Camping in the Bedouin Tents and Riding a Camel!

Eating like a Bedouin

Since we didn't get enough of the Negev during our Tiyul earlier in the week, Heather, Becca, Keren, and I decided to go  back and stay in a Bedouin tent. So, we rented a car (yikes! driving in Israel!) and road tripped back to the Sde Boker area. It took us over an hour to get the car and then we had to figure out how to navigate through Tel Aviv to pick up Keren at the bus station. Heather and Keren did a great job getting us out of Tel Aviv and on our way to Han Sharot, the Bedouin village we stayed in. As we drove, we watched the sun set over the desert, which was amazing. Shortly after sunset, we reached the turn-off for the village, and although we didn't see any tents, we drove along a dirt road, hoping we were going the right way. Eventually, we decided to call Yotom- our host at the Bedouin village- and ask for directions. Our landmarks, aside from a vague street sign, included a lot of dirt and two "shadow camels" which were flat cut-outs of camels on the side of the road. When Heather asked Yotom if the tents were near the camels, we were sure he would say, which camels? they can move, you know! So she explained that we were looking at "shadow camels" but that didn't help us much. Finally, we pulled into the parking lot and were greeted by Yotom. We got our own large section of the tent, which was divided into thirds and heated! We set up our mattresses and played cards in the tent until dinner.
Bedouin meals are delicious! A large serving tray of salad, vegetables, hummus, tahini, and a big plate with a whole chicken on top of rice that we sat around and ate from. We started by cutting the chicken, but Yotom told us the Bedouin way is to take a flat pita, reach into the chicken, and pull out your piece! Becca tried it and said it tasted better- more flavor! After stuffing ourselves with dinner, we moved to the other side of the dinner tent and had some delicious Bedouin tea.
When we were able to move again, we went with Yotom to set up a campfire. We chose a campsite right next to where the camels live! We visited the camels before making our fire, which Keren pretty much built from scratch! Yotom and his friend brought wine and marshmallows, and we sat around telling stories, drinking wine, and roasting marshmallows. The fire kept us warm well into the night! It was still going strong when we put it out so we could go to bed.
Saturday morning we woke up early for an Israeli breakfast, then headed to the camels for a ride in the desert! Getting onto a camel is no easy feat. A camel saddle is for two people, one in front of the hump and one behind it. So, when you get on, both people have to go at the same time. The camel stands up as soon as it feels the weight on its back. Camels have an extra joint in their legs, so as they stand up, we were rocked forward, almost tipped over, rocked backward, almost tipped over, and finally horizontal. We rode the camels, took pictures, and enjoyed the view of the craters and desert rocks around us.

Our Camel!

Since we had a car and it was only 11am on a beautiful Saturday, we decided to drive back north and stop wherever looked interesting. The first place we found was a desert winery, but there was a private party going on so we couldn't stay. We came across some sand dunes, which Becca and I climbed and explored. We wrote Shalom in the sand and took pictures climbing up the dune. We drove around a bit more and came across an oasis/ lake. We got out of the car, walked around, hiked, and chilled by the lake for a bit in the afternoon sun. It was a great find! Satisfied with our day, we headed back to Tel Aviv, navigated to a parking spot, and went to take a nap in good 'ole Beit Leni. It was an incredible weekend and we really enjoyed getting out of the city for a bit and relaxing Bedouin style.

Hiking and Exploring the Negev!

For our final Career Israel Tiyul, we took a trip to the Negev for some hiking and exploring. The desert is an incredible part of Israel (60% of the land!) and a great place to go hiking/exploring. Our first destination in the Negev was Makhtesh Ramon (Ramon Crater), where we stood above the crater and looked at the amazing rock and sand formations below us. The crater is the world's largest natural crater (40km long and 2 km wide) and is 500m deep! There is a spring at the bottom of the crater which serves as the water source for the wildlife in the area, including ibexes, which we saw lots of! We hiked through some of the crater and explored the different sand and rock remains in the cliffs of the crater.

Ibex!

After hiking through the crater, we headed to Ashalim, a student village in the Negev that brings students to settle in the area. The students live in subsidized housing and volunteer in the local neighborhoods. The idea is to encourage students to stay in the area and get more people to build their homes in the Negev.
After a long day of hiking and exploring, we headed to Sde Boker Youth Hostel for dinner and and a drum circle! There were 3 performers at the drum circle, each of whom had either drums or a guitar. There was a circle of seats next to unused drums, which we took turns playing. The performers taught us some basic beats and we got to rock out with them. They played some awesome Friday night camp songs and we had a great time pretending we were good at the drums.

On Monday, we visited Ben Gurion's grave site, which is in a beautiful park overlooking the craters. Ben Gurion and his wife are buried in large, above ground tombs that fit in with the palm trees and craters around them. Ben Gurion promoted cultivating the Negev, which is why his burial site is in a park there. We hiked a lot during the trip, climbing and descending the craters and walking through the bottom of some. The naturally formed cliffs of the craters have unqiue patterns and geometries from the rock being washed away many years ago. Our next adventure was to a goat farm, where we petted goats, tasted goat cheese, and learned about the farm and its products. The cheese was really good! From the farm, we headed to a Bedouin village to learn about the life of a Bedouin woman. We were welcomed into her guest room (a large tent with mats on the floor) and served delicious Bedouin tea. As we drank our tea, the woman told us about her life and the hardships of being a Bedouin woman. Bedouin women do not have equal rights, so they are less educated and prohibited from working. Their job is to raise the children and take care of the house. They also don't have any say in their children's futures- the father makes these decisions. It was amazing that this woman's husband allowed her to speak to us. It's hard not to feel hopeless in her situation, since she is alone in her feelings and the outside world cannot interfere with Bedouin practices.

Ben Gurion's Grave

After the Bedouin village, we hiked Snapir Katan, which overlooks the large crater. There were many rock formations and we even saw some colored sand! We stayed to watch the sunset, then headed back to the hostel for dinner. We went to bed early Monday night because we had to wake up at 3am Tuesday for a night hike!!
The night hike was awesome! We hiked by moonlight (for the most part, since some people had flashlights) and watched the sun come up over the canyon. We were in the bottom of the canyon walking through, which led us to an oasis! After 3 hours of hiking, we stopped for a delicious breakfast in the park near the crater, then continued hiking for another 3 hours. We hiked Nahal Chaverim and Ein Avdat, narrow canyons with springs and amazing views. There was a waterfall in the canyon, too!
Our final stop before we headed back to Tel Aviv was Dimona, a community of African-American Israelites. The people moved to Israel from Chicago 40 years ago and their first language is still English. The African Hebrews claim they are descendents of the lost tribe of Israel. They a strict vegans and promote a healthy lifesytle, requiring everyone to exercise at least 3 days a week. They aren't exactly Jewish, but they practice some of the Jewish traditions, based on when/where they were written. After we met some members of the community, we got back on the bus and slept all the way to Tel Aviv.

Haifa's on fire! Is it insensitive if we barbeque?

Bahai Gardens

This past Thursday, our program headed up north to Haifa for a day exploring the many different religions that coexist in this amazing city. We started the day at the Louis Promenade, where there is an incredible view of the city from the top of the Bahai Gardens, which are extravagant on their own. We gazed down the mountain to the sea and enjoyed a perfect morning of blue skies with not a cloud in the sky. Haifa means beautiful beach (hof-yafeh) and is rightly named. As we walked down the 700 stairs of the Bahai Gardens, stopping to take pictures and enjoy the wonderous symmetrical landscaping of the gardens, we learned about the Bahai religion. Haifa is a city that takes pride in its peaceful coexistance between 4 religions- Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Druze.

Ominous Smoke Cloud

After the Bahai Gardens, we headed to Stella Monastery to learn about Christianity in Haifa. We also hiked down to Elijah's Cave, where supposedly the Prophet hid for a while. As we descended the mountain, we noticed a smokey, ominous cloud not too far from where we were. We didn't think much of it, and continued to hike down to Elijah's Cave. When we got on the bus after the cave, we were informed that there was a fire near the Druze village Usafiya, about 20 minutes from where we were. Usafiya was also our dinner destination, so we weren't sure if we'd be able to make it there.

The Fire

We continued our tour at the Achmadim Mosque, where we heard about Islam and got to ask lots of questions about the religion. We also had to take off our shoes before we entered the Mosque, and since we had just been hiking, there were about 120 pairs of stinky fit in the room. Mmmm, good thing this was after lunch.
Because of the fires, we had to take an hour long detour to get to dinner in the Usafiya. It was worth the extra drive, though we ate by candlelight because they lost power shortly after the fires started. Dinner was all-you-can-eat homemade traditional Druze food: pita with different toppings, rice, eggplant, hummus, fresh veggies/salad, and a yummy cous-cous like dish made of wheat. We ate to our hearts' content then headed back to the bus.


Druze Dinner



  



Mid-shot rooftop pong with the fire blazing behind us

Ellie and I needed to get back to Haifa to stay with our friends for the weekend, which we hoped didn't mean taking the hour long detour back. It did. We basically got dropped off on the side of a road where our madricha found an English speaker that pointed us to a bus back to Haifa Tachana Hof Hacarmel. We kept an eye on the huge amount of smoke coming from a place not too far from us. From the bus station, we had to find our way to Ariel's. Luckily, I had been there before and I recognized the Horev Center. We got off the second bus, called Ariel, and finally made it to his apartment.
We welcomed Alex to Israel, greeted Guy and the Haifa boys, and went up to Ariel and Dani's roof to observe the fire. It was huge! And not very far away! We had a big night planned, though, so we began our pong tournament. Alex and Ariel dominated the table all night- Ellie and I lost many, many times, as did Dani and I and Ellie and Dani. After the exciting and a little frightening fire-watching and pong playing, we went inside to end the night in typical night-in fashion: super smash brothers and fifa soccer.

The losers :(

On Friday, we slept in then the Haifa boys came over and we had a big barbeque on the roof. We hoped it wasn't insensitive of us to be doing this while the fires were blazing, but we had the food already and needed to use it up. So, we had another delicious meal, played more pong, and enjoyed an afternoon in the sun. By then, all we could see of the fire was smoke. Helicopters arrived, dumping water as the flew by. We watched the news a lot of track the progress. Aside from worrying about the fire, Friday was a wonderful afternoon that felt like the first warm Saturday at Bucknell where everyone's outside all day hanging out. Friday night we continued our hanging out at the apartment with the boys. We played more video games, ate dinner, and relaxed.

Bros?

For lunch on Saturday, we headed back to Sandwich Bar for amazing honey turkey and Scandinavian cheese sandwiches with lots of toppings. We watched tv, napped, and enjoyed a relaxing Shabbat afternoon before heading over to the soccer courts for Saturday soccer. We played soccer for a while, but it smelled like smoke outside! After ordering pizza for dinner, we headed back to Tel Aviv. This ended another amazing weekend in Haifa.