I got back from Israel a few days ago and am now free of jet lag and shekels (well, except for a few coins I kept as souvenirs). Memories have already begun to fade, so it seems especially important to write down some of the details that I can recall.
Throughout the trip, our group was accompanied by an armed security guard. Oogie, the 22-year-old rifle-wielding ex-professional vocalist, made sure no crazy shit went down. Aside from calming a drunken vagabond outside a hookah bar in Bet Yam, his duties were mainly preventative. Dressed in stone-washed jeans, Versace frames, and Chuck Taylors, you would never know he wasn’t part of our group (okay, maybe the thick Israeli accent would have given it away).
Our tour guide, Hagai, was the man. Strangely obsessed with sundried snippets of Americana, he would often fill a lull driving through the Negev with brief renditions of songs you might hear on VH1. “Love shack, baby love shack!” According to him, bus rides would always take a certain number of minutes “give or take 15 seconds.” I still haven’t quite figured out the Israeli sense of humor, but I think it involves sarcasm.
(I could go on to talk about our chain-smoking, watermelon-buying bus driver, Musa, or our trip coordinators, Merav and Omri, but I am currently packing up for skate camp and must leave some details out.)
Throughout the trip, we went to many places including the Western Wall, the Dead Sea, Masada, and even a Bedouin tent, where we spent the night. Moving from kibbutz to hostel to tent for 10 days was physically exhausting but mentally refreshing. After getting too accustomed to one location and one way of life, daily comfort turns into monotony. By breaking the routine and living out of a suitcase for a week and half, I got a much-needed environmental shift.
My favorite part of the trip? Tough to say. If I had to pick something that stands out above the rest, it would be meeting actual Israelis my age. For five days and nights, Israeli citizens ages 18-21 tagged along with us and effectively became part of our group. In Israel, once you turn 18, both boys and girls are required to join the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). I’ve learned that most are proud to defend their country and view it as a civic responsibility. The fact that virtually all native Israelis have served in the IDF means many things: guns aren’t a big deal, young people are fairly mature, there is really strong nationalism, you can get a free bus ride anywhere if you’re wearing a uniform.
It’s impossible to perfectly convey any given minute of personal experience to another person, let alone a 10-day trip to Israel. Hopefully it worked anyway, though. Here’s some pictures:
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