Several months ago I spent a day doing a joint program between Malchat Hamidbar and MASA. Thursday was part 2 of this program. On the schedule for the day: jeep riding in the Negev.
Bus picked us up from Beit Ar-El at 7am. Drove to Ashkelon to pick up the Australian girls who were also participating. When we arrived at the meeting spot we were greeted by a row of SUVs. This came as a surprise for two reasons:
1- I was expecting old school open topped jeeps.
2- These all belonged to different Malchot (members of Malchat Hamidbar). SUVs and 4x4 jeeps are not all that common in Israel and here we were looking at a row of over 20 of them.
They divide us into jeep groups. I was with three malchot and two other girls from my section. The drive took us down along the border with Gaza, past Keren Hashalom (the checkpoint base where Shalit was taken from), next to the Egyptian border and finally into the riverbed of Nahal Lavan.
Before heading into the riverbed, the destination for the jeep ride, we stopped at a small oasis for lunch. Stepping out of the car we saw that tables were already set up and laden down with food. Last time, one of the highlights of the day was the most successful potluck I had ever seen with dozens and dozens of homemade dishes. This time was no different. Amazing food!
The jeep ride through the riverbed was insane. All I kept saying was how it looked like one of those car commercials and felt like an old wooden roller coaster.
After a few hours bumping along, we made our way to a cliff and they surprised us with these kite making kits that we decorated and then got to fly. That was the first time I ever remember successfully flying a kite. I couldn't stop grinning.
Dinner was down below the cliff in the park where we got to relax and enjoy the sunset. We even got a journal, bumper stickers and key chain as a goody bag.
Every time we made a stop the women would turn up the volume in one of the cars and start dancing. They have so much energy and such big hearts, it was just infectious. I know I say this a lot, but these were some of the nicest people I've ever met.
It was a long and fun day.
No comments:
Post a Comment