Day 1 Dec 24 TeL Aviv
Our first full day in Tel Aviv was smooth, action-packed and offered a nice overview of Tel Aviv. The participants were curious and great troopers throughout our very long first day (which followed a late arrival and short night’s sleep). Everyone woke up to a sunny day which would reach the 60’s today—a welcome relief as many come from places where winter in America is quite cold.
The crew arrived on time for their first Israeli breakfast. There were certainly more choices at the Neve Ilan dining room than at home—omelets, fresh breads, Israeli salads, cheeses and dairy products, cereal, bourekas, desserts and lots more!
The first ice breaker of the morning was light, with participants taking of an adjective with the first letter of their first name (“Super Sam,” “Happy Howard”). One brave female offered to try to name all names and adjectives after hearing them only once. The group was impressed. She said, “If I remember 2/3 of your names in one day, it means you made a bigger impression on me than my fourth grade teacher—it took me a week to remember her name!” After reviewing a few procedures and safety rules, the group received maps of Israel and new fancy water bottles—always useful as drinking water often is a necessity in Israel. A new “count off” system is in place and includes our 24 US participants and 3 Israeli soldier participants and 6 staff.
Some really appreciated the 45-minute drive to the Ramat Gan Safari and Zoo as they had a chance to rest. Others socialized with new friends, including the awesome Israeli soldiers who are happy to share their life and army experiences.
Daniela, a guide from the safari, joined our bus through our safari adventure. Many enjoyed taking photos—and learning fun facts (hippos can hold their breath for 7 minutes; zebras are actually white on black; a lion sleeps 20 hours a day while a giraffe sleeps 20 minutes). We saw all of the animals plus hippos, gazelles and more—before leaving the bus for a long tour of the zoo—pandas, bats, baboons, kangaroos, etc. Our group traditionally loves anything related to animals.
Lunch at Canaan Bistro in South Tel Aviv was delicious! There were many things new and interesting to the group: fresh salads, olive oil, garlic and delicious bread preceded the meal, which included grilled chicken, beef and burgers, and pasta. And dessert for lunch was a welcome surprise! Warm desserts and sorbets! The director of the Camp Ramah in New England Tikvah Program stopped by to say hi to several of his campers—they were so excited!
The walking tour of the artsy Florentine neighborhood of Tel Aviv was a good way to experience and get the vibe of the area—and to walk off lunch. Participants chose groups and split in to culinary, art and culture and graffiti (with the Graffititiyul company). We spotted all kinds of graffiti art and learned about some particularly famous artists. The culinary group enjoyed sampling foods as much as the graffiti group enjoyed taking close ups of colorful graffiti!
Luckily the group saved up enough energy for the final tour of the day—at the Birthright Entrepreneurial Center (Center for Israeli Innovation), at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The group learned that Israel has 6700 startups for its 8.89 million people. Despite its 5% success rate, that is still an astounding 1 per 1,700 people. The group members did the math alongside our great guide—we will assume they are all right! Everyone had a chance to hear about, then view some of Israel’s successful ventures. Everyone now knows why Israel is called the Start Up Nation! The guide now understands just how creative and innovative our group members are. Some suggested modifications and improvements to current state of the art inventions!
The night ended with a delicious salad, soup and meat dinner with dozens of options. The final meeting of the night went through highlights of the day—even split between safari animals, lunch, graffiti tour and innovation center. Finally, the group went through tomorrow’s schedule in detail, including supplies needed for our long day to the South for camel riding, Masada and the Dead Sea. Happy to report all showered and went to bed early!
Photos coming soon!