January 2011
13 posts
3 tags
Military Cemetery, Shabbat and Goodbye's
We were allowed to sleep in until 11, but Alli woke me up bright and early for breakfast. She woke me up bright and early pretty much the entire trip (damn morning people) but it was refreshing. I have no idea how I managed to live off of three hours of sleep a night the entire trip, but I did.
(Alli, after reading this a couple times claims she is not a morning person at all, but the only one...
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Holocaust Museum, a market and the Western Wall
This morning we went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum. A lot of stuff really stabbed you in the heart here. I remember viewing this video of bodies being bulldozed into a large hole. I can’t get this image out of my head. I’ve always thought Judaism was very depressing, but this put the cherry on top. This museum didn’t even compare to the one in Washington, D.C.
A shot of...
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Jerusalem
This morning we celebrated Tu Bishvat in Jerusalem and everyone planted a tree. Planting a tree - a concrete, practical act - has represented hope since ancient times.
Matt and I planted a tree and protected it with rocks.
Ah, the Old City! How absolutely beautiful can a city get? We arrived early and was given a quick history lesson about how the Jewish people never left the walls of...
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Repelling, a tomb and the spine of a mountain
Continuing adventure in Ramon’s Crater, it was time to repel down some cliffs! I’m sure my mom would love this part! Everyone was talking about how scared they were and Alli kept asking me if I was scared. Because I’m such a badass, of course I wasn’t. It’s not much different than rock climbing. Thank you high school!
Alli and I with the cliff behind us....
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Sunrise, Camels, Masada, Dead Sea, Desert
This day was one of my favorites. Jam-packed with Extreme adventure! We had a 5 a.m. wake up call (Insane? No. Extreme!). Off we went through the pitch black night, only guided by the light from the moon, trekking through valleys and over rocks to reach a higher point for a sunrise view. It was here where I thought I was going to keel over from exhaustion and lack of breath (this happened more...
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Tel Aviv & Bedouin Tents
After a short 3 hour nap, we woke up to start our Monday in Tel Aviv. This one was very hungover, but a trooper, always. We arrived in Rabin Square park, which stood proud next to City Hall. Here, we picked up our 8 Israeli friends. Six of which were young soldiers and two were students.
We went to Yafo - Tel Aviv before it grew into what it is today.
We saw the most beautiful views of the...
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Nature + Wine = Fun
It was time to leave the Kibbutz and travel down into the state of Israel. We stopped at a farm where thousands of cranes and wild birds roam free. We learned about catching and tagging birds and releasing them back into the wild.
From there, we went on a steep hike up a dormant volcano. Talk about a rough walk, this was the most out of breath I had been in a long time. Spin class aint got...
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Our First Shabbat
We rang in the first Shabbat with our first Extreme activity - a hike. Dani took us winding through a mountain, over creeks, through cow pastures and back. I was honestly pooped during the middle, but felt so accomplished in the end. I think the coolest part about this hike was that we weren’t walking on Israeli land. We were officially in Syria.
On our way to the mountain.
Everyone...
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Switzerland and Tzfat
Finally taking some time to tell you about my “life-changing” trip to Israel and back.
To start off, everyone must know this trip almost didn’t happen. There was a rough storm the night before in New York and after our flight was pushed back a few hours, Birthright decided to cancel our trip at 2:15 in the morning. I woke up at 6, with a terrible cold, and read the most...
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Becoming Sababa (amazing)!
I just got back from the most amazing trip of my life. After three years of trying, I finally made it on the Birthright tip to Israel. I feel so complete and strong after meeting so many amazing people and being challenged in ways I never thought possible.
Above is a photo of us at the Dead Sea mud baths. Talk about exfoliation.
Spending a week and a half in Israel taught me how to accept...
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A little about me
My name is Brittany. I moved to New York city about eight months ago for a job. Well, it was an internship, really, but it paid OK and I was going to be putting my college degree to use.
You see, I graduated from college when America was dry-heaving from economic crisis. There weren’t any jobs available, everyone was depressed and things didn’t look good for anyone. Instead of getting...