Marissa's Jerusalem Adventures

When you haven't even taken a final yet but you're already dying just thinking about taking 5 finals in the next 3 days....go on an adventure :)

Elias Heizelberg is a Holocaust survivor who came and spoke with us.  He survived nine different camps, three of which were death camps.   He is 99 years old and will be turning 100 in October.   The picture of his family is the only thing he has left to remember them by as they all died during the Holocaust. He was so positive and was truly an inspiration to listen to!

Judd-ite Goliath for the boy's basketball game  Breanna's Birthday Ice Cream Trip Tower of David Light Show

Judd-ite girls dominated!!!  Brother Judd was so proud :)    Wonderful Team Our coaches and amazing trophy we won

What a wonderful week it has been…again!!!  Seriously life doesn’t get much better than this.  Honestly!  Still everyday I am blown away with the fact that I am living in the Holy Land.  It is such an incredible blessing and opportunity that I will forever be grateful for.   Sunday: Field Trip Day We went on a Biblical land field trip adventure that included herding goats and sheep, grounding hyssop which is a super yummy spice, and making a yummy authentic made from scratch over a fire lunch that was lentil soup, mint tea, sweet and salty cracked wheat and of course some pita bread.  It was a fun day!  I really enjoyed the hands on aspect and a break from seeing piles of dirt and rocks called ancient ruins ;)   Monday: Tel Aviv What fun free day our Tel Aviv adventure turned out to be!  We left the Center at 9:00 am and didn’t get back until 11:30 pm…yes we were all exhausted but also so happy.  We packed a lot in!  Aft...

Super fun filled day in Tel Aviv :)  We hit the beach in the morning that had super soft sand and bath temperature water.  Then we made our way to Jaffa (Old City).  We explored the Carmel Flea Market on our way back towards downtown Tel Aviv for dinner and to watch the sunset on the beach.  What a perfect day!

Herding goats and sheep adventures :) Grounding hyssop 

After our crazy walk through the Old City we grabbed some schwarma and made our way back to the Center to enjoy our food!

Sunday: Yad Vashem Ophir Yarden (Israel teacher) was our tour guide for the day.  It was interesting to have the perspective of a Jew on the Holocaust and I am grateful for Ophir’s willingness to take us even though I am sure it was really hard for him. Monday: Free day Dome of the Rock: It is SO beautiful!!!  We only had to wait in line for 45 minutes and as we were waiting there were three processionals that went by that we assumed were for barmitsfa’s (no idea how to spell that).  They were each quite the happening party with drums and horns and dancing and singing.  It was great entertainment while we waited in line to enter the Dome of the Rock complex.  Before we could enter though security made us dump out all of our water and throw away all of our food because of Ramadan…that was a bummer but totally worth it.  After we met up with another group and we took a van over to Ein Kerem.  It was about a 30 minute drive but also so worth it! ...

We met a shepherd!!!  He was so nice

It's been really windy today but we'll take hair in our faces to help cool things off....the heat of the summer is definitely setting in!  We walked up to the Jewish Cemetery hill today for a Sabbath afternoon stroll. So many graves!!! Even MORE graves!  Instead of flowers they put rocks on graves here Our camel friend that we found while adventuring