I have been doing so much lately and it is so exciting! We had classes on Sunday and Monday. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday we were on a Tiyyul. The first day we went to Jerusalem and part of the Israel museum. Here we saw what Jerusalem looked like during the time of the second temple. It was so cool to see the difference between the social classes and how they lived. Then we saw the dead sea scrolls. To see a document from over 2 thousand years ago was amazing. It was quite cold and rainy in Jerusalem. Then we made our way south to Qumran where the dead sea scrolls were actually found. It was such a beautiful sight to see. The mountains were incredible and the sky was so many amazing colors. After our stop we made our way to the hostel where we slept. Every room had a balcony and an amazing view of the sunset. After dinner we did a valentine’s day program and gave each other little gifts. After that it was time for bed because we had to wake up before sunrise for Masada!!!

After waking up at 4 and going to the gate for Masada we learned that the snake trail was closed. We then drove an hour to get to the other side of Masada to hike the other trail. When on Masada, we were one of the only groups up there. It was amazing… but a little cold. After our descent down, we headed to the dead sea. I cannot believe it but it started raining at the dead sea!!!!! We then made our way to campus.

Shabbat was very peaceful on campus and I got a lot of sleep. Today, (Sunday) we went to a place with caves. This is one of the places where Bar Kochba could have hid. Here we crawled in and saw what it was like. After being settled in the cave, we turned off the light and sang Henai Matovuh Maniiam and Oseh Shalom. It was so awesome. After that we went to a roman amphitheatre. Here, animal and people fighting took place. Then we came back to campus.

After living in Israel for 3 weeks I have noticed many differences. For one the food is very different. There are a lot of vegetables served at every meal, especially breakfast. The people here are also very different. They can be very pushy sometimes. The language barrier is hard sometimes when you are trying to tell someone what you would like to order. Another difference is the freedom we get here on campus. The workload is harder here with 4 hours of Core class a day but I would not change it if I could.