(Update from Birthright, thanks to Nehama Braun) Today was our first full day in Israel! We woke up early and had a filling breakfast consisting of cereal, pancakes, scrambled eggs and the Israeli style vegetables and cottage cheese. Then we loaded the buses and headed to the Choleh Valley in the Golan Heights for a Jeep tour. The bumpy ride with friends on the jeep was really fun, but our tour was particularly extraordinary because we drove through scenic fields where they grow peaches, avocadoes, olives and so many different types of fruits and vegetables. Our drivers pulled over at the carrot field where they were harvesting that day and got each of us a fresh carrot to taste. Before heading back, we stopped and got out of our jeeps to stand along the Jordan River where our drivers cut up watermelon for everyone. Our tour guide, Merav, explained that the Nile leads to the Kineret which we are going to tomorrow. After her presentation, we got back into our jeeps and bounced our way back through the fields. Next, we zipped over to Tel Dan national park where we had an Italian lunch with an Israeli spin. Pizza, pasta and salads with Israeli styled vegetables and spices definitely did the trick at stifling our appetite. We went for a hike through the trail and came to a clearing with a small pool of shallow water and a stream flowing through it. Some of us stuck our feet in and some of us splashed the refreshing water over our faces. Merav described how the rain builds up over the winter and flows down through the stream that we were standing in after thawing during the summer. During her presentation, our hilarious staff member Ari “Pod” Podhorcer acted as the mountain as Merav showered him with “rain”. Ari was a good sport because we all learned about the nature of the water supply in Israel all while he got soaked. After hanging out for a bit, we headed back through the trail and returned to the buses. We headed over to our last stop of the day – The Shulman Chocolate Museum. At the museum, we learned a bit about how chocolate is made and then we got to prepare our own chocolate creations. First, we outlined a picture of a cartoon character with dark chocolate. Then, we added in white chocolate to fill the gaps and put it in the freezer to see our cartoon characters come to chocolaty life. Though making our chocolates was really fun, the best part was getting messy and licking the chocolate off our hands and faces. After this, we headed back to our hotel and arrived just in time for dinner. We had a nice meal and then had a special night activity where we made clay lamps similar to those used in ancient times which we are going to light on Friday to bring in the Shabbat. Today was exhilarating, delightful, awesome, deliciously creamy and above all, tiring so we showered and went to bed because tomorrow we are having another jam-packed day as we are visiting Tzfat and the Kineret! Can’t wait!
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 05:07:45 +0000
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