Walking into O’hare airport, we were greeted by Becky and Dan, our group leaders. During the wait in the ticket counter line, initial hellos and introductions were exchanged by the people on the trip. Everyone was excited, full of electricity up for the next ten days.
Once through security we made it onto the flight. A kosher meal of questionable quality ensued both amusement and continuous jokes on frozen eggplant and what appeared to be gaspacho slushies.
We grabbed as much shut eye as we could before deplaning in Spain for an hour, and then off to Israel! The second leg of the trip went by much faster, and we arrived with a greeting of song and dance by our Israeli counterparts. Neitzan, the Israeli staff leader, joined by Dan and Becky had everyone hold hands and jump up and down, starting our trip off in high energy and amazing initial vibes.
We loaded onto the bus (which thankfully had amazing air conditioning) and headed off to Golan Heights, to stay in Kibbutz Afik. We ascended up and around a mountain, curving around the Sea of Galilee, right as the sun set casting a beautiful orange glow. Although exhausted, we piled out of the bus, quickly dropped our stuff off in our rooms, and had an amazing, fresh and delicious meal of veggies, philo wrapped hot dogs, grilled chicken, and fresh fruit.
Once our stomachs were full and everyone felt a bit more settled in, we traded introductions and had a breakdown of the following day. Hiking, kayaking, swimming in a waterfall, and learning about the Syrian conflict straddling the boarder.
