Many people were nervous to be hosted by Israeli strangers, but their fears were soon overcome, as all of the Israelis were so welcoming and nice. We each had some free time with them. Many of us went to the beach, some shopping, and we all got a good feel for our sister-city Netanya. The morning with the hosts was sad because we were at a ceremony for Yom Hazikaron, where Israelis spoke about soldiers who have died. It was very interesting to see how hundreds of high schoolers were silent and paying attention because they all have lots of respect for the soldiers and the holiday. However, that night, we had loads of fun celebrating Yom Haatzmaut, Israel's Independence Day. Most of the hosts got together and we had a barbeque filled with socializing and good food. We also went to a huge public concert, which included famous Israeli acts. We enjoyed dancing and listening to different music!
After saying goodbye to our hosts, we headed to Tel Aviv to explore. Tel Aviv has so much to offer. We had free time in Akko and then caught a cool air show off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Thankfully it was a little cloudy and we were able to appreciate the tricks the pilots did. Planes, jets, and helicopters flew in groups close to each other and performed tricks. All of us were very entertained. That evening, we headed to the MOTL mega event. I have never seen so many jewish high schoolers in my life. During the buffet dinner with 10,000 other teens, our Cincinnati delegation made quite a scene, as we loudly played our favorite game "Bunny Bunny." We received many stares and glares, but we didn't care because we were having fun. The event's concert included many guest speakers and musical acts, honoring Israel's birthday. There was an enormous mosh pit, which we all danced and got sweaty in. It was a great ending to our trip.
We had an early start on our last day, and took a two hour drive to Akko, where we toured a castle that was recently (in the past 50 years) discovered underground. It was built by crusaders and it was evident that they put a lot of effort into it. It had lots of little details and it was still well preserved. Next, we went to Rosh Hanikra and viewed beautiful grottos. We had to take a trolley to the bottom of a cliff that held the caves of water. The gorgeous grottos were located less than a mile from the Jordan border, so there was lots of secutity. Our next stop was Tzfat. The cobble stone streets really made us feel like we were in authentic Israel. In Tzfat, we visited Avraham, an artist very influenced by Kaballah, who spoke with us about Jewish Mysticism. We were all very intrigued by him. He told us that we need to research our names (Hebrew and English) because our names are not given to us randomly; we are each predestined to act how our names say. Next, we were off to Tiberias to have fun on a "disco boat." We danced, ate pizza, and spilled coke all while soaking up the ending of our trip.
I feel bad for the people sitting next to us on our 1am, 12 hour long flight from Israel to JFK, because we had no time to shower before going to the airport. Soon we are off to Washington, D.C. then Dayton, and finally the JCC. It's sad to be leaving the people who I have become close with these past two weeks and we are spending every last minute together in the airport, but we will be home to our families soon!
-Dana Coleman
May 8, 2014
