ISS: July 21 by Jordana Marciano

We began our day at sunrise with our suitcases packed leaving behind Sde Boker and taking with us the memories that we made with the new diller teen fellows that we met from across North America and South Africa. We then drove to Masada where we all ate breakfast before our journey through history.

Once we arrived to the top of Masada, we learned about it's history, representation and the fortress it once was. We then stopped for lunch near the Dead Sea. Finally we arrived at the Dead Sea where we covered ourselves from head to toe with mud, from the lowest place on earth, leaving our skin silky smooth. We then spent the rest of our time swimming, or rather floating, in the Dead Sea. 

This was a bitter sweet time since it marked the end of the kennes part of our trip but also marked the beginning of community week! This was the week that we had been planning for with the Israelis for the last three and a half months! We would be spending the next eight days being hosted by our Israeli pen pals. Once we arrived at the altshoul (Be'er Sheva's "Y") we were told that we wouldn't be seeing the Israelis until much later on. Feeling a little bit disappointed, we were then shown a video and, at the end of it, surprised by our Israelis! This was followed by many hugs, smiles, laughter, and tears of joy. 

We were then all treated to gelato from one of the Israeli's ice cream store! Then our leaders of the week, Nir and myself, ran an activity to introduce community week to the other fellows and to give them an idea of what was in store for them! It was a great start to a sure to be amazing week!

By Jordana