Wednesday May 7 by Sierra

We began our last day in Israel by going to Save A Child's Heart. SACH is a nonprofit organization that provides lifesaving heart surgeries to children in developing countries from all over the world. We watched a video about the organization, and then got to meet some of the kids and play with them. They were all very sweet, and we had a great time. We all found this experience very meaningful.

After our morning at SACH, we went to Tel Maresha for lunch and an archaeological dig. This was one of the parts of the trip I was most excited for, and I was not disappointed! We were led underground for our dig, and it was nice and cool in the man made caves, which were used for storage. We found a ton of interesting artifacts very quickly, and we were the first people to touch them in over 2200 years! I got so excited anytime someone found something. We uncovered lots of neat things, like pottery and bones, but the most exciting find of the day was a handle engraved with Greek writing, discovered by Shayna and Yana. The archaeologists with us were quite excited about that!

Once we were out of time, we passed all the buckets of dirt out of the cave and headed to the next activity at Tel Maresha. It was spelunking in another cave, one that hadn't been fully excavated yet. Some of the tunnels were so short that we had to crawl, and we slid on our backs through small holes between rooms. It was so much fun!

After that, we returned to the hotel, showered (we were covered with dirt), and gathered in the conference room for a discussion about the trip. We went over our whole itinerary, and then talked about our favourite parts, what we found most meaningful, and what we're bringing back with us. It was so nice to hear everyone talking about how much they loved the trip, and how they want to live in Israel for at least a while. Some people even want to join the army. I know I'll be back sooner
rather than later!

We then went out for dinner at a nice restaurant. There was way too much food, but it was delicious! I liked the mini schnitzels the best. Some people bought frozen yoghurt after. Then we walked home in the rain, stopping at the am:pm to grab some treats before getting our sweaters. They look so good!

This trip has been one of the most fantastic experiences of my life. Seeing Israel for the first time with all my friends has been absolutely amazing! I experienced more than I would on my own, learned more than I would in a classroom, and smiled more than I thought was possible. I feel so much more connected to Israel now, and have so much love for the land and the people. From putting a note in the Kotel to riding camels in the desert to sloshing through deep water in tunnels, we've packed so much into such a short time. I'll have these memories for the rest of my life. While I'm definitely not ready to go, I am excited to tell everyone about it, and I know that this is not my last time in Israel!

TOV, YALLAH, LET'S GO!

Pictures:  Save A Child's Heart, archaeological dig

Tuesday May 6 by Evan

Today was a day of celebration in Israel. Across the whole country people were celebrating Yom Ha'atzmaut. In the morning we slept in which was nice because I think everybody was pretty tired. After breakfast there were family visits or relaxing for those who didn't have a visit. When the visits were over our group got back together to go for a BBQ lunch which is a tradition for Yom Ha'atzmaut. We went to the Lone Soldier Centre in memory of Michael Levin, a fallen soldier from the IDF. A lone soldier is someone who joins the army without having family or friends that they can visit. We got to hear from a lone soldier from the UK. She talked to us about her dream to join the IDF and that she had just became a captain. She also told us that we should all follow our dreams whether it be something like joining the army or becoming a doctor.  Going to the Lone Soldier Centre was very powerful, especially after watching all the documentaries and hearing the stories of fallen soldiers from Yom Hazikaron. Next we went to the beach for a few hours. It was extremely windy to a point that the waves weren't even going towards the shore but instead they were flowing sideways. We still had a good time though. After the beach we did a program with different versions of the map of Israel made out of objects or in certain shapes. We each chose a map to interpret and I really enjoyed it because some people saw completely different things than I did and it was interesting to see how other people saw them. For dinner we went to a mall. Most of the stores were closed which was unfortunate but it was still fun. It is hard to believe that our trip is almost over. We have been waiting for it from when we were in grade one and these three weeks went by so fast. I have learned so much and I don't want to leave the country. Hopefully I will be able to come back soon.

The pictures: shopping for treats at am:pm, picnic BBQ with the Lone Soldier Centre, One of the Azrieli towers where the mall is located, sculpture in front of Azrieli mall.

Monday May 5 by Shayna

Today we woke up really early and headed to Mazkeret Batya, where Dafna's parents live to see a Yom Hazikaron ceremony. It was a really long and tiring drive. Before the ceremony we went to Dafna's parents house which is on Calgary street, where we ate snacks.  Calgary donated a lot of money to Mazkeret Batya which is why there is a street named Calgary. The ceremony was really interesting and it was very focused on the personal grieving of people rather then teaching people about it and sharing stories of fallen soldiers. The ceremony was completely in Hebrew and was very brief. It took place in a graveyard and it was a really simple ceremony but you could see it was very emotional to many people there. It was very different from the one we attended the previous night and I feel that the one at night impacted me a lot more, not only because I could understand all of it but because it talked about many people affected by wars and terrorists and not only soldiers. We also heard some stories about fallen soldiers and poems written by family members. After the ceremony in Mazkeret Batya we went to a school in the area and ate lunch which was of course schnitzel sandwiches but the school was perfect because it had air conditioning and it was a heat wave.  We then went to the tank museum at Latrun where we learned a lot about tanks in the IDF and then got to climb on them which was super fun. We left the museum after watching a very strange film and were on our way to Tel Aviv. When we arrived we got ready and left to go to the Yom Haatzmaut ceremony with the March of the Living kids. We got to see Mini Israel which was super cool and beautiful. The lines for food were insane and the line for Cotton candy was the longest line ever!  People were there for hours. After dancing it was time to go which was good because I was exhausted.
So far this trip has been really eye opening and meaningful. I am really sad to leave Israel's hot weather for Calgary but I hope to come back soon.

Today's pictures:  Mazkeret Batya, Dafna's parents house, Latrun