Dear Eisner,

We’ve been having such an incredible time so far in Europe and Israel! After a delayed flight our trip started off with a visit to the Czech Republic where we learned about the rich history of the Jewish people who lived there before the Holocaust. We visited incredible synagogues and got the chance to eat some incredible Czech food. We then drove to Poland and spent some time visiting sites relevant to the Holocaust, like Auschwitz. It was a tough week, but we got through it together.

It was then off to Israel! We got on the flight late Sunday night and after a layover in either Paris or Amsterdam (there are so many of us we had to be on two different flights!), we arrived in Israel super early Monday morning. We rested at a youth center (where we saw lots of stray cats and even a few peacocks!) before heading out to Jaffa, the place where thousands of people immigrated to Israel. After some time overlooking the harbor, we returned to the youth center to pack or desert bags (lovingly referred to as our mommy bags) and went to sleep.

The next morning we began our three day journey through the Negev desert, following in the footsteps of our ancestors. We met up with our tour guide then embarked on the first hike of many. The view of the desert was an incredible start to our time in Israel.

On the fourth of July, while you all celebrated the holiday, we went on another morning hike. The views, once again, were breathtaking.

After a night of sleeping under the stars and waking up at 4:30 in the morning, we embarked on another hike. Later in the afternoon we drove to Coral Beach and got the chance to snorkel. We saw some really cool fish during our time in the ocean, and it was nice to cool off from the heat!

Sadly, our time in the desert came to an end after only three days, but we got the chance to go to the sand dunes this morning. We spent that time rolling around, running down hills, and playing frisbee. Being around so much sand was an insane experience. After saying goodbye to our tour guides, we made our way to Jerusalem. Many of us were blindfolded by our staff so our first view of Israel could be taken together.

We are all having a truly magical time spending many of our first visits to Israel together. The sights, the food, and the people are all coming together to inspire and welcome us to this Holy Land. We miss you all lots, and can’t wait to see you in just a few weeks.

Much love,
Desert and Sky,
Olim XVII