because she was having a crisis of her own.
Shabbat was a much-needed relaxing day. We had services together as a Chativah (and they got over at 10:30!). Then we pretty much had free time to sleep all day. We also had discussions about this week's Torah portion -- about whether or not Moshe's punishment of not being able to go into Eretz Yisrael [the land of Israel] was fair and why. We also tried to talk about the Rambam's eight levels of tzedakah [charity], but everyone was restless, so it didn't work out too well.
It was kind of weird in services this morning. We were saying the Prayer for the State of Israel, just like we do every week. But, this time I actually thought about it, and it was strange because I realized I was saying it in the land of Israel. It was such an awesome feeling because it finally hit me -- I am in Israel. Still, it's sometimes hard to believe.
Saturday night was awesome. We had a pool party and it turned out that the Baltimore group coming to the party with us, so that was cool.
Anyway, about today... This morning we went to Atlit, which was a British detention camp for Jews coming to Palestine after the Holocaust. The other girls who went to Poland and I stayed outside because it looked too much like a concentration camp and we were having flashbacks to our experiences in Poland.
This afternoon we took a four-hour hike on Mount Carmel. It was very awesome -- lots of climbing over rocks and down cliffs. It's such a rush -- I love hiking. Plus, it was a real bonding experience for our group because everyone really helped each other out.
And, now we're in a traffic jam (we haven't moved in half an hour) on our way to a mall in Naharia...
Tuesday, July 15
You know, it's so much easier to write on the bus in the morning when I have nothing better to do than to try to do it every night.
Anyway, about yesterday... Actually, I should finished Sunday first because Sunday wasn't over when I finished writing. We ended up sitting in that traffic jam for almost forty-five minutes, and then we went on to Akko, which is an Arab city. It was pretty nasty, with trash and dead things in the street, not to mention people were selling fish everywhere so it smelled. We prayed Mincha there in an old abandoned square as sheep, goats and other various animals wandered past. Then we went to Naharia for dinner. I tell you, being in Israel is going to spoil me with all this kosher fast food.
Now about yesterday... We spent a lot of the day at Shorashim which is a conservative Moshav in the Galilee. We walked up the mountain to overlook the area which is right between the upper and lower Galilee. We did a little activity, talking about what our homes mean to us and what we think about a homeland. It was all leading into the question about whether Israel should be a homeland for Arabs or Jews, and how we could work it our for both.
After that we returned to the main part and talked about the geography of the Galilee and the relationships between Arabs and Jews there.
Then we went to the nearby Arab village of Sha'ab. Shorashim has a lot of joint programs with them. I was a little worried about going there. When we met with the Poland people from the other Chativah who had already gone, they told us they had some bad experiences. People threw stones at them and were yelling at them, just like when we were in the Krakow ghetto. So, I was a little nervous because I didn't want to go through that again. But, we didn't have a bad experience. Our hosts were really nice. They showed us around and brought us to their homes to talk and have drinks. The only people we had yelling at us were little kids who were either bored or trying to look cool.
After that we returned to Shorashim for a short closing discussion and then went back to Hodayot.
We had a lot of free time and mostly hung out in the laundry room as we tried to wash our clothes. For Pulat Erev, we did an activity about Israeli politics, which most of us found quite boring and tedious, especially since we were so tired.
We also found out our Etgar choices. Tikvah was discontinued because of lack of interest, which I was kind of upset about. So, I'm in archaeology, which should be awesome.
Wednesday, July 16
All right, I forgot to finish writing yesterday, which is why it ended so abruptly. Anyway, about yesterday... First we went to the Good Fence which is on the border of Israel and Lebanon. It's where all the soldiers who are stationed in Lebanon cross the border. While we were there, we looked over into Lebanon and talked to some of the soldiers there.
Then we went to Tel Dan where we took a strenuous hike on the wheelchair accessible trail. We played around in some of the springs there and go into a huge water fight. It's a really pretty place. It's one of the streams that flows into the Jordan River.
After lunch we went to the Naot factory and warehouse. I bought Tevas and Naot clogs. It's funny because now everyone is wearing the same shoes.
Then we went kayaking on the Jordan River. That sounds like a major, scary feat, doesn't it? Well, it wasn't. The kayaks were like rafts, only skinnier, and the route was short. The current was slow and there was only one "waterfall," which was like a one foot drop. The trip was a lot of fun, but not challenging like we thought it would be. We pretty much just laid out in the boat and relaxed as we drifted down the river. We got into a few water fights and a few people did some boat-hopping. It was great.
Anyway, about the rest of today... This morning we went to Tzippori, which is another ancient town. We divided into four groups and did little skits at various places in the city, that were semi-related to each of those sights.
We ate lunch there and then went on to Sfat. We walked around a little and looked at the two old synagogues there -- that look a lot like the synagogues in Poland. We also went to the candle factory and walked around the market.
Now we're back at the base and tonight we're going on...da da da...the DISCO BOAT! Ha -- I'm finally caught up in my journal writing! :) Later...
Saturday, July 19
Oh, I have a lot of catching up to do... Wednesday night was... da da da ...the DISCO BOAT. It's hard for me to just write that. You know, it doesn't quite have the same effect without Joel doing his little dance. But, enough about the proper expression of the word. It was kind of stupid. It only lasted about 45 minutes and the music was horrible. I had fun though. Phil and I stood out on the deck under the starts, just talking and watching the city go by. It was great.
Thursday we went to the Golan Heights. We went to an overlook area and learned a little about the situation -- the whole 6-Day War, protection against Syria thing. Then we took a pretty hike to a waterfall where we swam and ate lunch. Well, I didn't swim because I didn't feel like trying to figure out how to change into my swimsuit in front of the whole kvutzah, but some people did.
In the afternoon, we went to a library in a city whose name I don't remember, and we talked to Israeli teenagers who live in the Golan and asked them what they thought of the political situation. They're all very for keeping the Golan in Israel because they don't think giving it back will make peace. It was weird to see people our age so passionate about their political convictions -- that's so rare in the United States.
Then we went to the grave of the poet Rachel, who I had never heard of before. She came to Israel in the early 1900's from Russia when she was 19. She loved working with kids and the land and that's what she devoted her life to. Shortly after her arrival, she got tuberculosis and they wouldn't let her work with kids or agriculture anymore. So, she started to write poems -- mostly about love and patriotism. We all stood around her grave and read some of her poems. Then Joel told a story that all the Poconos people were supposed to tell. Near Rachel's grave is the grave of a woman named Shellie Greenspun. Joel described her as a person who never knew how to be a Jew. She grew up Jewish but never learned the customs and didn't know what it all meant. She ended up sending her son to a Jewish school and every day he would come home and teach her new stuff. So, that got her motivated and she went to rabbinical school. As she was finishing, she found out she had lung cancer and it was spreading rapidly through her body. She didn't have much time left, but her dream was to give a sermon. So, she was ordained and with barely any strength left, she gave her sermon. She died shortly after and was buried in Israel. She'd never set foot in the Promised Land but loved it so dearly and loved Judaism so much, her son knew that was what had to be done. Her son was the one who told the story to the Poconos people and he asked them to say Kaddish for her because he didn't have the money to do it himself. We said Kaddish and it was so moving, I was in tears at the end. It was just such an inspiring story.
Thursday night we had a short talent show for our Chativah and then had free time with a late curfew because we had to pack to leave Hodayot the next day.
Now we're on our host Shabbat. We left Hodayot Friday to come back to Jerusalem. Gila and I are staying with her friends Chris and Meryll, who are friends of Gila's family. We've pretty much been sleeping the whole weekend. We went to Ben Yehuda Street tonight and got lost on the way back. That's about it. More tomorrow...
Sunday, July 20
As I write, I'm sitting on my sleeping bag on a hard, rocky ground in the Ramah/JNF Forest. We returned from our host Shabbat, back to the Chava, this afternoon. We got our new building and kind of unpacked, while getting lots of mail and reuniting with the other Chativah. Then we hurriedly packed again and drove to the beginning of the trail. We hiked for about an hour and a half before reaching Ramat Hashayarot [Convoy Hill], which is our campsite in the forest. The hike was fun, mostly uphill on steep, slippery rocks. I tell you, I'm going to be so fit by the end of the summer.
When we arrived, we had a barbecue and prayed. We're supposed to be having a bonfire now, but everyone is really tired and I think we're all going to sleep now...
Monday, July 21
It's still afternoon, but I felt like writing anyway...
This morning we woke up at the bright and early hour of 5:30. It was painful since we'd been sleeping on a lovely bed of comfortable rocks. We prayed and ate breakfast as the sun rose. Of course, we weren't too happy about being up.
We went to some rock terraces near where we slept and worked for about an hour and a half clearing away weeds and debris. A few years ago, a fire had claimed a large part of a forest and had also touched the edges of the Ramah forest. So, we were clearing the debris to help replenish the Ramah forest. After clearing we had a little ceremony about the importance of planting in the Holy Land. We also said a prayer for planting the trees and then got to work. We each got our own tree and planted it. It was very cool, actually working the soil of this holy place with my own hands, knowing that I was helping to save the land.
I have to go to Mincha... I'll continue later...
Anyway, this afternoon we went to Ammunition Hill and Har Herzel (the military cemetery). Ammunition Hill was the site of one of the final battles of the Six Day War in 1967. Thirty-six soldiers died there as they tried to claim the hill to help reunite Jerusalem. We saw a movie there and it said something I'd never thought of before. It said Jerusalem is a city of faith. It seems so obvious and makes total sense. I don't know why I'd never though of it before, but it is a beautiful thought. The movie talked about the soldiers' reactions as they re-entered the Old City after not being allowed in there. It was so joyous and patriotic and full of love. I mean, these men had barely even had the hope of every praying at the Kotel, of walking in the Holy City our ancestors inhabited so long ago. And suddenly they got the chance to. After days of fighting, risking their lives, watching their friends die and thinking they were going to die -- they entered the walls of the Old City to pray and rejoice at the Kotel. It was amazing.
At the cemetery we saw the graves of the great leaders of Israel -- most notably Yitzchak Rabin. We also saw the graves of the soldiers who gave their lives to defend our Holy Land.
After dinner we had a little program to get prepared for Etgar-Mifgash and that was about it...
Tuesday, July 22
It's still afternoon and I'm sitting in the Roman Cardo (marketplace) of the Old City, which is a weird place to be writing, but I figure I might as well do it now because we're on a lunch break and I'm fasting for the 17th of Tammuz. (I think that's the longest run-on sentence I've ever written.)
Anyway, this morning we went to Migdal David [Tower of David]. It's the remnants of the fortress that was used to defend Jerusalem before the city was unified thirty years ago. It's a museum now, about the history of Jerusalem. First we played a game, just to get acquainted with the time periods of Jerusalem's history and to learn a few facts about each time period. Then we started a tour of the museum and a more in-depth look at each time period, but we didn't get a chance to finish because the other group got done before we did and the counselors were getting impatient. We also climbed the tower to overlook all of the Old City. It was such an amazing view. The Old City continues to impress me more and more no matter how many times I see it.
Now I just have to wait for this lunch break to be over. This fast is always the hardest during the summer. It's a minor fast so they don't stop programming and it's really hard to keep going all day, especially without water. Lunch is over -- I'll continue the rest of this later tonight...
Now we're waiting for the bus, on the steps of Jerusalem's windmill which has never been used because Israel doesn't have enough wind. After lunch we went to Yamin Moshe, which is one of the first settlements outside the walls of the Old City. It's a private place now, mostly for rich people, so we just walked through pretty quickly, smelling all the wonderful food that we still can't eat for another six and a half hours. And now we're at the windmill. When it was built it was meant to be used. But, its builder didn't take into account Israel's lack of wind, and it was never able to work. So, it became a symbol for Zionism and moving out of the Old City to populate the rest of Jerusalem.
Anyway, something we talked about this morning that I forgot to mention. King David's name had two dalets [a Hebrew letter that sounds like a "d"] in it and dalet turns into the Greek letter delta which is a triangle. When you put the two triangles together, one up and one down, you get the Star of David. It has a few more symbolisms, but the one I like best is the one about two Jerusalems. First of all, we know there are two because the Hebrew is Yerushalayim, with the plural ending. And the Jewish star symbolizes this proof -- one triangle pointing down to the Jerusalem here on Earth that we inhabit, and the other triangle pointing up to G-d in His Heavenly Jerusalem where we will all join Him one day. And when Moshiach comes, the two Jerusalems will unite as one.
I think that's about all I have for now, unless we do something really exciting tonight. More tomorrow...
All right, nothing else exciting happened, but I felt like writing anyway. We did Mincha and had free time while everyone else ate. Then we did Ma'ariv and broke the fast, with somewhat appetizing Chinese chicken and stir fry. This was the first time I've fasted for all of the 17th of Tammuz (I usually break it after Mincha like everyone else), so I felt accomplished. After dinner, we had a discussion/activity thing about Israeli politics. This was in preparation for tomorrow when we'll be meeting actual Israelis and talking with them about their political views. I'm ready to go to sleep now...
Wednesday, July 23
We haven't really done much yet, but of course it is only 2:30...
This morning we actually got to wake up somewhat late (aka 6:45). After breakfast and prayers we drove to an area about twenty minutes south of Jerusalem called Gush Etzion. We went to a city called Efrat and listened to a speaker who represented the right wing of the Israeli political spectrum. He based most of his claims on the Bible and said the Jews had all the rights to the land of Israel and Palestinians should get out. We're going to hear a speaker from the left wing later this afternoon.
Then we went to a kibbutz called Kfar Etzion. We saw a movie about their involvement in the War for Independence of 1948. Lots of people died there when grenades were thrown into a bunker protecting women, children and sick people. Then we came back here for lunch and now we have free time for another hour and a half until Mincha and the next speaker...
I must admit I didn't pay much attention to the left-wing speaker this afternoon. I was tired and had other things on my mind.
Basically, the right wing doesn't like the Arabs very much. They want the Palestinians out of Israel, want Israel to be a Jewish state and don't want to give up any land to get what they want The left wing is all for peace and will pretty much give up any land to get that real, lasting peace with the Arabs -- which means an end to terrorism. Of course there are lots of different degrees on both sides. The people we heard today were both pretty moderate and more toward the middle of the spectrum.
We're having a disco tonight with some USY groups, and I'm not especially looking forward to it...
Thursday, July 24
Today has been such an awesome day. Last night at the disco was nothing exciting. It was really loud and people were smoking, so I spent the whole time outside talking with my friends.
Anyway, today we did the "Dig for a Day" archaeology experience. We woke up at the bright hour of 5:30 and were on the road by 7:30. The drive was a little over an hour to the area called Bet Guvrin and the site called Tel Marisha where a ton of archaeological excavations are going on. First we went through a cave that had been totally excavated. We just walked around in there and learned about some of the archaeological evidence that they use to piece together facts. We also learned a little about the city. It was a Hellenistic City and probably the place where Herod was born. (That's all I remember.) After that we crawled through a cave that was still being excavated -- which means that it's not totally dug out and there were lots of close spaces and lots of small holes we had to crawl through. It was fun and exciting...once we got out into the open air and daylight again. After that we actually got to work on an excavation. The kvutzah broke into three groups and we rotated between digging and filling buckets, schlepping buckets out of the cave, and sifting through the findings to find pottery shards and bones. It was very cool. We got so dirty and nasty, but it was so much fun. I'm really looking forward now to next week for my Etgar. Anyway, we didn't find anything too interesting -- just a bunch of broken pottery and a piece of bone here and there -- but it was still fun.
We left the site and went to a somewhat clean place for lunch. Then we went to the pottery shed and went through another unexcavated cave, which was totally insane. I went through some of the loopholes because I just could not deal with the enclosed spaces. I'll admit, it was fun, but I was really relieved to be outside again. I'm just not much for spelunking.
We spent a little more time in the pottery shed, buying "We Dig Israel" t-shirts and looking through some of the pottery pieces they found. Then we returned to the Chava.
We had free time for a few hours to shower and get ready for our free night on Ben Yehuda. We didn't have that much time in town tonight, so we just ate dinner and walked around. We ate falafel at Melech Hafalafel [King of Falafel], which is supposedly the best falafel stand on the planet. It definitely was very good. We ate dessert at the Rimon Cafe and Elizabeth and I split an amazing banana split. We walked around for a while and talked to Eynat and Mark -- both of them are our counselors -- for awhile. It was basically aimless wandering because we were bored and didn't really want to do anything, but we didn't want to return to the Chava yet either.
Anyway, I should get going... It's late and we had a long day today, plus we have to get up early tomorrow...
