First Leg of the Trip

Sorry folks for the long delay in writing. I'm sure by now you all thought that I got swallowed by the Red Sea or thrown in an Israeli jail for carrying package on the airport that some other "Birthrighter" handed me, but no, I am very safe - so safe that I can't go for a walk outside my hotel because there are they tour leaders think that a wild cat might attack me. We are constantly protected by an armed guard. I've nicknamed ours the "Toy Soldier" because his gun looks plastic and he is about 5'5" and 100 pounds. But he was in the Israeli army as a tank driver so I'm sure he knows what he is doing.
Anyhow, the long plane ride turned out to only be 10 hours which started at 3pm in NY and ended at 7am in Israel (that's about 12am NY time). Needless to say, I had to go to sleep sometime on the plane in order to arrive in Israel refreshed and ready for a day of sightseeing and hiking. Somehow I ended up being ok and not too tired. Tired came the second day. But, my Birthright group consist of 40 other 22-26 year olds who all don't know a lot about Judism or Israel. Very few speak any sort of Hebrew and the are like Robby and I, Jew through lineage only.
Ok, the first day we visited Safed, a town where a famous Rabbi made the Kabblah, a pray for Passover and something else that I can't remember. The town is suppose to be rich in art and mysticism. It looked very old and run down - great for pictures. We went somewhere else but I can't remember anymore (too much has happened since then). We ended the day at a Hotel in Tiberias, basically the Miami of Israel. There isn't much here except for a boardwalk of sorts and a lot of hills - I feel like I am back in San Francisco. We had to divide ourselves into groups of three for the hotel rooms and so this poor girl named Tomar decided to room with Robby and I. I don't know what she was thinking, but she is a brave soul. Robby and I share the king bed and she got the cot on the floor, so it seems to be working out ok.
The second day we went to a war memorial for the Six Day War that was fought at Golan Heights to stop the nightly bombings and daily shootings of the farmers from the armies of Syria and Jordan. It was a pretty neat sight with metal cut outs of soldiers on the real bunkers. After that we went to watch a short documentary on another Israeli war. It wasn't too good. Luckily we got to go to the Golan Winery and drown our depression from all the war talk with Kosher wine. The winery took us on a tour of their factory and told us how to prperly view, smell, taste, and feel wine. I actually learned some interesting things that I have to try next time I have a glass of wine.
A funny thing that happened at the winery was with our "Toy Soldier". We were tasting the first glass of wine and as I sipped mine and i looked over and noticed that the soldiers glass was empty. He literally drank his half a glass in one shot. I told him is was drinking wine not beer and that you're suppose to sip it. SO the next taste test he sipped the first drop and then downed it. I guess that was an improvement to the first glass.
Ok, third day was the best so far. We got to go river hiking. All 40 of us and then 40 kids from another Birthright group went walking through a small swap like area that made me think I should be carrying an AK-47 and wearing war paint. It was fun to think that I was a soldier, but I think the enemy would have found me very quickly because practically every other step I made I slipped and feel in the water. Most of the water was about 2 feet high. I was pretty drenched throughout the 3 hours we were out there. Occasionally we came to parts that were 6 feet deep and then we had to swim, which wasn't so fun for the guys because when you first entered the water it was a tad freezing. Robby and I were at the front of the line and so we got to witness everyone screaming and whining when they had to swim. It was great.
After hiking and getting our toe nails broken on all the slippery, big rocks, we went kayaking down a small river. IT was very lazy and fun because there were multiple Israeli's on the river as well in their own boats and they were slashing us and talking with us. One of the kids on my group is named Chad and he looks like the Incredible Hulk. He's a bouncer and I think he does the muscle shows. Anyhow, I happened to over hear a few small Israeli kids talking to Chad. Somehow they got Chad to stand up on his raft and do some muscle poses. After that one of the small Israeli kids that weighed no more that 90 pounds imitated Chad. Scrawny guy Vs Big guy. They ask him if his biceps were real and then started to sing "Popeye the Sailor Man". They said that Chad was harmless and started a splashing war. It was awesome.
Since yesterday was Shabbat (Friday night) we had a bunch of Rabbi's and Jewish families staying at the hotel with us. They were there to host lectures on Judaism and for people to ask questions all during Shabbat Saturday. We weren't allowed to do anything - no work because it is a day of rest, but we could talk and learn.
I went to a few of the seminars, one about Anti-Semitism and one about what Judaism Is which taught me a lot. It also showed that Rabbi's are pretty set in their beliefs and when you challenge them with a difference of opinion or a question they don't like, they tend to beat around the bush and confuse you so much that you forget the question you had originally asked and just shut up. But, after the lectures I was able to talk with the Rabbi's and ask whatever I wanted and they tried to answer them the best they could. I even learn the whole Hebrew alphabet, but I can't tell you what anything means, I can only tell you how to say the words. I realized this was pointless until I also realized that I know some words and now I know how to write them. I guess I'm learning the language backwards.
Well, I think this has been a very long installment and i'm getting tired, so I shall say goodbye and hopefully I will be able to go back into town soon and hop on the computer again. Blogger.com tends to be shut down a lot when i t ry and long on, that is mainly why there wasn't a blog up sooner. So, Shalom and I'll see you guys later.


P.S. sorry for no pictures but all mine are taken with real film that people can see when I get back and when I can get on a computer with Robby's camera I'll be able to show you some of the things I've done and places I've been.