Birthright: My First Time in Israel – Day 6
June 4 – The Desert
Woke up at 3:00 for an early start to Masada. We left quite late, though, because a room of girls didn’t wake up with their alarm on time. We actually almost forgot them at the hotel, and had already started off when someone noticed they were missing. People got really annoyed because the early rise – not only for the cool weather – was meant to allow us time to watch the sunrise from the top of the mountain. I wasn’t too peeved because I’m not a big sunrise person anyway. The more time to rest on the bus, the better, though I was a little worried about the heat.
I’m really glad Lindsay was there because we went up the Roman Ramp together, taking breaks along the way. Without her, I’d have been stuck behind all by myself! We were given quite some time to simply roam around the central area of the fortress to take pictures. How do we know about what Masada was and 
what took place there? Josephus Flavius! The fortress was one of King Herod’s several residences – he was always paranoid and constantly moved around. There was a private palace, a ritual and welcoming palace, and finally an area for the villagers. The special thing about Masada is its water system. The fortress is in the middle of the desert, and it sports a highly advanced system of aqueducts. There was a model that depicted how it worked.
Masada is famous for the mass suicide of Jews that happened upon its peak. The Romans were surrounding the base of the mountain, prepared to attack. This was around the time that the Second Temple was destroyed. The story was recorded by Josephus as told by a few Masada escapees – Jews that didn’t want to kill themselves. The written history is confirmed by archaeological proof. 27 bodies have been found to date, as well as shards of pottery with the names of the ten men who were given the task to kill their people. The Jews did not want to fall into the hands of the Roman legion.
On top of Masada, we also had a Hebrew naming ceremony in which those lacking a Hebrew name could receive one. Only Mara decided to participate, and she now has the Hebrew name Leor. Afterwards, we went out to an awesome panoramic view spot. There was an amazing echo when we screamed – I think that’s what most groups go there for!
The snake path down… actually not as bad as I expected. Most of it was stairs. That being said, I was going down with little sleep 
in my eyes and hardly any food in my stomach… and it was hot! For 3:30 AM breakfast, all we were given was coffee and cake. I don’t drink coffee, and two pieces of cake is hardly nutritious! My legs were shaking by the time we got to the bottom. I was surprised how many people were afraid of heights! At least that wasn’t something else to add on to the struggle for me. I had originally planned on taking the cable car down, but at the last minute, Jenna only allowed those with injuries to use it. As I said, it wasn’t too bad, so I’m not bitter about the change of plans.
I wasn’t too pleased, though, with the breakfast we were given at the bottom of the mountain at the food court. The eggs were totally fake, and I ended up just eating pita with hummus – not what I call a delectable breakfast! I bought an I Love Israel magnet to add to my collection, and was given some free 
Dead Sea cream samples from the shop. Our next stop after Masada was to Ein Gedi, a desert oasis that sports a waterfall – a major attraction to many tourist groups and Israeli school groups alike. I had to assume that there would be some sort of trek before getting to the refreshing water source, and I was quite correct! It is a shame, though, that we spent only thirty minutes at the oasis, because I found the experience to be quite relaxing and even sort of beautiful. But alas, we had to get on our way if we wanted to float in the Dead Sea!
My first stop when we got to our Dead Sea resort was the buffet line! I was a little bit confused about 
how the line worked, as everyone there was Russian and I felt out of place. At first I was a bit worried about the food situation, I thought I had stolen food from the resort. Eventually, though, a man came up to me and said I had to pay. I hadn’t been able to locate any cash register earlier on! You might say my time in the water was insufficient – only in for a picture and out again. I did have a hang-nail that burned in the salt water, and it wasn’t as if the Dead Sea was refreshing – it was more like a steaming bath! I was also a bit worried about too much sun exposure as it had made me feel weak back on the beach in Tel Aviv. For this reason, I only ventured out momentarily, and quickly retreated back into the cafeteria.
The last stop of our busy day was the Bedouin Tent experience. Many people complained afterwards of having to sleep on thin mattresses on the floor, but being tiny like I am, I found it quite comfortable. I slept like a rock! The first thing we did when we arrived was to ride camels. When I was little, I was always scared to go near the ponies and horses at birthday parties and fairs. When I got a little older, I was disappointed that this was the case, but felt it would be weird to hop on a pony at the local crafts fair. So what was the first animal that I’ve ever ridden? A camel! Lindsay and I named our camel Sheila-Leila. All of the camels at our service were females, I guess because male camels are too rowdy. I absolutely loved the experience, and wish it could have been longer!
After quickly returning to our tents to organize our things, we ventured to the Hospitality Tent, where a REAL LIFE BEDOUIN 
spoke to us about Bedouin culture and tradition. He didn’t speak English, so Chen had to translate. Strong coffee was served, but I let someone else take mine. Our Bedouin host was really nice, and shared with us many personal anecdotes and jokes. Afterwards, we headed to dinner. We sat around a metal dish on the floor – similar to my experience in an Arabic restaurant in Granada, Spain. I love informal (at least in a Western context) meals! The food was definitely a lot more “real” than anything we had eaten up to that point – it definitely wasn’t hotel food.
When dinner was finished, and it was time to return to our group tent, I rushed to the bathroom to get changed and ready for bed. I was exhausted from the busy day we had just experienced! By 9:00 I was out like a light, while everyone else stayed up for several more hours singing, playing guitar, dancing, and gathering around a bonfire. The hippy-dippy fun time of the evening wasn’t worth losing sleep over – and I had had a long day after my 3:00 AM wake-up!
