December 22- German Colony, Haifa, by Jacob

Today we went to the German Colony in Haifa. In the German Colony they were having a street festival where they were celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas, and Ramadan...they even had a few Christmas trees! There were many carts of deserts and other delicious foods, like hot dogs, Suvganiot (Hannukkah doughnuts), etc. They also had an ice cream shop where they had gelato, ice cream, and yogurt. The ice cream was very good! Right as we were leaving we saw many different group of the Scouts (like girl and boy scouts) in a marching band...it was really fun!

December 22 - Bahai Gardens, Haifa, by Morgan

Today we went to the Baha'i gardens in northern Israel, Haifa. We had lots of fun learning about the Baha'i faith and the history of the gardens. As we walked through the 18 terraces of the garden, representing the founding members of the Baha'i faith, we saw a various amount of plants and wildlife. I noticed that the garden was symmetrical on both sides. The garden flowed continually with waters on either side of the 18 flights of stairs which total to about 700 stairs. At the bottom of the ninth flight of stairs laid a shrine of the second creator of the Baha'i faith. Today, Bahai people can be found all over the world.

NOTE: Melanie and Lauren said they plan on having their wedding there...they just have to find Israeli husbands!

December 22 - Kibbutz Ein Shemer, by Austin

Today we went to a kibbutz near Haifa called Ein Shemer. The kibbutz has 600 residents living there. The kibbutz is very friendly, and they do things like lending you cars to rent for some time. Our tour guide lives in the kibbutz and has lived there since he was a child. He told us that while growing up, the children slept in a different room from their parents. The kibbutz main thing is agriculture, but for the people to make money they also have factories. They have two factories, one factory is for rubber things like tires and the other factory is plastic material for doctors. Overall I had a great experience learning the way of people in the kibbutz.

PICTURES COMING SOON...

Masada (comments coming soon)

December 21- Dead Sea, by Alex

Today we travelled to the lowest place on Earth, the Dead Sea. Those of us who had never been to the sea before were very surprised at how easy it was to float in the salty water. The Dead Sea is the third saltiest place in the world, and sharp salt crystals made it difficult to even get in the water. The sea itself was so much warmer than the freezing Pacific Ocean, and it was a very nice swim for the Americans. The whole delegation spread mud from the sea all over their bodies, and, after a fast rinse-off, it was time to get on the bus and head back to Tel Aviv after a long two days.

December 21- Ein Gedi, by Melanie

Today we went to Ein Gedi, a natural hot springs in the middle of the desert. We went on a little hike up to the main waterfall where most of us got in the water. It was very rocky on the ground and the water were pretty cold. It was beautiful and all this green in the middle of the desert was very ironic. Standing under the waterfall was so refreshing and really cool. As we walked back down the trail I looked back at the waterfall and it was breath taking.

December 21- Camels, by Lauren

Today we rode camels! Each pair of partners got a camel, which we all named and made up songs about them. Some of the names were Frog (Hannah and Eden), Lola Lufnagil (Melanie and Ella), Phoebe ( Lauren and Noa), Daniel (Austin and Ayal) and soooo many more. My friends and I have waited for this day/ event ever since we found out about it. We rode the camels through a rocky path and it was very bumpy. Overall I think we all had a really great time riding the camels and making names for all of them.