We had a great first full day in Tel Aviv! We began our day a bit later than we usually will begin this trip, with a 9am breakfast. The reason is simple: everything moves slower on Shabbat.
After breakfast we boarded the bus and headed to Yaffo (Jaffa). We went to a beautiful overlook that was high above the city and had services together. It was very cool to sing "How good are your tents o Jacob" and look out to see all the skyscrapers below.
After this we walked around Yaffo. We saw an 4300 year old arch, spoke about the meaning of a Tel (a hill with one civilization built atop another) and saw some really cool artwork (like the tree in the picture that his suspended in mid-air).
After Yaffo, we walked over to Neve Tzedek, the first trial community in what would soon become Tel Aviv. We spoke about the city's founding (1909) and how that was also the year CBE moved to Garfield Place. As we were passing independence hall we ran into Aviv who was our Shinshinit from last year. The student were SUPER excited (she eventually met up with us during dinner).
After a quick lunch at the hotel we headed off to our bike tour. Our students went all over from the public park in Israel (as big as central park) to Rabin Square to the new trendy port.
We then returned to the hotel where we had a Havdallah service together, celebrated 3 birthdays!! and got ready to go out.
We found a corner on Ben Yehudah St. with lots of different restaurants and students got a chance to check them out. These ranged from South American BBQ to Pizza to Mexican to Burgers. Eventually all the students made their way to a dessert place where many ordered chocolate milkshakes.
They just got back to the hotel and are settling in the for the night. We are excited for another packed day tomorrow.
Below are some pictures from the day:
No comments:
Post a Comment