Israel Birthright Day 2

Awaking in a kibbutz was pretty wild. There were hammocks outside where we could relax beside wild peacocks. Community dogs were abundant as well as cats but few children, at least that I saw. There was a communal eatery where breakfast and lunch was served. This was pretty typical at every place were housed in. The breakfast was always humus, cucumbers, tomatoes and eggs. There may have been some additional variety depending on the establishment but this I believe may be the typical Mediterranean meal. Dinner usually had the components plus a meat and starch like couscous, rice, pasta and soup.

Everyday on the bus, I tried to deliberately sit somewhere new next to someone different. I was pretty successful until the very end of the trip when I made some friends I didn't want to leave. The views throughout our journey except for the beginning. In addition to the familiar muted rocky landscape we were treated to a sea of verdant grass and trees. The first day would be the most green we would see for the remainder of the trip. Israel is indeed a desert. Among my favorite activities were group sessions like hiking, joining in blessings over wine and bread and sharing our hopes for the rest of the trip, staring into each others eyes for a full minute without flinching, sharing embarrassing stories and acting out history in impromptu theatrical productions. I enjoyed these activities because they were some of many shared memories I would have with the group. Feeling like I am a part of something greater than myself is really important to me. Even if I didn't become best friends with everyone there, I still appreciate the special things we did together and I am really grateful sharing was a major priority we experienced as a group.

If anyone knows about sharing, I believe it would be the people of Israel. Eighty percent of the population lives on twenty percent of the land. It is pretty much a three hour drive between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Space is limited so people become friendly pretty quickly. One thing I found particularly interesting is that people can be very serious as well as aggressive specifically when driving. They can also be tenacious and put up with a lot of stress inducing situations. I think this is what happens when most of the population serves in the military. It can make a person ardently passionate about their homeland and also instill certain values and traits going forward.