Long post ahead

Wow. I had such an interesting weekend.

I signed up for an ATV and ziplining trip organized by this guy named Jeff Seidel. He organizes trips for students all over Israel for ridiculously cheap prices--which of course means that there's a catch. I had a really fun time this weekend but found myself in one of the most religious environments I've ever been in. It was like stepping into another world.

First we went ATVing which was really fun even though I didn't get to drive. At the end of the trail we were on the top of a mountain which overlooked a beautiful landscape--it was green and mostly flat, with mountains across the entire horizon.

After that we got back on the bus and they took us to the ziplining place. At first I was nervous but it was so fun, and way too short! When we landed we had to wait for enough people to fill up a jeep which we took back up the mountain--the jeep ride was way scarier than the zipline. We were going really fast on a bumpy road and the jeep had an open back, which the two girls at the end literally almost flew out of.

I started getting a sense of the religiosity of the trip on the bus. We had two madrachim (counselors)--Dani and Yomi. They were both really cute, young and fun, but they had become Orthodox and were clearly trying to sell their beliefs to us. It definitely put me off more than anything else, but I talked to Dani for a while and her perspective was interesting, even if I don't agree.

By the time we were done ziplining we were all starving so they took us to a barbeque restaurant and it was probably some of the best food I've had so far in Israel. There were plates of chicken, french fries, and all different kinds of amazing Israeli dips waiting for us. After everyone sat down (probably close to 100 people--it was a huge group) a man started walking around pouring alcohol into people's drinks. The best part was that he was a complete hippie--tunic shirt, curly hair in a ponytail and a frizzy beard.

Finally, after that huge day, we got to the hotel with barely enough time to change for Shabbat services. We soon realized that the hotel was something like a Shabbat retreat for the weekend; it was filled with Orthodox families coming to observe.

The service was a Carlbach service, meaning that instead of being talked to in monotonous Hebrew, the service was based around singing and dancing. But we were still separated into male and female sections. However I was pleasantly surprised to see that the hippie alcohol man, whose name is Ezra, was leading the service. I couldn't follow along with the songs of course, but it was more fun than I expected.

After the service we had dinner, in which Ezra led the prayers again. Aside from the kids on the trip, there were several Orthodox families (with a ton of little kids) that ate with us. Everyone seemed really nice, and but there were definitely times when people stood up to speak and I felt that they were pushing their beliefs on us. Most of the time I could ignore it but it was sort of uncomfortable.

I accidentally got stuck in the room for the oneg, after dinner. I'm not sure how to describe what this is, because I'm not really sure myself, but we were listening to a soldier talk about his experience in Gaza a few weeks ago. I'm really glad I stayed because it was really interesting to hear what he had to say. This soldier was 25, he's been out of the army for several years but has been called up for reserve duty 3 times. He talked about what it was like crossing the border into Gaza, the feelings of the troop before the war, and dealing with it afterward. He's a student at Hebrew University, and after the war he spent one day sleeping and then went to class and got asisgned 8 term papers. He said it took 2 weeks before he could get the boom boom boom sounds of rockets out of his head. He also said that students at Hebrew U, both Arabs and Israelis, would yell "Murderer!" at him. I'm not sure if I supported the Israeli attack on Gaza, and it's been something I've been worrying about a lot, but I really felt for this soldier... I can't even imagine the things he's seen and people are yelling hateful things at him instead of thanking him, or even just letting him be.

After this I hung out with some friends, had a satisfying conversation about Orthodox women and feminism (I'm a dork), and slept very nicely on a real bed.

On Saturday some friends and I walked down to the Kinneret Sea, which was literally several feet from the hotel. That area of Israel is so beautiful. We were in the north, by the Golan Heights, and we were surrounded by green mountains. The sea was so peaceful and beautiful, with mountains on the horizon. It was also sad though, because the Kinneret is seriously lacking water and it's a problem for Israel, which has barely had any rainfall this winter. Basically all the water that the country has right now is in that sea, and looking at that source made that reality even scarier.

Dinner that night consisted of good food and some more selling of Orthodox Judaism, but nothing too new. Overall I'm really glad I went on this trip, but I've thought pretty hard about it, and I think Orthodox Judaism just isn't for me. Go figure. But I could definitely go for another ride on the zipline...

I'm going to Petra on Tuesday, so expect another big update then! Tuesday is also Election Day in Israel--unlike the U.S., people get the day off here. Imagine that! I'm excited, of course, but it's pretty obvious that the Likud party (with Netanyahu as the candidate) is going to win.