Travel and Pesach in Israel

Ready for another whirlwind blog entry about life in Israel? Great. Here it is. :)

Masa, which funds pretty much all of the organizations that send young Jews to Israel for short and long term programs, put on a big event for all Masa participants. It cost less than $2 for a ticket, and you got to choose between seeing a dance company, a movie and hear from the producers, or from seeing a band play. Surprisingly, I did not choose the band... only because I have already seen them before! I got to see the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company perform "Transform." This is a very well known dance company in Europe and Israel. It was a great performance and very interesting, almost Donnie Darko-esque in its choreography and slight creepiness with some of the costumes, including a woman in a patent leather dominatrix-looking french maid outfit, with a big rabbit head covering her face. Very strange, but very entertaining! 

In April, I was still feeling pretty worn out from all of the birthday and Purim celebrations. But, of course, I still celebrated a few of my friend's birthdays!! 

Mostly what I tried to do was fit in some traveling because my time in Israel is sadly coming to an end. The weekend of 8 April, Sivan packed Efrat, Bari, Aviva, and I into her car and we went to Haifa. The reason why Bari, Aviva, and I wanted to go to Haifa was because during our Oranim trip there, the organizers seemed to have forgotten Haifa's main attraction-- the Bahai Gardens. We very much wanted to see them, so Sivan and Efrat took us! The Bahai Gardens comprise "a staircase of nineteen terraces extending all the way up the northern slope of Mount Carmel. At its heart stands the golden domed Shrine of the Bab, which is the resting place of the Prophet-Herald of the Bahai Faith." After enjoying the gardens and walking around Haifa, we bought a few types of salads, chummus, and pita, and sat on the beach during sunset for our dinner. After, we went to Zichron Ya'akov for a coffee/tea break, then to Kibbutz Magen Michael to stay overnight and to have some fun at their bar! The place where we stayed had 3 of us sleeping in a bed barely made for 2, which to me, was a great kibbutz experience. I'm not so sure all of the girls agreed, but for me... it was great! In the morning, while waiting for everybody to be ready to go, I came across a zoo. Yes, the kibbutz has a large petting zoo! How cute is that?! After I had enough of the animals, we all packed back into the car to go to the city of Akko. This was probably the neatest part of the trip. Akko is a port city similar to the city of Jaffo. We did a tunnel/museum visit with an audio tour, ate fish at the port, and just had a great time wandering the streets. 

Three days later, Bari, Aviva, and I were traveling again, but this time with Oranim to the Golan Heights. I was very much looking forward to this trip because the last time I was in Israel, when I was on birthright, we did my absolute favorite hike in the Golan Heights. The Golan Heights are beautiful, very green, and have a few waterfalls. It's a place that I find myself reenergized. This trip was no different once the hike took place. In the morning, we went to the deserted Syrian bunkers (Gadot Observation Point), then we went on the hike. We spent the night at Kibbutz Hakuk, with a fun little bonfire with a few different Oranim groups. The next day we went to the cemetery of Kibbutz Kfar Giladi along with another observation point, and rafting on the Jordan River... or as the Israelis keep calling it, kayaking. (But it's not. It's a raft, not a kayak). In between the cemetery and the observation point, we had some interesting bus antics... my roommate threw up directly onto herself on the ride while everyone else was sleeping. She then had to remove her clothes and sit in her bikini for the remainder of the ride. Not to embarrass her, but she definitely made our bus ride more entertaining! 

 If the street parties on Purim are any indication, then you know that Tel Aviv loves a good party! You can't go an entire month without a great party, so they threw a White Street Party, where everyone wears white. It was yet another awesome party, where unfortunately, I could not stay long, but long enough to get some pictures. In the meantime, the weather is more beautiful each and every day. I'm getting in as much beach time and outdoors time as I can.

I was very excited to spend Pesach (Passover) in Israel with family. It also caused a bit of stress because I have such a large family, I had to decide who to have the Seder with. In Israel, they only do the Seder on the first night and in the States they do nights 1 and 2. So I could only be with one uncle or aunt, and I finally decided on aunt Mazel because I wanted a more traditional Seder, that lasts a REALLY long time, and she's an awesome cook! I was very pleased and very stuffed. Then my cousin, Aviran took me over to aunt Sara's family's house, where there were at least 30 people. Then we had to eat some more. (They really like to feed you in Israel). The food here was also great! Aviran took me to a club in Rehovot, VIP style. All of the girls were dressed like whores. I still tell Aviran, he needs to warn people before taking them there, especially the ladies! I felt like I was dressed for church compared to these girls! But, it was still a good time. We went to sleep around 5am, and he woke me up the next day at 10 in the morning. And for those of you who do not know, I am seriously an unhappy camper if I don't get enough sleep! We went over to aunt Sara's family's house and started eating, and eating, and eating, then Aviran dropped me off at my aunt Miriam's house to eat some more! Basically, Pesach was a lot of eating and a lot of family. Great time!!! I slept VERY well the next night back in my apartment.

During Pesach break, many people went out of town. I also wanted to experience new things. So my friend, Yuval took me to a place in Israel that I have never been before... the Soreq cave. It's a beautiful cave full of stalactites. I had no idea that this cave even existed, so needless to say, I had a fantastic time! Afterwards, Yuval taught me about the prickly plants of Israel by throwing them onto me and me spending a long time picking them off! We also saw a farm that made their own cheese. We stopped along the way and sampled a few before he dropped me off to see some of my family for Shabbat. One of the things that I love about Israel is Shabbat dinner. I can be anywhere in Israel and if I had no place to go, somebody would take me. And on this day, I realized that I hadn't made plans yet for that evening just a few hours before dinner, so I called my cousin, Lynn, who said "great! we would love to have you!" I love my family!