The last few days...
Hi! I have been back since Friday and things have been crazy! There is a saying that coming back from vacation negates all the relaxation of your vacation, and it is definitely true.
Here is what I did the last few days in Israel!!
August 3:
We woke up early to go on something called the "Salad Trail." The awesome thing about this place was that an immigrant family (originally from South Africa!) had essentially reclaimed the desert, which can sustain little life. They built a very successful farm that grows a dozen kinds of small tomatoes, cucumbers, passion fruits, strawberries, carrots, melons, and more. Visitors can walk through the rows and pick and eat the produce, which is exactly what we did! And all of it is free -- they give it all away. So you can say that this activity was right up my alley!
We walked through rows of tomatoes with names like "blondes" "redheaded dates" and "matrushka dolls," picking tomatoes off of vines, wiping them off on our shirts, and eating them. We cracked melons open on rocks and scooped the flesh out with our hands. We went through a "maze" of passion fruit trees and climbed them to get to the ripe ones on the tallest branches, which we cracked open with our teeth. Have you ever had a real passion fruit? Possibly my new favorite kind of produce. Looks gross, tastes DELICIOUS.
We then were given spades to dig through rows of carrots. Someone had mistakenly mowed over the tops of the carrots, so they were all buried and we couldn't see the leaves. I'm not sure what it is about digging for carrots with a bunch of strangers, but that was the most fun I had so far on the trip! We all came away with handfuls of purple carrots.
Then we made our own matza, which is absolutely nothing like the kind you buy in the store here. It was like a thin crispy pita bread. We cooked it on a hot stone outside and ate it with olive oil. Then we learned a little bit about carrier pigeons, which are a real thing! They would come back to the desert with messages during the wars. We released a bunch of them into the sky!
Also, this farm was near the Gaza border, and while we were there we could hear very distant bombings in Egypt. It was very surreal to be stealing strawberries from vines while echoes of bombs thudded all around us.
After this we spent the afternoon at a pool that was fed from a mineral spring, because it was SO. HOT. Being in that pool was such a relief (and I have a phobia of pools).
In the evening, we went to a Bedouin camp. True Bedouins are nomadic middle-eastern tribes that live in the desert. This was more like an established touristy village, but I enjoyed it immensely nonetheless. We learned about Bedouins (who serve coffee as a sign of respect, although a full cup means "I'm sorry, I have no room for you here") and how they live off the land, again reclaiming the lifeless desert and turning it into treasure.
We had a traditional Bedouin dinner of rice, chicken, spices, pita, and hummus (so much pita and hummus...) which we all shared out of a giant bowl while sitting on blankets on the ground. It was the best meal we've had.
After that, we walked about a half mile away from the camp into the desert. I mean it when I say this was THE DESERT. It was pitch black except for our few flashlights. When we were far from the camp, we could see thousands of stars, and nothing else. We could see a few tiny shooting stars, and the faint outline of the milky way. We watched military planes practice flying overhead for a few minutes, and when they stopped we could hear nothing at all. The silence pressed into my ears. It is a strange sensation to be deprived of all the senses except for the stars you can see above you. Yet I had no fear of the dark or any creatures that might be lurking.
Our guide told us this:
"The world has never seen anything like you before, and will never see anything exactly like you ever again."
Isn't that crazy? Maybe it sounded more crazy under all those stars...
When we got back to our camp, we lit a bonfire and made smores. Everything in my bag smelled like campire for the next three days.
We all went to on dusty blankets under a giant canopy tent. Just hangin' out in the middle of nowhere. Wow.
August 4:
At 7 am we headed out for a CAMEL RIDE! They're really very friendly and docile, or at least these were. It was a lot like riding a very relaxed horse. We rode into the desert for about 15 minutes, not seeing much of anything, until all of a sudden we came near the edge of a cliff! I wish these pictures could show the depth here. Below us were miles and miles and miles of canyons. I know I've said this before, but nature is such a powerful thing, and no picture could do this view justice.
After that we packed up our camp site and headed out to Makhtesh Ramon, the largest natural crater in the world. It is named for Ilan Ramon, Israel's first and only astronaut, who died in the Columbia shuttle accident in 2003. It is 25 miles across and almost a BILLION years old. There was an exhibit for Ilan Ramon, with a short film about his life, and when the film ended the screen rolled up to reveal the crater through a huge glass window!!! We couldn't even see to the end of it despite the cloudless sky.
After that we drove for five hours north to Haifa. We passed the grave of David Ben Gurion, the founder of the State of Israel, as well as a Hamas prison, which is half underground so the prisoners can't escape. We learned a bit about Ben Gurion, who wanted to reclaim the desert land for the Jews to make their home.
When we got to Haifa, which was very green after our week in the desert, we went straight to the beach! We swam in the Mediterranean Sea for hours. Man is it salty. I waved to Greece too (not sure which direction I was waving in, though).
We then had a night out in Haifa to go to some bars and restaurants, which was a good time.
August 5:
Our last day in Israel! In the morning we saw the Baha'i gardens from the outside, since we're not allowed in. The Baha'i believe in unity and equality for all. :)
We spent the day in Tel Aviv, which was an awesome city. It reminded me a little bit of Chicago. Kind of neighborhoody, a little bit strange, a lot of character. We went to lunch, went to a street market, and spent the day at the beach again.
In the afternoon we went on a scavenger hunt of sorts throughout the city, which was a fun way to spend an afternoon walking around Tel Aviv.
Then we packed up and headed home!
Here is what I did the last few days in Israel!!
August 3:
We woke up early to go on something called the "Salad Trail." The awesome thing about this place was that an immigrant family (originally from South Africa!) had essentially reclaimed the desert, which can sustain little life. They built a very successful farm that grows a dozen kinds of small tomatoes, cucumbers, passion fruits, strawberries, carrots, melons, and more. Visitors can walk through the rows and pick and eat the produce, which is exactly what we did! And all of it is free -- they give it all away. So you can say that this activity was right up my alley!
We walked through rows of tomatoes with names like "blondes" "redheaded dates" and "matrushka dolls," picking tomatoes off of vines, wiping them off on our shirts, and eating them. We cracked melons open on rocks and scooped the flesh out with our hands. We went through a "maze" of passion fruit trees and climbed them to get to the ripe ones on the tallest branches, which we cracked open with our teeth. Have you ever had a real passion fruit? Possibly my new favorite kind of produce. Looks gross, tastes DELICIOUS.
We then were given spades to dig through rows of carrots. Someone had mistakenly mowed over the tops of the carrots, so they were all buried and we couldn't see the leaves. I'm not sure what it is about digging for carrots with a bunch of strangers, but that was the most fun I had so far on the trip! We all came away with handfuls of purple carrots.
Then we made our own matza, which is absolutely nothing like the kind you buy in the store here. It was like a thin crispy pita bread. We cooked it on a hot stone outside and ate it with olive oil. Then we learned a little bit about carrier pigeons, which are a real thing! They would come back to the desert with messages during the wars. We released a bunch of them into the sky!
Also, this farm was near the Gaza border, and while we were there we could hear very distant bombings in Egypt. It was very surreal to be stealing strawberries from vines while echoes of bombs thudded all around us.
After this we spent the afternoon at a pool that was fed from a mineral spring, because it was SO. HOT. Being in that pool was such a relief (and I have a phobia of pools).
In the evening, we went to a Bedouin camp. True Bedouins are nomadic middle-eastern tribes that live in the desert. This was more like an established touristy village, but I enjoyed it immensely nonetheless. We learned about Bedouins (who serve coffee as a sign of respect, although a full cup means "I'm sorry, I have no room for you here") and how they live off the land, again reclaiming the lifeless desert and turning it into treasure.
We had a traditional Bedouin dinner of rice, chicken, spices, pita, and hummus (so much pita and hummus...) which we all shared out of a giant bowl while sitting on blankets on the ground. It was the best meal we've had.
After that, we walked about a half mile away from the camp into the desert. I mean it when I say this was THE DESERT. It was pitch black except for our few flashlights. When we were far from the camp, we could see thousands of stars, and nothing else. We could see a few tiny shooting stars, and the faint outline of the milky way. We watched military planes practice flying overhead for a few minutes, and when they stopped we could hear nothing at all. The silence pressed into my ears. It is a strange sensation to be deprived of all the senses except for the stars you can see above you. Yet I had no fear of the dark or any creatures that might be lurking.
Our guide told us this:
"The world has never seen anything like you before, and will never see anything exactly like you ever again."
Isn't that crazy? Maybe it sounded more crazy under all those stars...
When we got back to our camp, we lit a bonfire and made smores. Everything in my bag smelled like campire for the next three days.
We all went to on dusty blankets under a giant canopy tent. Just hangin' out in the middle of nowhere. Wow.
Literally the desert.
August 4:
At 7 am we headed out for a CAMEL RIDE! They're really very friendly and docile, or at least these were. It was a lot like riding a very relaxed horse. We rode into the desert for about 15 minutes, not seeing much of anything, until all of a sudden we came near the edge of a cliff! I wish these pictures could show the depth here. Below us were miles and miles and miles of canyons. I know I've said this before, but nature is such a powerful thing, and no picture could do this view justice.
We made friends with our camel.
After that we packed up our camp site and headed out to Makhtesh Ramon, the largest natural crater in the world. It is named for Ilan Ramon, Israel's first and only astronaut, who died in the Columbia shuttle accident in 2003. It is 25 miles across and almost a BILLION years old. There was an exhibit for Ilan Ramon, with a short film about his life, and when the film ended the screen rolled up to reveal the crater through a huge glass window!!! We couldn't even see to the end of it despite the cloudless sky.
After that we drove for five hours north to Haifa. We passed the grave of David Ben Gurion, the founder of the State of Israel, as well as a Hamas prison, which is half underground so the prisoners can't escape. We learned a bit about Ben Gurion, who wanted to reclaim the desert land for the Jews to make their home.
When we got to Haifa, which was very green after our week in the desert, we went straight to the beach! We swam in the Mediterranean Sea for hours. Man is it salty. I waved to Greece too (not sure which direction I was waving in, though).
We then had a night out in Haifa to go to some bars and restaurants, which was a good time.
August 5:
Our last day in Israel! In the morning we saw the Baha'i gardens from the outside, since we're not allowed in. The Baha'i believe in unity and equality for all. :)
We spent the day in Tel Aviv, which was an awesome city. It reminded me a little bit of Chicago. Kind of neighborhoody, a little bit strange, a lot of character. We went to lunch, went to a street market, and spent the day at the beach again.
In the afternoon we went on a scavenger hunt of sorts throughout the city, which was a fun way to spend an afternoon walking around Tel Aviv.
Then we packed up and headed home!
Comments
Post a Comment