When we got off the plane, there was a buzz of excitement rushing through us all. While groggy and feeling the side effects of a long plane ride, we could smell Israel and that was fantastic. In the airport, I was thinking, “we’re finally here… I'm finally going to see this magical place that everyone is talking about all the time. I'm finally going to feel that connection to this piece of land and I'm going to learn what's so special about it” and then I thought “what if that doesn't happen? What if it's just another piece of land like any other to me?”. I can't speak for everyone but those thoughts rushed through my mind as we collected our bags.
We walked out the doors of the airport to be greeted by Rebecca and Spencer who were so happy to see us. We then met our British tour guide Sam (www.instagram.com/myisraeliguide/) and dove head first into our adventure.
Our first site to visit was Independence hall. After lunch in the park (featuring the music of Israeli traffic), jet lag kicked in as we entered the museum with the Toronto cohort. As much as we wanted to befriend our fellow Canadians, we were being shushed by the museum and trying not to fall asleep simultaneously. Unfortunately that was not one of our most proud moments.
Next we went to listen to an inspirational speaker named Ziv Shilon. He was an IDF commander and on his last day before being promoted, he got seriously injured. During a dangerous mission, he told his soldiers to stay far behind as he went up ahead and there was a small explosion that took his left arm and the functionality of his right. He then managed to run back to safety before bleeding out and was saved by amazing doctors and a bit of a miracle. Months of rehabilitation coupled with strength of mind, serious determination and a sparkle of inspiration allowed him to regain independence once again. He's now in law school, training for marathons (and has his eyes on an Iron Man triathlon in the future), giving inspirational speeches and raising a baby girl with his wife. He says his biggest accomplishment is his newborn daughter. Ziv was a huge inspiration and a magnificent motivator. So much so that our jet lagged cohort stayed awake the entire time.
Lastly we met up with another Brit named Ashley and his guiding partner (who is American) also named Sam. They gave us a graffiti tour of Tel Aviv where we walked through the side streets looking at all the street art. From the quote “if I forget you Jerusalem, it's because of tel aviv” to the tree with a million and one meanings, to the ducks and sandwiches, the graffiti tour had us in awe. The art captured our attention and the different interpretations and perspectives consistently surprised and challenged us. Ashley was brilliant in how he guided us through analyzing the different walls and showing us the little things we would have missed otherwise. Most of it was about the little things: the smaller paintings under the big ones, the details and the corners. As a photographer himself, he showed us how to take cool pictures which was really nice of him. Overall, it was absolutely extraordinary.
To end off our first day memorably, Ashley took us up to the rooftop of his apartment where we ate pizza and watched the sunset. No wonder he loves Tel Aviv so much, it was beautiful…
By Emily Cohen leader of day 2
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