Israel Trip Part 7 (Last Part)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

So the next day was Saturday. Aka, Shabbat. So leaving the hotel before night was a no go. But that's okay. We spent the day together, having some fun by the pool, talking, having a B'nei Mitzvah for the members of out group who wanted to do that in Israel. It was very fun. After the service part we had a party. But not just any party, a 2004-06 ish themed party. Because that's when most of us became B'nei mitzvah at home.

Then night fell. We performed Havdalah. Then we went to the boardwalk.

There was an adorable little pony.

Also shoes. And hats.

 There was a light/water/music show. They projected stuff onto the water. It was really cool.

Then we went off to bed, preparing ourselves for what would be the longest day ever.

It started innocently enough. We went to Tzvat. We toured it and learned its history.

We looked at a synagogue with a super rude modesty checker (We'd been told that girls needed to cover our knees and shoulders, but this guy made us wear shawl to cover our elbows too. Which is fine, if that's their standard but he had such attitude about it.).

Then we went to the coolest candle store ever! Not even a little bit joking here, it was awesome.

This was the shop sign. Are you ready?

Candle.

Also a candle.

Still a candle.

Some candles in the back, with some sweet candlesticks in the front.

BAM! Another candle.

Look how adorable the owl and book candles are!

After the candle store we walked through the city towards the artist colony.

Then we got on the bus. It was mid afternoon at that point. The smart among us napped. The foolish (and me) did not.

We arrived at our final (non-gas station, non-airport) location. We were going rafting. Unfortunately  I have not pictures of this event. Cameras+Water=bad. But we rafted a little down the Jordan river. When we arrived at the campsite at the end we got to partake in a rock climbing wall (I kicked butt), a zipline into the water (it was awesome) and archery(I...could have done better). Then we were able to retrieve our change of clothes from the bus, and get dinner.

After dinner we watched an Israeli comedy movie, while our bus driver slept, powering up to finish our long trek. After the movie our group leaders mocked us with skits (it was okay, we'd done mocking skits a few days earlier as part of an activity).

You can't tell by looking at it, but they were being hilarious.

Still being funny. Still can't really tell from the picture.

After that we got on the bus and drove to the airport. We had a 5 AM flight so we arrived at about 1 AM to the airport. Again, the smart ones slept on the bus, and again, I was not one of the smart ones.

I also didn't really sleep more than an hour on the plane. And the plane ride back was about 12 hours, plus a layover. Basically when I landed and went through customs I had been awake for 35 of the past 36 hours. I was having fun.

Also when I landed in New York, I was greeted by something I'd forgotten existed about 10 days in Israel. Rain. And not just drizzling rain. Super heavy rain. It was refreshing.

Also, because I am smart, I didn't actually go to sleep until about 6-7 hours after I got home because I wanted to wait and go to sleep at a normal time. Dinner with my parents that night was...interesting.