Not sure who saw my tweet but the trip started with me getting interrogated and detained in JFK from past travels. Apparently Israel security wasn't too down with the fact that I've been to Turkey, Morocco and Indonesia over the past couple years even though this travel was for academic and philanthropic reasons. On a good note, it led to priority boarding.
My first two hours in Israel consisted of nothing more than waiting in the airport because a kid in our group lost his passport on the plane. I definitely wasn't thrilled about it but he turned out being a cool guy and I ended up kickin' it with him and his high school friend the whole trip. Our days started with a Duck Sauce "Barbra Streisand" iPhone alarm going off and often ended with "pillow talk" (day- debriefage, story-sharing, etc.). Reunion in NYC Labor Day weekend (beginning of September) is in line.
The trip was so packed with activity that I could probably write a novel, maybe call it "Israel is Real" or something, with each day of this trip being a different chapter but that would take forever so I'm sticking to the blog and highlighting the main points.
We did everything from nature walks/hikes to rafting down the Jordan River to viewing Israel's bordering countries (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon) from observation points to visiting old Jerusalem, to relaxing on the Tel Aviv beach to visiting Yad Vashem, Israel's holocaust memorial/museum. And we also hiked through the Negev desert... In silence. A place untouched by civilization, the same as it was thousands of years ago. I couldn't help but think what my ancestors were like, if we had any similarities.
It might seem like I listed everything we did but it's maybe half. And it doesn't include anything we did on June 11th, one of the coolest (and longest) days of my life.
By 8am, i had already hiked the Masada and had my Bar Mitzvah in its synagogue. People always tell me I act immature sometimes, like a 12 year old boy, but now I feel like a much more mature 13 year old Jewish man. One of the coolest parts of getting Bar Mitzvah'd was the preparation. There were about 10 others in the group that, like myself, weren't raised very religiously and were clueless at reading Hebrew / certain pronunciations. However, two more experienced guys in my trip offered to devote their free time in Israel to helping us prepare for this entrance to Jewish adulthood. They both went to UNC. I've never been prouder to have graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill just over a month ago because this is exactly what the school creates- young men and women willing and wanting to help others succeed, not looking at it as an obligation but a fun, meaningful way to spend one's time and connect with others. One of them, Ryan, said that one of HIS Highlights from the trip was helping others prepare for their Bar/bat mitzvahs- he didn't bring up any of the other awesome things I mentioned above.
After this amazing experience, we descended the ancient mountaintop fortress, went floating in the salty Dead Sea (lowest point on Earth), road camels through the Negev desert (groin still sore) and slept in the Bedouin tents. That's what you can accomplish when you rise and start the grind at 3:30am.
It would be impossible for me to recap this experience without mentioning how cool and enhancing it was to have 8 Israeli soldiers with us for 5 of the days. In Israel, it's required for all young men and women to serve in the military when they are 18 years old (for 2 and 3 years respectively). Our soldiers were all 20-22 but they seemed older/ more mature than us. They were really fun to hang out with and luckily I became good friends with a few of them. For those reading that are or have been 18-22 years old, imagine having spent years in the army, what you would have seen and been exposed to. A little different than the college experience I was fortunate enough to have.
My goals (as written down during orientation) going into the trip were to 1) get good exposure to Israel 2) connect more with my religion 3) get bar mitzvah'd 4) make some new pals. Went 4 for 4.
Even with the restrictions of a 6 year old, birthright was a blast. It helped me connect more to the homeland and I'm proud to be a part of such hard-working courageous people. I have to end this with a popular phrase from the trip- YOBRO, You Only BirthRight Once. Drake's half- Jewish.
Pics of Bahai Gardens, Israeli bunker at Syria border, My new killer tourist hat, sunrise over Dead Sea/ from masada, me fake hitting head on roof during Bar mitzvah celebration, and selfy with my camel cheesing in the background can be found attached.
Alright wheels up lets hop continents.
After a full day of shared taxis, flights and trains I made it to Interlaken, Switzerland. Purpose of this trip is to have fun in a legendary hostel, attempt sky diving for the first time ever and go hiking in the Swiss Alps. I'm not sky diving at night so time to go do the have fun in a legendary hostel thing.
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