Travel Home, Conclusion

My body has completely shut down due to exhaustion and lack of sleep. I managed to fall asleep just before the plane took off. Being awake for 22 straight hours after many nights without enough sleep has finally taken its toll on me. Fast forward to flight #2 from Zurich to New York – Swiss Air has amazing chocolates. Once I got to New York I went to check in for my flight to Toronto via Washington DC. They said that the flight to DC might be delayed due to bad weather, thus making me miss my flight to Toronto. Shit! Not again! Luckily, the ticket agent was able to put me on a direct flight home to Toronto that gets in 4 hours earlier! I had to take a 1 hour shuttle bus from JFK to LaGuardia, and I managed to get home early! Once again 5 airports, 4 countries, 3 flights all in one day.

Of my 4 trips to Israel, this was my shortest one – only 7.5 days. Going and coming took almost 60 hours, and the ridiculousness of almost missing my flights getting to Israel was beyond stressful. I did not know what to expect from this trip. I had only met one person prior to this trip and I was the only Canadian. On a trip geared towards volunteering and community service I did not expect to see anything new on this trip. I did not know what kind of work we would be doing or what kind of impact it would have on me or the communities. I did not know what it would be like to be going to Israel just as Israel was going to war.

The work we did as a group was amazing. We saw a real change when 40 students spend a few hours a day volunteering. The entire group of people was awesome and they definitely helped to pass the time at some of the more tedious jobs (picking up trash). In the 7.5 days here, the only things that I had done before was shop in Tel Aviv (which I could have done without) and visiting the Western Wall and the tunnel tours (which is always a must!). Everything else was a completely new experience which was a pleasant surprise. There are a ton of things to see and do here and I was glad I got to experience a lot of new sites. It was important to be here in times of war. It is imperative to show Israelis that we stand with them and support them in times of peace, and especially in times of war. What you see in the mainstream media is not indicative of life in Israel. Everyday is still business as usual and I was not scared for myself, but only scared for others.

This was another incredible trip to Israel, and another one I will never forget.
Once again, the people of Sderot STILL need your help. You can still donate to the rocket proof playground here.

The Last Day

Today is the last day in Israel – and it’s a long one. 7AM breakfast, then we are heading to the airport and 1AM for our 530AM flight. We left Jerusalem and went Clementine picking in the morning. Farmers who don’t finish picking their crops due to economical reasons allow volunteers to come pick the produce and it gets donated to the needy. They were also delicious.

After that we had free time for lunch then drove to Tel Aviv to shop for 3 hours. I aimlessly walked around and stopped for coffee and tried to kill 3 hours which was very hard to do. We then headed back to Jerusalem for dinner and a final group discussion. At about 10PM we went to the Old City of Jerusalem to visit the Western Wall and do the underground tunnel tour. The tour takes you below the current ground level to the base of the wall (only about 1/3 of the height of the wall is visible above ground). It was a good thing that I had done the tour last year because I was too exhausted to appreciate it fully. At 1AM we got on the bus for a final time and went BACK to Tel Aviv to the airport.

AEPi at the Kotel: (L-R) Shane, Me, Felix

Today was exceptionally good because it was the first day of classes of my last semester at university. I could not think of anything I would rather be doing or anywhere else I would rather be!

Only in Israel...

Only in Israel… is there a $5 million playground that is rocketproof. This morning we heard from a representative from the JNF about this playground in Sderot. This is the project that I raised $1000 for in order to come on this trip. They were telling us about the bombshelters within the playground which is located in what used to be a textile factory. In the playground there is a soccer field, disco, computer and gaming room, and many other things that enables children to play safely in a city that experiences daily rocket attacks. This playground is a safe haven and allows children to enjoy some normalcy to a life that is nowhere near normal. In addition there are therapists to help out any children, as every child is Sderot suffers from PTSD due to the rockets landing almost every day for the past 8 years.

We went into a community in one of the valleys of Jerusalem and worked the land. We helped make a dirt path, pick up garbage, and most fun of all – plant trees!

(L-R) Danielle, Stan, Sabrina, Becca, Jesse, Felix, Me, and the tree!!!

Only in Israel… is there a hospital that does not practice for mass casualty situations because they have perfected the process. After a long morning working outside in the sun we got a tour of the Shaare Zedek hospital, which is one of AEPi’s official philanthropies. The hospital is a world leader in dealing with mass casualties. They talked about how they train hospitals around the world to deal with these situations. Every hospital runs practice drills yearly, however Shaare Zedek unfortunately has become too accustomed to dealing with these situations, and have perfected the process. The hospital has its first 3 floors underground for security reasons. In addition to this, there is a 250 bed underground hospital wing and room for 18 ambulances to be parked outside the ER at once. The hospital will treat everyone, and is non-discriminatory; in addition, Shaare Zedek also treats Palestinian terrorists who are held in Israeli jails.

Only in Israel… is a story like this true, and expected! We headed back to the hostel and the most random thing happened. In Israel I always expect to unexpectedly run into someone that I know from home, but this story could not be any more unlikely. So we get back to the hostel just before dinner and there are about 400 soldiers standing in the lobby of the hostel. They happened to be there for a few days as part of their 10 week training course to become officers in the army. As I walked towards my room someone on my trip told me that there was a soldier that had asked if there were any Canadians on the trip (I am the one token Canadian on my trip). I assumed that it was a soldier that had met a lot of Canadians on a birthright trip, or had relatives, or had been to Canada, or I don’t know what. Someone pointed her out to me in the lobby. I went up to her and said hello, and as she turned around I said something along the lines of ‘Holy shit, I know you!’ To make a long story short, Ashley and I were in the same grade at high school together. She made aliyah (immigrated to Israel), and served as a basic training instructor in the air force for 2 years, and is now training to become an officer. She is the last person I expected to bump into in Israel as we were never good friends in high school and we lost touch afterwards. I had no idea she was in the army, yet alone that she had been in Israel for 3 years!

Ashley and I

In the evening we partied in the hostel as it was our last sleep in Israel. The soldiers had classes and stuff in the evening and had to get to bed for a 530AM wakeup and 3km run, so I did not really have a chance to hang out with the soldiers. I had a bit of time to catch up with Ashley and I also talked to a few soldiers who were on guard duty guarding the backpacks outside the lobby.

Shabbat , Operation Cast Lead Expands

The day was spent in Arad, I walked around the city in the morning and played soccer in the afternoon. I found one lookout point where I was able to see the Dead Sea, and beyond that the mountains in Jordan. After Shabbat we headed to Jerusalem where we were supposed to go to Ben Yehuda St. to eat shop and go to the bars, but we were told we could not go because of security threats. Late in the afternoon Israeli ground troops entered Gaza. For the past few weeks Israel had only been using its air force in fighting the terrorists in Gaza but today expanded the operation. Hundreds of rockets have been fired from the Gaza strip since the beginning of November. Since Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005 over 2000 rockets, and since 2001 over 8000 rockets – almost 3 a day for 8 years! Israel has finally said ENOUGH!
We headed to a mall for dinner and some shopping instead of Ben Yehuda St. which was disappointing because I was looking forward to going to Zolly's (a bar).

The Dead Sea, and beyond - the mountains of Jordan.

As usual, before we got off the bus to check in to the hostel our tour guide Yishai told us our plans for the next day. He reiterated as he told us on the first day that given the war he might be called up for reserve duty. He said that he had spoken to his commander and did not think that he would be called up at this time. Ten minutes after checking in we get called down to the lobby for a quick important meeting. Yishai told us that immediately after he got off the bus he got a call from his commander saying he had to get on a bus at 6AM (in 8 hours) to get to his army base. This was the end of the trip for him, and it was sad to see him leave in such an abrupt manner, but this is life in Israel. He did not know where he would be placed, and if he would be going into Gaza.

Farming in the Desert

This morning we went to a farm. This specific farm is called a lone farm. It is one family who had a farm outside of Yerucham, thus located beyond the middle of nowhere in the desert. Before we went to the farm we were supposed to have a woman come speak to us about other lone farms around the desert. We were told at the last minute that she had to cancel. She lives in Be’er Sheva and she said that she could not come because her son kept her awake all night in their bomb shelter. Since Hamas has begun shooting rockets at Be’er Sheva the town has basically shut down and people are spending a lot of their time in these shelters. The lady’s son was scared that if he were to go to sleep in the bomb shelter he would not be able to hear the siren if an incoming rocket is approaching – which is not the case. For the entire night, the lady was trying to convince her son that he was safe and that he needed to go to bed. The lady was too tired to meet with us having not gone to bed all night. This shows that the threat of rockets is not only a life and death situation but can also be traumatizing and have lasting effects on people, and children especially. In the city of Sderot, every child suffers from PTSD because of rockets being launched daily for the past 8 years.

The farm we traveled to was really in the middle of nowhere (which everything seems to be). We helped out in a crop field by picking up plastic and water hoses that were used to help cultivate the crops. The second job I had was to insulate the outside of a building. To do this we mixed dirt, straw and water to make mud that had straw in it – duh! (I don’t know of the technical term for the material). We coated (threw mud at) the outside of the wall with it and once it dried it is supposed to be a good insulator for the building.

After we left I found out that the group that took over the garbage clean up in the field got to have a lot more fun because they also got to drive the tractor and then they burned the heaping piles of garbage hat was collected. That would have been pretty cool, but throwing mud was lots of fun as well. After lunch we headed to the city of Arad where we spent Shabbat. We went to a local synagogue for the evening prayers and then had a nice Shabbat dinner and a relaxing evening.

Picking up trash in the middle of nowhere!

Our completed muddy wall!
(L-R) Jenny, Me, Lisa, Jocelyn, Laura, Samantha, Matt

2009 - Back to Work!

Early wake up at 615AM after only 4 hours of sleep. In the morning half of the group went to a soup kitchen and helped prepare food for the needy. The other half of us including me went to a warehouse that acts as a store where people donate clothes and furniture for the needy. We helped to organize the store and clean it up. After spending 2 days in Yerucham painting, we were now qualified painters. We put our new skills to work in this store as well.

In the afternoon we went to a forest and helped to pickup garbage, trim branches and remove the weeds. In the evening we had a leader from the Bedouin community speak to us about their society and their roles within Israel.

Making the Desert Bloom

We started the day off continuing our painting in Yerucham until lunch time. After lunch we drove down south further into the desert to do an hour and a half hike. It was beautiful to see the natural desert. At one point I hiked up a steep hill and was able to look down in all directions from the middle of the nowhere – I was on top of the world! After the hike we visited the grave of David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel. He is buried in Sde Boker overlooking the desert we had been hiking in. After being Prime Minister he moved to this city and joined a kibbutz which fulfilled his dream to develop the desert in Israel. Such a well respected and important man in the beginning stages of building Israel as a country took up regular jobs in the kibbutz, where is first job as the past leader of Israel was a sheppard. We learnt about his vision and foresight to realize that Israel’s greatest challenge as a country in able to succeed as a nation is to develop the destert, which makes up 60% of the country. Israel must find a way to cultivate the land and make the desert bloom if it is going to succeed.The hill I climbed (I'm the speck on the top sitting on the left). Our tour guide Yishai is in the forefront of the picture.

The grave of David Ben Gurion and his wife Paula. The desert mountains can be seen in the background.

In the evening we had dinner and went to a bar where David Broza was performing (somewhat comparable to John Mayer, but much older). We had a great time and partied well in to the early hours of 2009.

The city of Be’er Sheva, as well as many other cities had decided to cancel school for the day due to rocket attacks reaching the city for the first time ever. Thank G-d for this because Hamas had fired many rockets today including one that hit a school in Be’er Sheva. Had school not been cancelled, the damage would have been much more than structural. Additionally new years eve parties were cancelled, and a limit of 100 people were allowed in one place for security reasons. Be’er Sheva like many other cities has now become a ghost town as people are staying close to or in their bomb shelters.

First day of work!

Today we heard from the mayor of Yerucham where he spoke to us about the troubles facing this community. The city was established in the early 1950s and there have been difficulties trying to get people to live here because of its location. As the mayor said – ‘drive to the middle of nowhere and turn left’. The majority of the people here are new immigrants and the city is one of the poorest in the country. Yerucham is seen as a city that nobody wants to live in and a big problem is self image. To start our volunteer work we spent the day painting a bomb shelter and a number of other buildings around the neighbourhood. Despite its necessity, it is horrible to have to picture the need for bomb shelters right next to a nursery school. Anything that we were able to do to change the image of that bomb shelter by painting pictures on it can put the children at ease, and bring life and colour to the community.

One side of the bomb shelter

In the late afternoon after a long day of working we went outside the town to the makhtesh hagadol (large crater), which is unique to Israel. Despite its name, it is not the largest one in Israel. It was amazing to be able to look out in all directions and see no civilization whatsoever only a 5 minute drive from Yerucham. This really put into perspective where we were.


Today rockets were fired from the Gaza strip to Ashdod and Ra’an, the furthest north and east respectively that Hamas has ever reached with rockets. One person died in Ra’an.

Travel Day 2

Still not there yet. Long story short, I get out of the airport in Tel Aviv at 4PM local time after a layover in Zurich, Switzerland. Amazingly everything went smoothly and I even got my luggage! From the airport it was a 2 hour drive south to Yerucham where we would be staying for the next 3 days.

I had a chance to shower and then we went for dinner in the hostel where we were staying. They advertised an Israeli dinner, but there was only bread, humus and salads at the table, which was disappointing. After about 10 minutes they brought soup which was surprising because we did not know there was more food. Then came the fries and rice. Five minutes later they brought schnitzel. Then I started to get full – I should not have eaten so much bread and humus had I known there was going to be schnitzel. Five minutes later they brought out the shwarma. I was not prepared for this much food!!! And lastly desert! The food was great and plentiful as it continued to be for the entire trip.

We had orientation after dinner and then we were given free time. Yerucham is one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Israel and thus there is nothing to do here. We spent the rest of the evening at the park and hung out at the hostel.

Greeks Build Israel - Preface

I am going to Israel again! 4th time ever, and 3 Decembers in a row! This time it is Jewish National Fund (JNF) mission to do community service work for a week. A prerequisite for this trip was that I was required to raise $1000 for a rocket proof playground in the city of Sderot, which has been bombarded with over the past 8 years. This is one of the closest communities to the Gaza strip, only 1.5 km away from the border. Residents have only 15 seconds to run for cover once a rocket is launched. More info on the playground later in the blog. Money is still required for this project – you can still donate here. The trip was made up of 39 people in fraternities and sororities from all across the US and me as the lone Canadian. There were 3 of us from AEPi. Even before we left for Israel to help out the communities, as a group we made an impact in Sderot by raising over $40,000 for the playground.

Here is a map of Israel to give context to where I was. The light blue line is the current range (40 km) that Hamas is able to fire rockets from the Gaza Strip. On this trip, Hamas fired rockets into Ashdod, and Beer Sheva for the first time ever – the furthest they have been able to reach. Approximately 15% of the population of Israel lives within the rocket range of Gaza. Since 2000, over 8700 rockets have been launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel – an average of 3 rockets EVERY DAY!

The Last Day

My flight back to Toronto via New York City did not leave until midnight, so I still had the entire day left. I took the train into Tel Aviv University where I walked around the campus and went to the Diaspora Museum to learn about the diaspora Jews - those living outside of Israel. I made it back to Rechovot in time for lunch, and took it easy for the afternoon. I packed my stuff and watched President Bush arrive in Israel, and in Jerusalem. Bush was staying in a hotel in Jerusalem about 200 meters from where I had stayed. It was a good thing that I was nowhere near Jerusalem, as it was pretty hectic and crazy with all the security there.

Beautiful Tel Aviv University campus.

In the evening I met up with a friend of mine, Yuval. I had met him in Waterloo when he came on a campus tour of Canada, meeting Jews at different schools as well as sightseeing. We went out for dinner, then for dessert had a last falafel before he took me to the airport.

Rechovot

I stayed with cousins in the city of Rechovot, which translates to 'the streets'. Rechovot is located half way between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Today I went to the Ayalon Museum; Now a museum, this kibbutz (collective community) was secretly making bullets in the 1940s before Israel became an independent country. The bullets were manufactured underneath the bakery and laundromat. The bullets were stockpiled for the resistance fighters in the event that the British left Israel. When Israel declared independence, the British left the land leaving the Israelis to defend themselves with the ammunition manufactured in secret on this kibbutz.

The bullet manufacturing plant below ground. This picture shows approximately half of the plant.

After a tour of the kibbutz, Yithak took me to the Weitzman Institute; Chaim Weitzman, the first Israeli President. I had a tour of his house - now a museum, and also around the university campus founded in his name - Weitzman Institute of Science. In the evening we went to visit some relatvies near Tel Aviv and then I called it a night.

Chaim Weitzman's house

Last Day in Jerusalem

Today's plan was to travel to Rechovot to stay with cousins - Yitzhak and Shoshana. Before I left Jerusalem, there was still some sightseeing to be done. I went back to the Western Wall in the hopes to do the underground tunnel tour, where you go underneath the current ground level to the base of the Western Wall. I get to the ticket counter, and the ticket agent tells me you need to book tickets 3 months in advance!!! I pleaded with him to sell me a ticket, as I was only one person, and it was my last day in Jerusalem. Thankfully he did - for 4PM, which meant I had the entire day to kill before the tour. I walked to the ancient city of David (5 minute walk from the Old City walls). I had just missed the first tour, and I was not able to do the second one because of the conflicting times. Something to do the next time I'm there.

Finally 4PM - the tour starts. What you see of the Western Wall is only 1/3 of the actual wall. When the city was destroyed numerous times, people began to build on top of it, thus there is constant excavations going on, and things being discovered. The tunnel tour took us all along the Western Wall below ground. An underground portion of the Western Wall. The brick at the height of people's heads is ONE piece - and it didn't even fit in the entire picture. Still about 10-15 feet extra beyond the size of the pic!

At the 'market' area of the time of the first temple. The pillars are indicative of separation between stores.

The tour took us all the way across the old city to the other end of the Muslim quarter. Once back at the existing ground level, guards led the way back to the Western Wall Plaza area, where the tour ended.

After a long day of walking, I had to go back to the hostel to retrieve my luggage, and then I headed off to Rechovot. I had to catch a public city bus to get to the main bus terminal, and then a coach bus to Rechovot - about an hour and a half away from Jerusalem. Amazingly I didn't get lost! Exhausted, I finally arrived, and Yitzhak picked me up from the bus stop.

We got to their house, and food was ready for me! I relaxed for a while had a nice meal, and before heading to bed, we planned out tomorrow's activities.

End of the trip

Today was the last day of the trip :-( The morning was spent listening to the last few lectures, but after that we had more free time. For the afternoon I began an impossible mission: I was looking for a restaurant that was on a street corner in the market area. The last time I was in Israel I went to said restaurant and the food was amazing - amazing enough to go looking for it only remembering it was on a street corner. Believe it or not I did not find the restaurant, however, I did manage to pick up some fruits that I saved for the next few days. I also stumbled upon the bakery that my sister had told me to go to. I picked up some food from there, which definitely made the long trek a success.

After the semi-successful mission, I was back at the hotel waiting to head off to the final banquet dinner. With the itinerary coming to the end, I still had another 3 days before I had to go back to Toronto, where the group was heading to the airport after the dinner. I was excited to have some time on my own, however I had not made ANY plans for the next 3 days. No accommodations, no sightseeing plans, NOTHING!

I was kind of hoping that some people on my trip, or a different trip would be doing the same thing as me, and that we would do some traveling together, however those plans didn't pan out.
I also got in touch with the Israeli soldiers that I had met on my last trip to Israel, however plans to meet up with them didn't work out either. I got in contact with some relatives, and they were more than happy to host me for a few days. phew.

We headed off to the final banquet, and after that we all said our goodbyes. Everyone was sad that the trip was over, however I was ecstatic to be staying another 3 days. I had one final night in Jerusalem before I would go to my second cousin's house in Rechovot the next evening. A few other people from the trip were also staying so we decided to head out for another night of partying in Jerusalem.

It was 9 oclock, but before we could go out, I had to find a place to stay for the night. Not a problem, so I was told. One of the guys that was on the trip, Cory took me to a hostel that he said would have availability. Great! We get there, and they said that the last room had just been taken. However the lady said that there was still one room available on the roof. After the accommodation nightmares on the trip, I knew I was going to regret asking for more details about this room. The lady showed me a picture of the rooftop bungalow - it was advertised as "cheap and romantic". With my options very limited, I hesitantly took the bungalow. The "cheap and romantic" rooftop bungalow

As you can see, the rooftop bungalow is a shed. And yes, you have to duck to get inside it. Inside the shed there are 2 beds, a window, a light, and a personal space heater because it gets cold as hell. We get up to the "room" and I meet the neighbours. After about 15 minutes of laughing hystarically about the "room" we all go out for drinks. I definitely did not luck out in the accommodation depatment on this trip. It was hard to believe the accommodations could have gotten worse and worse, yet the worse it got the funnier it was.

Shabbat

We woke up and went for lunch. A number of families hosted lunches for us, so we were split up into groups, and were taken for lunch at their homes. Lunch was great - it was very relaxed and friendly. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and shmoozing. It was nice to get a break from the busy week. As Shabbat came to a close, there was another concert featuring the hippie Rabbi celebrating the start of the new week. After the concert we packed our stuff up and moved out of the horrible Armenian youth hostel, and back into our hotel. After settling back into the hotel, we went out to party as it was our last night on the trip.

Shabbat in the Old City

Today was quite relaxed. We heard from Khaled Abu Tomeh - a Palestinian journalist who report on Gaza and the West Bank. He talked to us about media bias against Israel in the newspapers and television, and how foreign reporters in Gaza and the West Bank require tour guides while reporting because of their safety and the language barrier. Because of this, they are often dictated where to go, and what news to report on, thus only reporting on the news that the Palestinians want them to, which makes Israel out to be the bad guy.

After the seminar, we were taken back to the Old City where we switched accommodation. We moved from our hotel to an Armenian Youth Hostel, which is located inside the Old City - Only 5 minutes from the Western Wall! This was the ONLY positive aspect of the hostel. Firstly, the place was nearly impossible to find - I don't know how we ever managed to find it. We finally get there, and try to get in - only to find that the door is locked, and nobody is answering it. With 15 of us standing outside and nowhere to go, one person starts making phone calls to try and find the phone number for the hostel. After about 5 minutes of standing there frustrated, we hear a voice from above. We look up, and there is an old lady looking out the second floor window - directly above the door. The next thing we notice is she drops a key tied to a piece of string down towards us so that we can unlock the front door. At this point we realized that our accommodations just got downgraded. This turned out to be an understatement of epic proportions. She also throws us keys to the hostel - one per each room, leaving 80% of us no way to get back inside the hostel - great. We get inside, and instantly notice that the place looks not so much like a hostel, but more like a bat cave! There were 4 or 5 of us to each room - which wasn't too big of a problem.


The next part of the bat cave tour was the washrooms. The first problem we noticed that there were only 2 washrooms for all 15 of us. - I guess that was marginally better than 1 washroom for 10 people we had in the first hostel, but nonetheless not a good situation. This next aspect of the washroom could either be convenient, or horrible, depending on your preferences. You can shit, shower and shave all at the same time, because the washroom was at best 25 square feet - not too much room to move around, yet alone even stand. Oh, did I mention no hot water. Wait - it gets worse. The sign on the back side of the washroom door reads "Please don't flush the toilet paper". Thank goodness we are only here for 24 hours!

Before Shabbat started, I had some time to walk around, and enjoy the old city. Three of us started walking, not really knowing where we were going, but it wasn't to difficult to find your way around. There are a number of recognizable places that help you keep your bearings. We walked around and started taking pictures. We had turned a corner and walked past a Birthright tour group. The groups guard stopped us and told us not to continue walking in that direction, as we would be entering the Muslim quarter of the old city. We quickly came to a consensus that we should probably take his advice, and we stopped for a photo-op, then continued our way back.

We got back to the bat cave, and got ready for Shabbat. We had a pre-shabbat concert led by a a crazy hippie Rabbi. The concert was supposed to be outside, but unfortunately it was raining. After the concert, it was time for Shabbat prayer services, where we went to pray at the Western Wall. I was soaking wet and freezing cold, but it was a great experience. We had a big meal followed by a relaxing evening spent snacking and drinking.

Gush Etzion

Today we took a tour Gush Etzion – a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, not far from Jerusalem. We had a chance to see the landscape and see how the people live in the hostile environment. We watched a documentary on the city and about how the city was restarted on three different occasions due to wars. We also got to hear from the Mayor of Gush Etzion.

Later in the evening we heard from the father of Koby Mandell. Koby and a friend were brutally murdered in 2001 at the age of 13 when attacked by Arab terrorists while hiking near their home. The family has since set up a foundation to help families who have been affected by terror.

We headed to the Gush Etzion Winery where we had a quick tour of the winery, followed by a fantastic dinner.

The Big Day

Today we heard from a resident of Sderot and the founder of Sderot Media. Sderot is the closest Israeli city to the Gaza Strip. In the past 7 years, over 8000 rockets have been launched from the strip into Sderot. We learned about the lives of the people that live there, and how they are being terrorized daily by the kassam rockets from Gaza.

We also heard from the founder of Palestinian Media Watch - an organization that monitors things like tv shows, radio, schoolbooks, newspapers, etc. that is shown to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The findings shown to us were shocking to see the hatred that is being taught and preached by the Palestinian Authority.

The remainder of the day was filled with other lectures and discussions about the anti-Israel propaganda that is spread throughout the media, and especially on university campuses across Canada and the US.

We had some time to walk around during lunch, so here are a few pics of the old city.

Me at the Western Wall

Zimmy and I at the Cardo (used to be a street with shops set up waaaaay back in the day)

Zimmy and I walking the streets of the Old City

In the evening there was a semi-impromptu AEPi event. Through word of mouth in less than a week and a last minute change of location, 50 brothers managed showed up. The group consisted of brothers from all over the US, and me - from Canada. Many people there had since moved to Israel, and others were there for vacation, or other organized trips. I managed to see some guys that I had bumped into earlier on my trip, and also from other road trips and conventions I had been on in the States. After the event I met back up with the majority of my group to party the night away.

Tel Aviv

We were heading back to Jerusalem in the evening, and we still had a lot to see and do in Tel Aviv. I was not particularly excited about waking up so early - having been up late enjoying the first few hours of 2008. Our first stop was a university - the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), where we heard lectures titled Encroaching Islam, and Counter-terrorism.

From there we learned about IsraAID - an Israeli organziation that is committed to humanitarian aid around the world. We also heard about Save A Child's Heart - which is an organization that performs life saving heart operations on children from 3rd world countries. They bring the child and their family to live in Israel while the doctors perform the necessary operations and give treatment. Following the introduction, we went to the house where the children and their families were living. We came with balloons and candy for the children. This was a great experience to be able to meet these kids. Communication was difficult because the families were from all over Africa, and the Middle East; Neither English nor Hebrew seemed to be a middle ground for conversation. What we did learn from the families was that none of them knew much about Israel, and if it were not for Save A Child's Heart, their children would definitely have died due to their heart conditions.

After the visit, and the long day we headed back to Jerusalem. Due to our previous horrible accomodations (having 10 people crammed into a room with one bathroom) we got upgraded to a hotel with 3 people per room - which was a major upgrade. The hotel even served a great breakfast, which in itself is much better than our previous Jerusalem accommodations.

The North & New Years Eve

I decided to go to bed at around 230AM even though we had to be up at 6AM yet again. I figured I would be able to get some rest on the bus, and I could survive the day with only 3 and a half hours of sleep (also taking into account another night of partying for new years eve). Half an hour into my sleep, I get woken up by one of my roommates puking his guts out. Long story short, this continued until well after we left the hotel - he ended up catching a bug or something. Needless to say the 3 and a half hours of sleep I was hoping to get turned into half an hour of sleep, and a headache from listening to my roommate puke for 3 straight hours.

From the hotel we went to the Golan Heights to overlook the site of yet another battle; The battle was at the "Valley of Tears" and was during the Yom Kippur War in October of 1973. From the mountain, we were able to see down below to where the battle took place, and off in the distance we were able to see Syria. At our lookout point, we were in the trenches dug by Israel, and the turret of a destroyed tank. We learnt about the Yom Kippur war, and how Israel was miraculously able to defend itself after a surprise attack on Yom Kippur - the holiest day of the year for Jews. We saw a movie about the Valley of Tears, and the battle that occurred there. The Israeli tanks were outnumbered 10 to one, and somehow managed to hold off the Syrians for 3 days until reinforcements arrived.

After learning about the Yom Kippur War we headed to Tzfat to do some humanitarian work. They gave us hard hats and work gloves and we helped to move rocks and dirt. This was in effort to excavate old homes that had been demolished and rebuilt on its own rubble for over 500 years. We then headed to Tel Aviv for our New Years Eve night off.

At the hotel, I bumped into a bunch of AEPi guys that that had just arrived in Israel on the second half of their Hasbara trip (they spent almost a week traveling Poland). I had met them before on roadtrips and at convention. We bumped into each other a number of times during the rest of the trip in Jerusalem.

New Years was great - we went to a club which was right across from the beach, and then followed that up with exploring the boardwalk at the early hours of 2008.