Day 2

If we had to choose a theme for today, it would have to be “camels.” We started off in The Mountain of the Camel where we did tefillah. Jennifer, Kayla, and Tatiana did a wonderful job leading the rest of the class. It was quite spiritual for many of us. Afterwards, we spent some time reflecting and writing in our Ramah journals.  Yoni said, “Home is wherever you are.” Rabbi Amanda wrote, “ God was in this place and I didn’t know it.” (from Vayetzei). After that, and a lot of pictures, we all got on the bus to head down into the Ramon Machtesh. (Ilan Ramon named himself after it.)

In a different part of the machtesh we collected colorful sand from a sand park and learned how machteshes are created, we then headed out back on the bus.  On the way out we briefly stopped and examined sandstone left behind by volcanic eruptions.  It was weird because the stones were all hexagonal. (We would translate the word machtesh, but there isn’t really a translation for it. As we found out, it is not a crater, but sort of looks like one!)

Soon many discovered their need for a bathroom, although some (we are not saying which gender of course) didn’t need the bathroom enough to use the bushes. Everyone rushed on the bus and we drove off to the hotel, for the second time this morning! The Bathroom Race of 2014 had begun!

After we finished the race, we drove off to a Bedouin encampment. There we enjoyed the thrill of riding camels, both the pros and cons. We then enjoyed a Bedouin feast composed of chicken, rice, and pita bread. Soon after that we visited a Bedouin man who taught us about his interesting culture. It began with him playing an instrument that looked like a small harp. Avi and Yonit started dancing in the middle of us, and most of us tried our best to look like we weren’t with them. Julia ground coffee beans in a wooden thing that looked like a large, skinny mortar and pestle, to a certain beat and did an excellent job.

We ended this hot, camel-centered day in a pool in Mitzpeh Ramon. It was fun to see Kayla and Eitan swim a very competitive race, won by Kayla (sorry, Eitan). Everyone had a great time, including the staff and none of the staff were thrown in. Actually, only one person was shoved in, and it was only by a little finger, so it doesn’t really count (sorry, Eitan).

We tried to prank Yonit by hiding Rachel, but we were found out rather quickly, since Morah Amalya and Rabbi Amanda can’t keep straight faces (no hard feelings).

The staff wants to thank Josh and Zach for contributing to the blog. As the blog committee, they write most of it during the day and then it gets supplemented and edited by the adults later on! We didn’t ask them to do it last night, since they were already asleep when we did it, but from now on, it’s all them.

The day ended with a short nighttime hike in silence. We each sat in our own space and thought about ourselves in the world, the stars, the universe and how we fit in. We shared our thoughts and walked back to the hotel. Lights out is at 10 PM because tomorrow is an early start.