Day 1: Started to meet everyone and my first ever Shabbat dinner at Adam’s house. I was blown away both by the food and the by the good company
Day 2: Started off the day with a rainy tour. Saw some holy sites including the Holy Sepulchre church. This was day 1 of bible TLDR, and I learned alot! I also put my hand in the same spot as Jesus, which is pretty cool!
Day 3: Woke up at 5:30am to go to mass at the Holy Sepulchre. The morning walk was refreshing and gave a good start to the packed day to come. Breakfast at the hotel was amazing and I was sad I couldn’t spend more time eating there (thanks for the continual Instagram story pictures Kevin Stephen). Then went on a food tasting tour through Jersualsm’s markets — this was probably my favorite activity on trek. Day drinking is encouraged! After this we have a somber experience at the Holocaust museum. We finally wrapped the day up with some beautiful scenery and visiting the Western Wall. This was my favorite day of trek.
Day 4: The day was filled with a lot of talks, so sadly not many pictures :( We did visit Temple Mount, and I was surprised to learn that only practicing Muslims could actually enter the holy sites. We also talked to David Halfbinger, the NY times correspondent during dinner which provided an interesting perspective.
Day 5: Today we went to Palestine. When we saw the border wall I was surprised to feel dread. Being in Palestine made all the talks that we have bee listening to finally feel tangible. We also went to Bethlehem (but didn’t spend to the long there). The day was overall pretty rushed, but also pretty intense. We ended the day with camel riding in the desert and then a fun campfire (with students from another college blasting music nearby).
Day 6: Today we went on a hike! It was a lot of fun. My favorite part was jumping into the water pools (my Teva’s were finally useful lol). We also went to the Dead Sea today & I got to buy a smoothie from the lowest bar on earth! Yum. I also floated in the Dead Sea (as one does), and put mud all over my body for exfoliation (as one also does).
Day 7: Today we went to the Sea of Galilee where I learned a bit more about the Bible. Then we went for liquor tasting — the pomegranate liquor was my favorite! We finally made it to Tel Aviv later that day, and then had a tasty dinner at Sholmi’s house. We all dressed up for Purim and then had a wild/rowdy experience in Tel Aviv (not pictured).
Day 8: Today we spent the day walking through Tel Aviv/Jaffa. I ate a plate of hummus for lunch that was very tasty (and that I am missing right now). We also had a private concert that was amazing.
Day 9: Today we had a bizarre treasure hunt through Tel Aviv. We also spotted the sushi place that was “dressed up” as Domino’s for Purim. I got to meet up with one of my childhood friends during lunch time (he is studying at NYU Abu Dhabi and taking a semester abroad in Israel). After eating pizza, the store owner asked if we could make pizza boxes since they were short on staff. It was a funny way to catch up after not seeing each other for a couple years. We ended the day with a final dinner and then the flight back home to Cambridge.
