Fri, Aug. 8

So now I am home. I came home yesterday but was too tired to do anything. Shabbat was fun, and kind of sad. Sunday, we went to the Golan Heights and learned about security in Israel. We also went on a nice hike up north. Another cool thing is the naot (sandal) factory that we went to. The trip was overnight so Monday, we went back to Tzuba. We had some time to relax, and prepare to go home. Tuesday we had our last tiyul to the old city and were there for the majority of the day. When we returned to Tzuba, it was time to pack big time. Most of the end of Tuesday was spent packing. Wednesday morning we had a tiyul to the city of David and finally got to wakl through Hezekiahs tunnel. That is a 533 meter long water tunnel used to bring water from outside the city walls intl the city thousands of years ago. After this, we went home to Tzuba, did the final packing, and began to clear out the rooms. We had a sort of final banquet which included a slideshow I made, skits made by the whole group to mimick the summer, and some thank yous to the people who helped on the trip. After this, we went out for our last dinner in Israel at a nice restaurant called the Sataf. It was a good meal, and then on o the airport. It was a very sad bus ride. It was our last bus ride in Israel and I'm going to miss it a lot. We go to the airport and checked in and such. It turns out one of my bags was left in Israel. It was never tagged so it didn't come to NY. After a long 12 hour flight, we arrived in NY, and then after a short layover, on to Boston. That was the trip. Overall, it was AMAZING and I will definitely miss it. The friends I made will last forever. I know I have found an additional home, and I would never hesitate to call Israel my home. Good night
Ben

Friday Aug. 1

Monday, we had classes in the morning as usual, and then went for an afternoon tiyul to Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust museum. Compared to the museum in Washington DC, this one is much more in depth. Yad Vashem has the most authentic pieces of evidence from the Holocaust of any museum. The only non authentic piece of evidence is the entrance gateway to Auschwitz, although they have an exact replica. It was so moving to be at Yad Vashem, because I learned much more about the Holocaust, and became that much closer to it. Tuesday, we went to Tel Aviv to learn about the war of independence. We visited Independence hall, and sat in the same room and place that people sat in when David Ben Gurion declared independence in 1948. We then went to a kibbutz which was used for secret bullet production during Israel's war of independence. They had an underground bullet factory, with the secret entrance under the washing machine in the laundry room above. They specially had a very large and extremely loud washing machine to mask the noise of the factory below. It was crazy how these people managed to hide it the whole time. Wednesday, we had the second part of our Hebrew final. After that, we had history, and then a tiyul to Ammunition Hill. This was a place used during the 6 day war and it was right near the Israel/Jordan split in Jerusalem. This used to be on the Jordan side. There were passageways in the ground which we were able to walk through which was pretty cool. The view was amazing. We also went to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and learned a little bit about the university and more about the 6 day war. We then returned to tzuba for dinner and studying. Thursday, we watched a movie in Hebrew class and then we had history. No tiyul because they wanted to give us time to study and rest. We went to the pool and got some well deserved relaxation. Today, we had our Jewish History final, consisting of 2 in class essays. They seemed like they would be pretty hard to write, but once I got started, it wasn't that bad. Later today, we have a pizza and pool party and Shabbat services tonight. This is our last Shabbat here in Israel. It is very sad to think that I will be going home in less than a week.
Thats all for now
Ben