Last weekend, March 7-9, the program organized a hiking trip for us in the South of the country. at 7:30 am on Friday morning we boarded the buses outside the dorm and headed out.
Our first stop was to the Mitzpe Ramon Crater, the hike was about an hour, some parts were rather steep and rocky, but it was all well worth it. the crater was unbelieveavle the layers of rock changed the further down into the crater, and the colors of the rocks changed according to the level of iron present in the stone. there were purples, reds, greens. it was all desert but not sand desert, dry mountainous rocky desert. following the hike we had lunch all together at the bottom of the mountain. Afterward, we headed to the Tomb of Ben Gurion and his wife. I have been there before on birthright, but it is an experience each and everytime. this is a man who lead israel through pertinent times, but most importantly, was a firm steadfast believer in the state of israel, in populating the desert region, in Kibbutzim, and in the preservation of Jewish identity. he practiced yoga, read books, studied philosophy, sociology, science, history. moreso than a leader he was a fasinating man.
following the visit to his tomb we went to the guest house we were staying in at Dimona and hung out until Shabbat Dinner, which was buffet style and a really nice experience celebrating shabbat with all of my friends and with the whole program, saying the kiddish and the prayers etc. after dinner we went to see a drum show under a bedoin tent which was also fun, a little corny but fun.
the next day we went for another hike in the Negev, this one was great too also beautiful we saw all different desert animals and climed to the top of the mountain, there were latters on the hike which we also had to utilize it was steep but very rewarding. afterward we went to a kibbutz where we used the pool to cool off for the afternoon, the pool was indoor so i took a chair and read my book outside looking out at the view of thr Negev. that night we had dinner at a bedouin tent, very much like birthright. they served us a plethora of bedouin food which is very similar to persian food, chicken kebabs, rice, vevtables, tehina, hummus, lafa bread, picked vegetables, israeli salad, grape leaves, etc. followed by tea and coffee.
the final day we hiked the ein gedi and swam in the king david spring (also something i did on birthright). after we headed to the dead sea for the afternoon where i put mud all over my body and floated in the uber salty water.
the weekend was a also a great bonding experience...
this weekend off to jordan (petra and wadi rum)
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