хуй vey!
im still sensing a bit like im in the middle east but the feeling is quickly rubbing off.
Israel... 10 days on a bus with some groovy kids, and i am back safe and sound.
where do i even begin? to start off, i don't know how well i do in groups, especially when it comes to travel. this was my first, possibly my last group trip... it definitely has its pros and cons. but i could not give up an opportunity like this, first of all the entire trip from flight to hotel to food was free, freeeeee, completely free. wow. second, i got to meet some super cool jews and learn a lot about a country that i have been longing to know more of. i wish i could have extended my stay and experienced the middle east on my own, or with some cool dudes and dudettes that i met on my journey there, but i am saving that for another time, possible some time next year.
so to the good stuff... israel is enchanting. the people, the history, the music, the food, omg the food, the culture, did i mention the food?
ok the good stuff is the food so i will start there:
i can sum it all up in just one word: HUMMUS
i didn't know so much gastronomical goodness can come from a can of garbanzo beans. i ate fresh fruit and vegetables for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a side of hummus of all hours of the day. shwarma, fallafel, all the middle eastern goodies were there, although traveling with the group made it hard for me to test my pallet too much... but i somehow catered to all my taste buds. a very popular side dish is cucumber with sour cream. the sour cream was something from out of this world. i know a lot of people are not fans, but keeping to my slavic roots i devoured that stuff. i also found a lot of baked goods, usually some sort of sweet cheese or chocolate encrusted in layers of fluffy dough, also will keep you licking your fingers.
we did so much in just 10 short days that im even having a hard time looking back and recalling every little thing but i will touch on those that stuck in my mind the most.
MASADA, is an ancient palace on top of a giant mountain in the desert overlooking the Dead Sea built sometime around 37BCE (omg that's so old). it looks like someone took a knife and sliced the top of a mountain off, placing the palace on top, guarding its fortress from the Roman Empire. the story goes that when the Roman Empire siege the Jews from their fortress, the Jews were led to a mass suicide when they knew they would not survive.
I found myself in one of the most beautiful places in the world. looking down across the desert and on the Sea you can see the path of the dying salt, leaving behind wavelike designs (apparently the Dead Sea is dying out but it will be another million years or so before its completely dead... a bit ironic)
Masada with its rickety bricks and its ancient ruins is AMAZING. its a bit of a hike to get there and in the Negev desert the heat will take you, all of you. but with plenty of water and with calves of steel (now they are) your pilgrimage will be welcomed with an amazing view, a light breeze even, and what feels like a maze of ancient rooms, bathhouses, palaces, and a bunch of great spots to sit and think, or tan...
(view from the top of Masada)
Another amazing place was the Golan Heights, in the north east of Israel, bordering Syria and Lebanon. And when I say bordering I mean I could see the other countries from where I was standing on the mountain. This place is famous for the War of 1967 Six Day War, when Syria occupied this region and Israel retreated and capturing this land and later capturing it for good in 1973 Yom Kippur War. There were trenches, real trenches that we got to walk through. Our tour guide who was with us the whole time actually served in this war and had a heroic story to tell us about his experience, this site was especially a sensitive place for him and extremely important... i actually met multiple people who have fought in recent wars and it was a very unique experience for me... a welcome to reality that i'm still processing.
(me after a mini jeep ride in the Golan Heights, Syria and Lebanon right behind me)
Another amazing place was Tzvat(sp?)... it was a short stop but a place that felt very special and spiritual. it is the birthplace of Kabballah. it was a cool little town and full of mysticism, not to mention cool little winding roads, local artists selling their work, and genuinely nice people. most of everyone who lives there appeared to be Hasidic. it had one of the prettiest synagogues i have ever been to, all blue blue blue.
(there was a picture of this guy holding his hand up all over this city)
we of course visited the major tourist spots. all around i had fun, although at times i questioned myself of what my goal was from this trip: to learn about religion, history, sight see?
i think i did a little bit of all of those things... well maybe more of the religious stuff then what i was expecting but i still took from it a knowledge and and eye-opening experience.
we did a lot of silly things (i thought) like visiting holy sights where we can pray for a husband or wife, or sit on a holy chair and in 1 year we would meet our soul mate. it was very entertaining to me. i floated in the dead sea, rode a camel, stayed in a Baudouin tent, drank Turkish coffee....
the people on this trip were a mix, a good mix. right away i befriended the only other russian girl, Natasha and her and i became a pair right away. with us was Jessica, our American padrushka who quickly learned the dirtiest phrases in russian... we are so proud of her.
so i met some cool kids, both American and Israeli and we had a good few laughs and drinks.
I found the people in Israel to be very friendly and open. i had many reservations before going to visit but the second i got off the plane all my nerves were somehow calmed. its weird to see an 18 year old girl walking down the street with a giant gun but it actually made me feel more safe and protected. the uniforms did not phase me at all and unfortunately it has become part of the lifestyle there.
so Israel... in 10 days was short, too short. it was intense the amount of stuff we did each day and it was difficult for me to feel spiritual in a the holiest places of the world as we were constantly in a hurry to see the next great thing... i wish i could take my time and give and take from it in my own way... but hey that's the catch.
Its crazy how such a tiny little country holds so much power over the rest of us, and for whatever reason everyone wants a piece of it, or all of it. i have yet to learn more about the middle eastern conflict as there is way too much information for me to soak up...
so thank you birthright, and as we usually say..... next year in Jerusalem
Israel... 10 days on a bus with some groovy kids, and i am back safe and sound.
where do i even begin? to start off, i don't know how well i do in groups, especially when it comes to travel. this was my first, possibly my last group trip... it definitely has its pros and cons. but i could not give up an opportunity like this, first of all the entire trip from flight to hotel to food was free, freeeeee, completely free. wow. second, i got to meet some super cool jews and learn a lot about a country that i have been longing to know more of. i wish i could have extended my stay and experienced the middle east on my own, or with some cool dudes and dudettes that i met on my journey there, but i am saving that for another time, possible some time next year.
so to the good stuff... israel is enchanting. the people, the history, the music, the food, omg the food, the culture, did i mention the food?
ok the good stuff is the food so i will start there:
i can sum it all up in just one word: HUMMUS
i didn't know so much gastronomical goodness can come from a can of garbanzo beans. i ate fresh fruit and vegetables for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a side of hummus of all hours of the day. shwarma, fallafel, all the middle eastern goodies were there, although traveling with the group made it hard for me to test my pallet too much... but i somehow catered to all my taste buds. a very popular side dish is cucumber with sour cream. the sour cream was something from out of this world. i know a lot of people are not fans, but keeping to my slavic roots i devoured that stuff. i also found a lot of baked goods, usually some sort of sweet cheese or chocolate encrusted in layers of fluffy dough, also will keep you licking your fingers.
we did so much in just 10 short days that im even having a hard time looking back and recalling every little thing but i will touch on those that stuck in my mind the most.
MASADA, is an ancient palace on top of a giant mountain in the desert overlooking the Dead Sea built sometime around 37BCE (omg that's so old). it looks like someone took a knife and sliced the top of a mountain off, placing the palace on top, guarding its fortress from the Roman Empire. the story goes that when the Roman Empire siege the Jews from their fortress, the Jews were led to a mass suicide when they knew they would not survive.
I found myself in one of the most beautiful places in the world. looking down across the desert and on the Sea you can see the path of the dying salt, leaving behind wavelike designs (apparently the Dead Sea is dying out but it will be another million years or so before its completely dead... a bit ironic)
Masada with its rickety bricks and its ancient ruins is AMAZING. its a bit of a hike to get there and in the Negev desert the heat will take you, all of you. but with plenty of water and with calves of steel (now they are) your pilgrimage will be welcomed with an amazing view, a light breeze even, and what feels like a maze of ancient rooms, bathhouses, palaces, and a bunch of great spots to sit and think, or tan...
(view from the top of Masada)
Another amazing place was the Golan Heights, in the north east of Israel, bordering Syria and Lebanon. And when I say bordering I mean I could see the other countries from where I was standing on the mountain. This place is famous for the War of 1967 Six Day War, when Syria occupied this region and Israel retreated and capturing this land and later capturing it for good in 1973 Yom Kippur War. There were trenches, real trenches that we got to walk through. Our tour guide who was with us the whole time actually served in this war and had a heroic story to tell us about his experience, this site was especially a sensitive place for him and extremely important... i actually met multiple people who have fought in recent wars and it was a very unique experience for me... a welcome to reality that i'm still processing.
(me after a mini jeep ride in the Golan Heights, Syria and Lebanon right behind me)
Another amazing place was Tzvat(sp?)... it was a short stop but a place that felt very special and spiritual. it is the birthplace of Kabballah. it was a cool little town and full of mysticism, not to mention cool little winding roads, local artists selling their work, and genuinely nice people. most of everyone who lives there appeared to be Hasidic. it had one of the prettiest synagogues i have ever been to, all blue blue blue.
(there was a picture of this guy holding his hand up all over this city)
we of course visited the major tourist spots. all around i had fun, although at times i questioned myself of what my goal was from this trip: to learn about religion, history, sight see?
i think i did a little bit of all of those things... well maybe more of the religious stuff then what i was expecting but i still took from it a knowledge and and eye-opening experience.
we did a lot of silly things (i thought) like visiting holy sights where we can pray for a husband or wife, or sit on a holy chair and in 1 year we would meet our soul mate. it was very entertaining to me. i floated in the dead sea, rode a camel, stayed in a Baudouin tent, drank Turkish coffee....
the people on this trip were a mix, a good mix. right away i befriended the only other russian girl, Natasha and her and i became a pair right away. with us was Jessica, our American padrushka who quickly learned the dirtiest phrases in russian... we are so proud of her.
so i met some cool kids, both American and Israeli and we had a good few laughs and drinks.
I found the people in Israel to be very friendly and open. i had many reservations before going to visit but the second i got off the plane all my nerves were somehow calmed. its weird to see an 18 year old girl walking down the street with a giant gun but it actually made me feel more safe and protected. the uniforms did not phase me at all and unfortunately it has become part of the lifestyle there.
so Israel... in 10 days was short, too short. it was intense the amount of stuff we did each day and it was difficult for me to feel spiritual in a the holiest places of the world as we were constantly in a hurry to see the next great thing... i wish i could take my time and give and take from it in my own way... but hey that's the catch.
Its crazy how such a tiny little country holds so much power over the rest of us, and for whatever reason everyone wants a piece of it, or all of it. i have yet to learn more about the middle eastern conflict as there is way too much information for me to soak up...
so thank you birthright, and as we usually say..... next year in Jerusalem
