Birthright: My First Time in Israel – Day 8
June 6 – Mega Event
I must apologize for the brevity of this post. To be honest, this was my least favorite day of my entire trip to Israel. Originally, my
itinerary included events such as the Ein Avdat canyon hike, the Sde Boker grave of Ben Gurion, and multiple “green activities” (Shvil HaSalat and Tur-Sinai Farm) to learn about Israel’s goal of creating a flowering desert. Instead, all of these events were canceled for a day of sports, cooperation, and “fun” at the Wingate Institute. I must admit that it was quite impressive that Taglit was able to organize such a grand event, including forty Birthright trips. Each group was given a team name, shirts, and materials to make a flag – as I mentioned in the last post. Our team was named Alon (אלון), or Oak Tree. I enjoyed the night before when I was able to create the flag with Lindsay and Galina, but the excitement wore off the minute I stepped off the bus into the scorching heat of the coming day.
There were four rotations throughout the competition: extreme activities, army base, soccer/dodgeball, and volleyball/basketball/tug-of-war. Throughout the entire day, I only did one thing! I jumped over two bails of hay, lugged heavy sand bags back and forth (though for the second one, I chose a quite empty sack), and missed the target three times as I attempted to shoot paintballs at it. That was enough exertion for me! The rest of the time I spent scouting out “comfortable” places to lay down, resulting in a very stained pink t-shirt.
I was always finding a place to sit. I felt like that lone maraca.
Despite all of the planned events, there also happened to be a lot of down time. Organization didn’t seem to be the top priority of the day’s program! The food also was quite disappointing, as I ate the bread of a cheese/tomato sandwich and the rice of some Israeli-style TV dinner. Bathrooms were few and far between, and if one didn’t take advantage of the soccer field locker rooms, it would be porta-potties until dinner!
The only redeeming factor of Taglit’s Mega Event was the end ceremony. We heard Naftali Bennet (Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, and Religious Services) speak and enjoyed an Israeli reggae performance by Hatikvah Shesh (6). The winning teams got awarded with sports metals. As much as the music was fun, and the atmosphere was joyous, I was ready to go back to the hotel. I was extremely disappointed that I had wasted an entire day in an arid, shadeless, desert sports club. I didn’t even tour the Barcelona Soccer Club when I visited that city, and that’s a HUGE tourist spot! If you didn’t guess, I’m not much of a sports/physical activity kind of person. At least I would be walking around Jerusalem the following day!
