Wednesday June 11
We got back from the Galilee on Tuesday night super late, so we "slept in" and went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum.
Wow.
What an amazing museum. Here's why:
As an Artist,
1. The layout of the exhibition is phenomenal
2. The exhibition space is well designed and organized
3. The exhibits themselves are well displayed and explained and marked
As a Guest,
1. The layout leads you through the story of Hitler's rise to power and on through the slow rise of his Nazi reign, and leaves you with the Allied Power's victory over Nazi Germany
2. The exhibition space makes it easy to maneuver through larger crowds and groups, giving you a more personal experience as you walk through the exhibits.
3. The exhibits themselves are moving and powerful, the use of personal testimonies of survivors and personal items and children's art work... I could go on and on.
Basically, it made me thankful that there are people who take the time to keep these heart wrenching memories alive in a way that is "pleasing" to the public so that they too will not forget.
It made me mad.
I was looking at a photograph of Hitler. It's a beautiful photograph of him and his top dogs walking through Paris with the Eiffel Tower behind them. When I say beautiful, I mean artistically.
Looking at this picture made me furious with the tolerant world in which we are still living today. The antisemitism that is spreading especially throughout Europe right now is not okay, but what do we do? Exactly what we did when Hitler was in power, say to ourselves, "It won't get worse".
I'll step off my soap box now.
On a lighter note... I dropped my phone walking out of the museum and it shattered. I drop my phone ALL the time. Literally at least 5 times a day and it finally had enough
After such a heavy day we took the evening off to reflect and prepare for our trip to Eilat.
THURSDAY JUNE 12
We left SUPER early in the morning to Eilat... Except it took us a while to get there.
First stop. Masada.
History Lesson time with Paris.
For those of you who don't know the story of Masada, it's structures were built by Herod, which if you read the previous blog you all know how I feel about his architecture choices!
After Herod's death the fortress on top of the mountain was abandoned. During the Roman onslaught of Israel, some people escaped and sought refuge here. They had plenty of food and water. The Romans camped out on all sides of the mountain (the square areas on ground at the base of Masada are ruins of the Roman camps). They started building a ramp up but the Jews threw stones at them, so the Romans brought in Jewish slaves to do the work for them.
The people of Masada decided that death was better than enslavement by the Romans, so the men were instructed to kill their wives and children, and then some were chosen to kill the rest of the men amd then one was chosen to kill the few remaining men and burn down everything to then fall on his own sword.
When the Romans took Masada they were surprised to find an empty, burning fortress. Two women and five children survived and Josephus writes of the Jewish uprising at Masada. Many view it as a victory that the people stood up for themselves and fought back, others view it as a loss because of the death of so many jews.
Yes. It's been a heavy few days between this and Yad Vashem.
After Masada we went to the Dead Sea
People can tell you time and time again about their experience in the Dead Sea and NOTHING will prepare you for it. It is the most crazy experience. It was in heaven. Floating in the water, going as far out into the sea as I want, and not having to worry about fish... or anything else living in the waters.
And had to get one with the chacos. Notice I am floating in about 3 feet of water. SO CRAZY AWESOME!!!!
After the Dead Sea (and purchasing Aloe for all of our sun burns) we headed to Eilat. Where we ate Burger Bar and all passed out in the Hostel.
FRIDAY JUNE 13
THE RED SEA!!! We are going into all bodies of water here, Jordan River, Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea and the Red Sea! It's pretty awesome.
Our first day in Eilat we went to the Red Sea to snorkel and invite people to our Hostel's Shabbat dinner.
Let me tell you something about myself. I have a fish phobia. Sure sure, laugh all you want, my teammates did, until I had an episode in the Red Sea.
I was doing fine, there were what people would call small fish in the shallow waters and I was standing on a rock... Then THERE WAS AN EEL!!!! AND IT SWAM RIGHT TOWARDS ME AND IT WAS ALL YELLOW AND BLACK AND PROBABLY POISONESS.
Basically, I started crying and covering my eyes so I couldn't see it and it wouldn't move so I could get off the rock, it was between me and the beach. And the few people from my group who were there were telling me it was okay and helped me to the beach. I cried on and off for another hour and a half probably and lost my apetite. It wasn't the best experience. But I got a nice tan from sitting in the sun for 2-3 hours. The sun is different over in this part of the world, the same applies for Italy.
ANYWAYS. We left the beach and walked to the Aroma coffee shop down the road, which turned into like a 30 min or so walk... it was so hot.
We went back to the hostel and prepared for Shabbat, in which we prepared a skit and music for the people who came (I guess a group of americans singing on Shabbat is a rare sight).
SATURDAY JUNE 14
The funny thing about Israel is the the country shuts down for Shabbat... But somehow we still managed to have a jam packed day.
WE RODE CAMELS!!!!
We were the first people there for the day and were greeted by men in dreads from South Africa.
This is my shadow while riding the camel. I got the lead camel... Her name in English is Rose. She was pretty bald.
We rode pretty far into the dessert. I wouldn't mind riding one of these everywhere. I actually enjoyed it.
The entire group on our camels
The picture our guide took of me on Rose. His photography skills are unmatched throughout the entire land.
Had to get a chaco pic.... yes, im that person
And, a camel selfie to end the entire experience.
Don't worry, the were all females, which means they dont bite, spit, or throw you off.
I thought our camel ride was over... but then they took us to a bedouin tent and made us fresh pita and tea that they grow and make themselves on their land.
dreaded man on left holding a tray of yummy tea. dreaded man on right standing above the fresh made pita. BEST. PITA. EVERRRRRR!!!!
Tea
Pita. With cheese..... yummmmmmmmmm
Then, we headed back to the beach and spent the afternoon there. While snorkeling a girl on our team sliced her foot open on some coral. But don't worry. Four israeli men helped clean out the coral and rocks with a safety pin and tweezers (they were in the army so they knew what they were doing, but every israeli has been in the army, post on this to come soon).
So our leader took her to the hospital where the doctor did nothing but just clean it again, the israelis did a bang up job.
To finish off the day we went hiking in the desert. We drove along the Egyptian border to get there, then hiked through the Red Canyon. (which reminded me a lot of Palo Duro).
you should be expecting this by now
It was really deep in there. This is my funny scared face (I wasnt scared)
WASSUPPPP!!!
It was stunning. Makes me want to road trip to Utah and camp out slash hike for a few days this summer.
I mean, seriously, I have like 15 or so different pics like this. They are all breathtaking.
THEN when we were hiking out we lost two people in our group. as the sun was going down. Getting dark and two of our group are out in the middle of the desert with no camels, right on the border of Egypt. It was kind of nerve racking. BUT WE FOUND THEM! so no worries.
One of the people who got lost is Jewish... and so the whole time we were hiking or riding camels in the desert that day we made jokes from an episode of New Girl. so... if you watch New Girl you will appreciate this... if you don't it's hilarious, if you're into that kind of humor.
Sorry, not the best quality image, since I stole it off of a google search, but it gets the point across.
SUNDAY JUNE 15
We had an off day because we werent leaving until the evening. so we shopped and I tried SUPER hard to find my mom her precious jewelry made out of Eilat stone. I dragged a sick teammate around Eilat through some more sketchy areas looking for a store I found on facebook. We didnt find it. So we went back to the hostel and sat in the shade. We had already checked out so we couldnt get into our room. It was also 102 degrees outside. The air in Eilat is very heavy. But we survived. I bought ice cream and some candy... so I was good.
On our way home we watched the sun set over the Dead Sea. It was breathtaking. Those mountains are Jordan (if you forgot).
The coolest thing about Eilat was the fact that we could see Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt all from the beach. SO AWESOME!!! I wanted to go over to Egypt so badly, I never caught a glimpse of the Pyramids, even though I tried really hard ;)
If you havent been following the news, then you should check out YNet or the Jerusalem Post. It's also made international news, so you should've heard about it, but I will be posting a specific blog on the subject later. The world needs to know.
Anyways. Until next time, Israel is still here. the majority of our team got sick in Eilat (there is something going around Israel) but im still healthy and kicking!
Prayers for our last week here are appreciated as we are sick and exhausted and have been in close quarters with one another for quite some time. Also safety as I will be staying after the group ends and be doing some personal travel and site seeing, don't worry, I'll still be blogging for it.
Shalom from Israel.
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