The "new" terminal at Ben Gurion Airport. While it's beautiful, it takes away from the mystique of getting off the airplane right on the tarmac.
Shlomi, my incredibly amazing co-staff
Another shot of the arrivals entrance to Ben Gurion airport right off the plane
Lance taking a look at some art for sale at Nachalat Benyamin.
Tel Aviv balcony.
A beach in Ashkelon.
A family enjoys an Israeli winter day at the beach in Ashkelon.
Another view of the beach in Ashkelon.
Waves crashing against the rocks at a beach in Ashkelon
Interesting juxtaposition...kind of makes the beach look dirtier than it was.
Lifeguard post just like in the States.
Ashkelon, Israel
Bus 731 enjoying their time out of the Ganei Dan hotel
"Footprints in the sands of time...."
Is this wakeboarding?
More waves crashing on more rocks at a beach in Ashkelon
They must be watching something...maybe the wakeboarder.
Stacy makes her mark before I whisk her away back to the hotel.
The Mediterranean as seen from Ashkelon, Israel.
Shlomi!
Sam and Phil.
One of many attempts at being artistic.
We knew this was going to be a great trip.
A lonely shoe.
Back of the bus crew (except for Sheeri who moved up to the way cool front).
Another last minute shot of the back of the bus crew
Motorcyclist doing cool things on the beach.
Jenny and Sack.
Not really sure where that frisbee came from
The cool "roof" of some pavilion near the beach.
Another attempt at being artistic.
Hillel's donors show up everywhere even in obscure Israeli towns like Ashkelon.
Marc lead's our rakaz in Havdallah.
Students from bus 705 participate in Havdallah.
Keeping the wind from extinguishing the candle.
Members of bus 705 enjoy Havdallah.
Havdallah.
The group at Rabin sqaure, annoyingly under construction.
The group at Kikar Rabin.
Ma'ayan tells the story of Yitzhak Rabin's assasination.
The word slicha, or sorry, and other graffiti is permantly preserved at the site of Rabin's assasination.
Yitzhak Rabin's memorial
Sirens.
Evan and Robin at Independance Hall.
The gavel that made Israel a state.
Theodore Herzl.
Night shot of Tel Aviv from Jaffo.
Even cooler night shot of Tel Aviv from Jaffo.
Blurry Shlomi
Confused Shlomi?
A very drugged up Robin...lent to one of the most amusing nights of the trip.
Walking to Beit Guvrin.
Down into the depths of the cave we go.
Sack makes his way through the cave after getting his picture taken.
Gilon won't have a problem fitting through.
Finally! Some proof that I was actually on this trip.
Andrew and Gilon.
The ceiling was kind of low.
Ma'ayan.
Andrew doing some weird pose.
We dug a lot of dirt.
Fireman's relay up to the top.
Shlomi saying something profound and eloquent.
Gabi, Stephanie, Mike and Dalak at the start of our Mifgash in Jerusalem.
Too cool for school.
Architecture.
Doron.
Dor.
Dalak.
Gabi.
Chen.
Eli.
They were speaking in Hebrew so I don't know what those reactions are in reference to.
Tal and clearly Phil is already flirting with her.
Moran.
Flowers!
Close up of Jenny and Adam H.
I think they were cold so they huddled together for warmth.
Dome of the Rock and the Old City from Mt. Scopus.
Shlomi, Melissa, someone else and Yaara dance during the Purple Rakaz Shecheyanu ceremony.
Dome of the Rock from Mt. Scopus.
Sheeri and Shlomi dance to Israel music at our Shecheyanu ceremony.
Sheeri and Shlomi get into their dancing at our Shecheyanu ceremony.
'Opa!
Some girl who goes to TCNJ, Ruthie and Adam at our Shecheyanu ceremony.
Dalak, Ariel and Alana at our Shecheyanu ceremony.
Sack and Shlomi shimmy shimmy.
The boys get in some dancing before the recite Kiddush.
Getting wine and challah for the Shecheyanu ceremony.
Or, enough said.
Getting ready to say Kiddush.
Baruch Atah Hashem Elokeinu Melech Ha'olam...
Borei Pri Hagafen.
Esther and Jeremy.
Esther and Jeremy take 2.
Ma'ayan
Evan and Melissa with the Dome of the Rock in the Background.
More focused Evan and Melissa.
Dance, Dance.
Warming up for the Mega Event I suppose.
Adam.
Oh when the Jews...dance on Mt. Scopus...
Setting sun.
The dancing continues.
Me and Judah at the Mega Event.
Some of Bus 731 at the Mega Event.
Phil and the Banana.
Ma'ayan teaching us ice breaker games to kill time.
Beautiful Tal.
British Bulldog.
aaaaaand Sheeri was successfully captured.
Lance resisting his capture.
It's a bird...It's a plane....It's just Lance :-P
It takes a village to capture Shlomi.
Good teamwork!
Bus 731's tzedek project.
Michal seems excited to put her fingers in the glue.
Sack, Amy and Emily work with two girls on their ceramic pots.
Andrew and his supposed devil child.
Somewhat of a posed picture...if only Sheeri had her hair pulled back.
Edvard and Dani work with their partner to put a ceramic pot together.
Bus 706 worked on the same project.
Not sure this kid really understood the whole fist pounding thing but look at that adorable smile.
A member of Bus 706 helps color a ceramic pot.
Shlomi
Bad-ass Shlomi.
Sack and Jenny.
Sunglasses.
Beautiful Sheeri.
More smokestacks. Weird juxtaposition between ancient and modern.
Vomitorium.
Stairs.
The group in Caesarea.
Amphitheater.
Some guy sitting in the amphitheater.
Caesarea Amphitheater.
Passageway.
Shlomi tries to pick up Doron.
The sea.
Birds migrating away from an impending storm.
Caesarea.
Edvard and Sack share a moment in Caesarea.
Mediterranean as seen from Caesarea.
Random metal posts sticking out of the ground among ancient ruins of the city of Caesarea.
Rocks.
Lone Fisherman.
Jenny and Sack in Caesarea.
How sweet.
Sleepy Shlomi.
Cows!
Moooooooo.
I think she was curious about what I was doing.
More cows.
Tapuz b'etz.
Tapuzim.
Lemon trees.
Pretty rose still wet from a morning rain storm.
Bus 731 hears about raising lambs and other livestock.
Sheeri was fun to take pictures of.
This lamb loved Amy's coat. It must have felt like mamma.
Emily and a baby lamb.
Me and a baby lamb.
Amy and the baby lamb in love with her jacket.
Emily and the baby lamb again.
Random stray dog I thought might be a dachshund so I took the photo for my co-worker just in case (she loves dachshunds).
Start of our Golan Heights Jeep Tour.
Indication that beyond the barbed wire there may be mines.
Shlomi shared a story about how rainfall sometimes makes the mines fall into the road...
Danger zone.
Elena listens to our guide tell us about the Golan Heights and Six Day War.
Beautiful Doron.
Reflection of the barbed wire in a puddle of mud.
Ey Zeh Balagan :) Dani, Sack, Sheeri and Shlomi.
Me in the jeep. Can't you tell that Oranim kids kept me up all night the night before?
Edvard moonwalking the mud off his shoes.
Somewhere behind the glare is our wonderful bus driver Yuram.
Word.
Fly away Mary Poppins!
This is Or. The third Or we had guard us. What are the odds.
Roof in Tzfat.
Kinneret Cemetery.
Sheeri, Moran, Jon, Kevin and Jared at our nighttime visit to the Kinneret Cemetery.
Sunrise along the Kinneret.
Shlomi shares a story about his base in Jericho.
Shlomi continues his story about his base in Jericho.
Climbing up the Masada Snake Path.
What Birthright trip would not be complete for me without my guard carrying a participant somewhere?
Or got sick of dragging Doron up Masada....or something.
Carrying Doron up Masada.
Dead Sea from the Masada Snake Path.
Soldiers plus Or minus Dalak.
Shlomi and his mini-me.
Some of the boys...and Gilon in Shlomi's arms.
Alana and Chen on Masada.
Capturing the flag in the wind...because it's not like I didn't do that last time I was on Masada.
Moran, Jenny, Sack and Emily ontop of Masada.
Jenny and Sack on top of Masada.
David and his cowboy hat.
Jon: The climb up Masada was great! Emily: Jon's arm makes a great pillow.
Yawning? Sleeping? Spacing Out? With Andrew, who knows.
Ma'ayan begins the story of Masada.
View of the Negev Mountains from Masada.
View of the Negev mountains from Masada.
Trying to be artsy...still.
Cute.
Shlomi and my craziness captured on camera.
We're pretty awesome if I do say so myself.
So cute!
Lance shares with us some of Josephus' writings about Masada.
Adam meditates in the Masada synagogue.
View from Masada.
Masada is really flat.
The Dead Sea is really big.
You can just see the love Gilon and Shlomi have for one another.
Concluding our visit to Masada is the coolest way ever.
Shlomi being the awesome educator he is.
The sun is starting to set in the Negev.
Another view of the Dead Sea from Masada.
The word Chofesh was spelled out in Hebrew in rocks. Chofesh means freedom.
On our way to the Roman Ramp.
View of the North Palace and Dead Sea from the bottom of the Roman Ramp.
The Ors and Gilon.
Rachel, Laura, Annie, Ma'ayan, Andrew and Gabi at the bottom of the Roman Ramp.
Strike a pose.
Strike a pose (too).
Another view of the Northern Palace.
In the Bedouin Tent.
Robin enjoys the peculiar fruit drink provided to us with dinner.
I <3 Shlomi.
Dalak stuffs his face.
Eugene really stuffs his face.
Bus 731 enjoys Bedouin hospitality.
Sam and Jessica like their pita!
Or is probably arguing with another guard.
Edvard: This is all for me.
Israeli drum circle time!
Dalak bangs the drum.
Israeli musicians leading the drum circle.
Sleepy Evan.
This is pretty much what we had to do if we wanted to go to the bathroom in our room at Mamshit without getting all wet and gross.
Robin shows off her kick-ass socks.
Still showing off those kick-ass socks.
Salt deposits at the Dead Sea.
Look at those waves!
Bus 731 takes a dip into the Dead Sea.
That's a lot of salt.
Andrew and his cool tattoo.
Andrew shows off his tattoo.
That's hot.
The group that made it to the Dead Sea.
They definitely had enough...or were just ready for some mud.
Jessica and Alana at the Dead Sea.
Amy and Eugene at the Dead Sea.
Phil's chest did not like the Dead Sea.
Eugene tripped and broke his shoes. It made him sad.
Getting down and dirty.
Time to wash the mud off.
Elena and Ariel get in some mud action.
Saying goodbye to our soldiers :(
The 47 participants of Bus 731 before we said goodbye to our soldiers.
Seth serenades Or.
Oh Dublin....
Curious how the entrance is 22 and up and yet Bus 606 was allowed in with their 18-21 year old participants last March.
Jerusalem Windmill!!!
The windmill was one of the first things I remember seeing during my first ever day in Jerusalem.
Andrew sitting quietly for once.
Edvard and Andrew sitting nicely while I take a picture of them.
Dome of the Rock.
Trees in a courtyard by the Davidson Center.
Shlomi telling the group about the southern wall excavations.
Shlomi talking about the pedestal at which Shabbat was announced during the days of the Temple.
At the kotel.
Robin at the Kotel.
Women pray at the Kotel.
He was celebrating his Bar Mitzvah.
Cute Jewish boy celebrating someone's Bar Mitzvah.
The Bar Mitzvah Boy.
Saba (maybe) sings a song.
Two birds checking each other out.
Two birds getting frisky.
Two birds going at it at the Kotel. Not very respectful :-P
The Pink Camel at the Kotel.
At the Kotel.
Gillian being blessed by a "Kotel woman."
Dani being blessed by a "Kotel woman."
Replica of a statue in Hillel's Schusterman International Center.
Elena trying to teach Or how to do something with his hands.
Jared, Jeff, Eugene, Adam L., Adam H. and Mike R. at Beit Shalom for our farewell dinner.
Or, Ariel, Jessica, Adam G., Alana and Seth at Beit Shalom for our farewell dinner.
Stephanie, Anna, Rachel, Annie, David, Kevin, Natalie and Laura at Beit Shalom for our farewell dinner.
Ma'ayan, Amy, Gillian, Sam, Lance, Emily, Phil and Hannah at Beit Shalom for our farewell dinner.
Dani, Jenny, Sack, Edvard, Sheeri, Gilon and Andrew at Beit Shalom for our farewell dinner.
Stacy, Jon, Mike H. and Dayna at Beit Shalom for our farewell dinner.
University of Albany
University of Albany.
Lisa introduces Avraham Infeld.
Avraham!!! <3
Avraham Infeld molding another group of impressionable young Jewish minds.
Evan and Gilon at the Israeli cultural event.
Heimlich maneuver?
Aviva and Shlomi.
Bus 731 staff!!!
Making myself as tall as Shlomi by standing on the bed.
Adam and Gillian catch a few winks on the plane ride home.
Adam and Gillian.
Gilon and me on the plane ride back to the States.
Adam is a pimp.
Adam seems quite comfortable being surrounded by sleeping ladies.
What a good guy...wearing his nametag until the very end!
