The day began with my first-ever experience riding a camel. It was fun. We rode 2 people to a camel, and they were led in a straight line at a tame walk around the desert. Since it had poured the…
Day 3: Beit Govrin and Arad
This morning, we went on an archaeological dig. We went to caves from the time of the Maccabees, and climbed into tiny, claustrophobia-inducing spaces, digging into the ground with hoes and buckets. People found two-thousand-year-old pottery – it was really…
Day 2: New Jerusalem
New Jerusalem today. We saw a miniature model of Jerusalem in Roman times – more history. Boaz, our tour guide, was getting to know the group a bit better, and we decided he was pretty cool. (The other bus had…
Day 1: Old Jerusalem
The first day of the trip was a LONG day. I was awake for 30 hours straight by the time I was finally able to crash out. Here’s a recap: We drove straight from the airport to Jerusalem, to visit…
Bruchim ha’Baim l’Israel
We arrived at Ben Gurion airport at 7am. Some of the people in the group who had never been to Israel before leaned over to kiss the ground. I’ve always found that custom a little strange, but on an El…
Somewhere over the Atlantic
In the morning, we made our way to the airport and met the people from the group. There were two busloads of people leaving at the same time. Shawna and I were placed with the young’uns (18-22) and Sherri was…
Toronto
Shawna, Sherri and I flew to Toronto the night before departure, because we were requested to meet up with the group first-thing in the morning at Pearson Airport, even though our flight to Israel didn’t leave until mid-afternoon. Plenty of…
Departure from Montreal
I applied for this trip on a lark, because a friend sent me to the website and said “I’m applying, you should too.” I never thought I’d get on, because the competition at the time was intense. Remember, when I…