Today we finally made it to Israel! The 9-hour flight went surprisingly smoothly despite a mostly sleepless night for most and a very old airplane with no personalized movie viewing options. When we finally landed, the whole plane cheered and clapped, led by the FC participants who were all over the moon to have finally arrived.
Tel Aviv greeted us with the most pleasant of mornings - blue skies, a light breeze, and a warm sun to wake us up. After meeting up with our amazing tour guide, Chen, and some of our other staff, and eating a quick breakfast in the arrivals hall at Ben Gurion, we headed off on our adventure.
Our first stop - Caesarea - the ancient port city built in the Roman style by King Herod to celebrate Augustus Caesar. We wandered along the centuries-old hippodrome, city avenues, and walled ruins softened by generations of foot traffic. We took pictures by the Mediterranean sea and learned about the history of the old city while standing in its presence. We even got to go up on the stage of the Roman-style amphitheater which is still one of Israel's most famous concert venues.
Next, we had a quick bite at a nearby food court to take a much needed respite from the sun.
After lunch, we headed north to Kfar Kedem - which means "Ancient Village." Kfar Kedem is a model village of ancient Israeli society situated in and run by the community of Hoshaya. There, we sipped tea made from local herbs, learned how to make pita from scratch (including the ancient traditions and technologies used), rode donkeys, and at homemade pita, hummus, olives, and fresh dates.
With full bellies and new skill, we set off for our final destination - Kibbutz Farod, where we will be staying in guest houses for a few days. After settling ourselves in, we had dinner together in the food hall - or hadar ochel - and gathered to go over the next day's activities.
30 hours after arriving at JFK airport, we finally had the chance to rest and relax and sleep.