Living in the Middle East- Part II

On our two month trip to Israel, my group did a lot of traveling all over the country. From going as far north as the Lebanon border, to the Negev Desert down south, we saw a majority of the cities across Israel. A majority of these trips were education based but there were others that were not. On the education based trips, we would go on site of the history we were learning, and be taught class there. And of course, there were the trips that had nothing to do with education… Those were fun as well.

This was the front of the pack of our line of camels.

One of the trips that stuck out to me was our weekend in the Negev desert. We stayed in Bedouin tents where they treated us to the ways of a Bedouin. We ate an amazing dinner in the tent, got to wander the campsite, and my favorite part: go off into the desert alone. You’re probably thinking, “Why would she go off into the middle of the desert, alone, at dark?” It wasn’t bad at all. It was the most relaxing thing to do. I laid down on a couple rocks, made myself comfortable, and started gazing at the stars. It was the most peaceful thing to do. The stars were so bright showing a magnificent view. I thought I had only been gazing for 15 minutes but in reality, it was an hour. It was a breathtaking experience. The following day, we rode camels. My camel was a pain in the ass, and kept trying to wander off in the wrong direction. Either way, it was very entertaining.

This was taken on top of Masada. It may not look it, but we’re pretty high up.

Another highlight of my trip was when we climbed Masada. Our teachers made us wake up at 4Am so that we could experience the sunrise on top of the mountain cliff. We got to the top just in time and it was an amazing view! We took pictures, hung around a bit, then split up into our classes. We went into one of the structures that used to be a house, and started class. Our teacher was telling us all about the history of Masada; the people who had lived there, the wars, what it is used for now, etc. It was a beautiful day which added to the peacefulness of being that high up.

This is a 3-D model of Masada.

Now those are only two of the many excursions we took throughout the two months. I could write pages and pages about this trip but figured I would stick to some of the highlights. I am still in contact with a majority of the people from my trip (4 of them attend Penn State as well) and someone writes in our Facebook group at least once a week. It was truly one of the best experiences I have ever had and hope that one day, all of you will try and visit Israel. Some say that it’s dangerous to be there nowadays, but not every part is dangerous. People still live there and say that they are perfectly fine. So go for it! Consider traveling to this beautiful, and historic country!

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2 Responses to Living in the Middle East- Part II

  1. Pingback: “Did you see a pack of camels just now?” – Bildungsroman

  2. Brandon Leshchinskiy says:

    I was actually in Israel last summer, but only for 10 days to visit my grandpa. It was a pretty cool experience. Er… it wasn’t cool at all — you get the point. Actually, when I was at the Dead Sea, the temperature was 120 degrees, Fahrenheit. And I mean, I know if someone reads this, they’ll be like, “Wow, that’s really hot.” No. Unless you are literally experiencing 120 degrees RIGHT NOW, you don’t understand how hot that is. It was ridiculous. Thankfully, our car didn’t break down on the 3-hour drive there; while we saw plenty of Arabic travelers decked out in all black garb, strolling across the sand like it was no biggie, I’m almost positive I wouldn’t have made it. Totes worth it though, when you get to lay in the water and read Catcher in the Rye…

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