Friday, October 12, 2012

One Month Over

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've just been really busy having the time of my life :). It's unbelievable that one month of year course has already gone by but the past few weeks have been filled with the high holidays and it feels like I have vacation every other day. On Yom Kippur (which is the holiest day of the year for those that don't know), I spent the day with my dad's parents. Every Yom Kippur that I can remember, my dad spent the day telling me stories about Yom Kippur in the town he used to live in. I'd spent years imagining the absolutely empty roads, streets filled with only bicycles, and kids running around all day long on the highway, so it was a really amazing experience to see everything he had told me about for years and I know that I definitely want to experience Yom Kippur in Israel again soon. It was also really cool being able to walk in the middle of the street all the way to the beach and watch the sunset over the sea marking the end of the holiday.

Sunday night I celebrated my birthday in Israel for the first time since I was 1 years old and it was a great feeling being able to spend it with family I usually only see once a year. Over Sukkot, I had the opportunity to go to the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve 5 minutes away from the dead sea. Ein Gedi is one of the most important nature reserves in Israel as it serves as a home for many different species of animals including Ibexes, foxes, lizards, hyenas, and countless more. I also really enjoyed being able to hike up the mountainside, bathe in all of the warm springs, and sit under the waterfalls, all while having an incredible view of the Dead Sea. To cap off the day, we went for a dip in the Dead Sea at sunset before heading back to Arad for the night.





Over the weekend, I traveled up north to Tsfat to celebrate Simchat Torah. I had never celebrated Simchat Torah before and celebrating it in one of the 4 holiest cities for Jews in the world only made it sweeter. I learned that on Simchat Torah you dance around the Torah for hours, up until the point where you physically can't dance anymore, so I did just that and had a great time doing it. After two days of singing songs at the top of my lungs and dancing for hours upon hours, I am left with a hoarse voice, and legs I can barely stand on.  At the end of the holiday, we all went to a viewpoint nearby to where we were staying and ended the day looking over the beautiful mountaintops. Chag Sameach Everyone!


A few days ago, we went on a field trip to Machtesh Ramon (Ramon Crater). It is known as the Grand Canyon of Israel and instead of doing the typical tourist thing of going, taking pictures, and leaving we went down into the canyon on a 3 hour long hike straight through the desert. Some people may find it crazy that we enjoy hiking in the desert heat, we like to think of it as being adventurous. Spending it with some of my closest friends only made it better.



This coming Sunday, I am leaving for two months of Israeli "Boot Camp", during which I will only have internet every two weeks. I will try my best to update the blog on my weekends off so that you guys can all hear about how they wake me up in the middle of the night to run 5 miles, do a bunch of push ups, and send me back to sleep. If any of you need an even more comforting thought, next time I blog I will have learned how to shoot an M16.

SHABBAT SHALOM!!!