Throughout the six weeks here at HSI, we have gone a plentiful amount of tiyyulim; just about everyday, except for weekends. On our adventures, we constantly find ourselves surrounded by nature. Nature is a beautiful thing and one that I believe most people take for granted.

When we go on tiyyulim, it’s usually unquestionably hot out, but we have to look past and see what else there is. On one of our tiyyulim, we stopped practically in the middle of nowhere. No one knew why we were there, but the teachers had a plan for us. They gave us pieces of paper and told us to write to our parents, friends, or loved ones and tell them about the view. The first thing everyone not only saw, but smelled, were all of the cows. As I kept looking, I saw a blue sky, dried grass that reminded me of home, and a ton of cacti. There was a woman who was picking the fruit from the cacti, but not with hands because she would obviously be stabbed with the needles of the caci; she used a special tool that looked like a pole with a cylinder type thing at the end to catch the fruit. I have lived in Arizona my entire life and I had never seen such a thing; I was so intrigued. The teachers did this activity because Mark Twain once stood exactly where we were and he wrote about what he saw. In summary, he wrote that the land wasn’t beautiful and he didn’t understand why anyone would want to live there. They wanted us to see what Mark Twain didn’t.

Rosh Hanikra is a beautiful site. One day, on one of our tiyyulim, we stopped there between destinations for some fun. There was simply no other purpose for this, other that to see how marvelously outstanding nature is. Another time something like this happened, we were on our most recent tiyyul in the Golan Heights. We had extra time, so instead of waiting around and doing something boring, the teachers brought us to a place with a bunch of rocks. We were all so confused when the teachers started climbing all over, but we all followed. It was such a simple thing, but it was so much fun. My favorite little nature experience was when we went on a hike. At the end of the hike, there was a waterfall and water in which we could swim in front and up to the waterfall. I was so excited to go in and swim. I jumped into the water and it was incredibly pleasant. On our way back, we did a longer and while everyone was complaining about the heat, I was looking around at all of the bushes with beautiful flowers on them.

I  know the next time I go for a hike, out in nature, or simply doing something with friends or family, I’ll make sure to take in all of gorgeous surroundings. I have enjoyed every single moment on this program, especially with all of the hikes and nature. I’m so sad that it’s coming to an end, but I will forever remember all of these adventures.