By: Zach Marks
It is hard to put into words what flying to Israel with a group of 40 of your peers feel like. To start with I didn't think anyone was going to be on time for the mandatory 4 hours before our flight early arrival time. I was flabbergasted to see 30 of my compatriots already in the MIA terminal when I arrived at 1:00pm for our 5:10 flight. The first thing I do when I arrive is survey the group I'll be traveling with, my mother had told me one of her former students was going on his trip so I had to keep an eye out. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention I was surveying the proper male to female ratio for our group, and shortly after I started a game of Jewish geography.
Prior to going on the trip I didn't think I would know anyone. Upon arriving at the terminal it was clear that's it's hard to get many Jews together from the same place without a few of us knowing each other.
After pleasantries had been exchanged and we had been given our first group address from the Rabbi we mozied on up to the check in line and our journey to the Holy Land began. Once we had got through security at around 3:00 it was clear why we had arrived 4 hours early.
We embarked on our journey to make Aliyah on Austria Airlines, the seats were comfy and we had crystal clear tv which came equipped with many movies worth watching. After watching a chick flick at the behest of my seat mate and flicking though movies we didn't really like I attempted to sleep. The operative word is attempted, and while the flight seemed to drag on it also somehow was over before I knew it.
We made a quick switch in Austria and boarded a plane for Tel Aviv. Upon arriving we were subjected to another orientation and a lecture that really resonated with me about the importance of birthright and the meaning of being Jewish. We then boarded a bus to travel 2.5 more hours to our destination on the sea of Galilea.
For those of us who woke up at 9:00am EDT it was over 24 hours of travel once we got to the hotel.
When we finally got back (8:45) we got dinner right away, a delicious buffet style feast that was quite the step up from airline food, and were told to meet in the lobby at 10. This was met with many groans as we thought we would be able to shower and rest in order to prepare for the rest of the trip.
Despite the protesting mumblings of our group we met at 10 for another icebreaker, and it actually turned out to be fun and got people involved with one another. Say what you want about ice breakers but it starts the bonding of individuals (even if it is bonding over how much they hate ice breakers).
I'm siting in my lovely hotel room overlooking the sea and I can't wait to see the sunrise tomorrow morning before we truly embark on our Israeli journey.
It is hard to put into words what flying to Israel with a group of 40 of your peers feel like. To start with I didn't think anyone was going to be on time for the mandatory 4 hours before our flight early arrival time. I was flabbergasted to see 30 of my compatriots already in the MIA terminal when I arrived at 1:00pm for our 5:10 flight. The first thing I do when I arrive is survey the group I'll be traveling with, my mother had told me one of her former students was going on his trip so I had to keep an eye out. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention I was surveying the proper male to female ratio for our group, and shortly after I started a game of Jewish geography.
Prior to going on the trip I didn't think I would know anyone. Upon arriving at the terminal it was clear that's it's hard to get many Jews together from the same place without a few of us knowing each other.
After pleasantries had been exchanged and we had been given our first group address from the Rabbi we mozied on up to the check in line and our journey to the Holy Land began. Once we had got through security at around 3:00 it was clear why we had arrived 4 hours early.
We embarked on our journey to make Aliyah on Austria Airlines, the seats were comfy and we had crystal clear tv which came equipped with many movies worth watching. After watching a chick flick at the behest of my seat mate and flicking though movies we didn't really like I attempted to sleep. The operative word is attempted, and while the flight seemed to drag on it also somehow was over before I knew it.
We made a quick switch in Austria and boarded a plane for Tel Aviv. Upon arriving we were subjected to another orientation and a lecture that really resonated with me about the importance of birthright and the meaning of being Jewish. We then boarded a bus to travel 2.5 more hours to our destination on the sea of Galilea.
For those of us who woke up at 9:00am EDT it was over 24 hours of travel once we got to the hotel.
When we finally got back (8:45) we got dinner right away, a delicious buffet style feast that was quite the step up from airline food, and were told to meet in the lobby at 10. This was met with many groans as we thought we would be able to shower and rest in order to prepare for the rest of the trip.
Despite the protesting mumblings of our group we met at 10 for another icebreaker, and it actually turned out to be fun and got people involved with one another. Say what you want about ice breakers but it starts the bonding of individuals (even if it is bonding over how much they hate ice breakers).
I'm siting in my lovely hotel room overlooking the sea and I can't wait to see the sunrise tomorrow morning before we truly embark on our Israeli journey.
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