Yom Hazikaron, Hom Ha'atzmaut...4 sprained ankles and 2 sprained wrists

Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut

Yom Hazikaron is Israel's Memorial Day, however it is nothing like America's Memorial Day. For the evening of Yom Hazikaron, the Karmiel track had a special ceremony in honor of the soldiers who had fallen. The next day, we went to Jerusalem to Har Herzl (Mt. Herzl) to visit the cemetery of the soldiers who had fallen whilst fighting for Israel (from the war of 1948 til today). It was a very interesting experience to see all the soldiers, families of the fallen soldiers, and people just like us crowded heavily around a cemetery interacting in different ways. There was the crying at certain grave sites and what not. Then there was the somewhat friendly greetings from one person to another at the grave site next to one similar to previously mentioned (i.e. crying). After the ceremony, Nativ started heading out to do our own programming and I ran into my friend, Simon, with whom I went to high school with. Once we finally left the cemetery, had our programming, and were told what time the buses were leaving the next day but come to the barbecue or else you'd be missing out, we were on our own to experience the transition from one of the saddest days of the year to one of the happiest days of the year. As I walked around for the rest of the afternoon before going to shul, I noticed people setting up for Yom Ha’atzmaut. It was still Yom Hazikaron, but I didn’t feel the vibe of Yom Hazikaron the way I thought I would. People were still doing normal activities as if it was any other day. After I went to shul, I saw the change. People were singing in the streets, there was music playing, and people were wishing each other a שמח חג (Happy Holiday). My friend, Becca, and I went out for dinner then joined in to the festivities. The next day, I woke up, got dressed, and helped prepare for the barbecue. The barbecue was a lot of fun. Yossi told us that every year, Nativers have never been able to finish all the food. Nativ 30 accepted the challenge and completed the task with smiles and barbecue sauces on our faces. Then we went back to Karmiel.

Sprained ankles

The second to last week of Nativ is Northern Tiyul. This tiyul is more about having fun than bonding with the group. Sunday, I chose the easy hike option. We all went to a Druz village for lunch and hospitality then the easy hike went on a tour of Old City Akko. I really had a lot of fun. On Monday, I chose the hard hike option. We started at the Yiron winery for a wine tasting then went to hike Nahal Amud. While this hike started out very fun and exciting, it didn’t end that way. I ended up with 2 sprained ankles. Tuesday, I went on the easy hike. Originally, we were supposed to go to the Banyas nature reserve, but because of the storm the previous night, trees were falling and the park was closed. Plan B was to go cable car-ing, but for the same reason, it was closed. So we ended up going to a different hike. I wasn’t supposed to be hiking, but the driver was stupid and didn’t drop those who shouldn’t be hiking to a resting area. After the hike, we went rafting/kayaking in the Jordan River. There, I ran into my friend, Josh, from home who decided to go on Birthright. I was so surprised to see him. After kayaking (and hurting my ankle again), we went to the hotel, changed, and went to Tiberias for a free evening. I had so much fun. Becca, Gill, Daniel and I decided to go for Chinese food. We spent most of the time there eating, discussing how to pronounce Szechwan and talking about life. Wednesday, I went on the easy hike. This time however, I was dropped off at a rest stop while the rest of the group went on the hike. Once everyone got back, we went to the Golan winery for a wine tasting. After the wine tasting, we went back to the hotel, changed and headed out for the Hamat Gader hot springs. 

You are probably wondering where the other 2 sprained ankles and wrists are. They belong to 3 people. 2 sprained ankles belong to me, 2 belong to my friend, Max. 1 sprained wrist belongs to my friend, Gill and the other sprained wrist belongs to my friend, Ben. There you go.