After a 10 hour flight and a 2 hour bus ride, we finally made it to our hotel in Arrod. We got some much needed sleep and woke up to a small breakfast before climbing Masada. We left at about 5:30am to hike up the Roman Ramp to see the sunrise at the top of Masada. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy to actually see the sunrise, but it was still an amazing view of the desert. Moran(our tour guide) gave us an amazing tour of the ruins at the top of Masada. Some highlights included the oldest synagogue in the world, palace ruins, a Roman Bath house, and a traditional Mikveh. I learned that the Mikveh wasn't only used for conversion, but also for women to bathe in after getting their periods. After the tour, we marched down the snake path which ended up being more treacherous than we thought. When we got to the bottom, we had a buffet breakfast and then went to the AHAVA store where I bought a scrub made from the salts and minerals found in the Dead Sea.
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| Climbing down Masada |
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| Mount Masada |
Speaking of the Dead Sea, that was our next stop! We eagerly changed into our bathing suits, grabbed some mud, and headed to the beach! After rubbing the mud on all skin that was exposed, we raced into the sea. It was an indescribable feeling! Floating was hilariously fun and I even got to stand on a salt bar! The water was definitely chilly so we could only spend a few minutes in the water. Some of the other girls and I spent the rest of the time lounging on the beach. We then took a short bus ride to Ein Gedi, which is the kibbutz we are staying on tonight. It is literally smack in the middle of the desert, but is absolutely beautiful! We went to the kibbutz grocery store, which was fun to buy some novelty Israeli items, such as Israeli chocolate! We will be celebrating Shabbat this evening, which is casual, thank goodness.
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| Dead Sea |
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| Covered in Mud at the Dead Sea |
It is such an unbelievable experience being here and I am enjoying every minute of it! I can't wait to celebrate my first Shabbat here in Israel!
(Added later)
Shabbat was great! We started off by lighting shabbat candles and then discussing how different people celebrate shabbat. Then, we had some time before dinner so a big of us went and played catch phrase. For dinner, I had my first (but not last) schnitzel, which really just tasted like a big chicken nugget, however it was pretty yummy! After a very long day I look forward to a good night of sleep before tomorrow!
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