Day 2

Day 2 started with a bang. We woke up at 2am to travel 2 hours to Masada. After climbing the short side of the fortress behind the crowds, we watched the sunrise and davened shachrit and put on tefilin. As a group we learned about the history of Masada and its present-day significance. Breakfast followed the cable car ride down Masada. We then traveled to En Gedi. We climbed the rocks to reach the waterfalls which we soaked in for about 2 hours. We were told the story of David and Saul in the caves as a young David destined to bee king fled from the jealous King Saul. as it happens this was the scene of Quinn’s bar mitzvah haftorah.
-Jeremy Davis

Next in our itinerary was something extraordinary we had all been looking forward to since we arrived in Israel. The Dead Sea was just a short drive away, and had an extremely scenic route with the beautiful blue water. After eating a delicious lunch overlooking the sea, we finally swam. We had fun floating on our backs and putting mud all over our bodies, and having to switch to a pool if it started to hurt. We left after 3 hours to go to our last stop of the day, Abrahams tent. We rode magical camels to travel back in time and ate a dinner in Abrahams tent, where he told us his story and provided us with delicious food. Exhausted after such a long day, the ride home was quiet, and all of us will have a great night’s sleep tonight.
-Sam Richards

Extra information: Quinn found inner peace in En Gedi. We met an old friend of my dads (Greg Davis) from USY and Ramah at Abrahams tent. His name was Josh but I forgot his last name. The final bus ride to the hostel was fun because Lila and I were the only ones awake while everyone else was sound asleep.
-Jeremy davis
The Dead Sea was hilarious, everyone fell into deep pits of soft clay and the girls screamed almost every time. We now have a ton of inside jokes that will probably make their way onto the blog pretty soon. Emmie showed her managing skills as she oversaw strangers trying to recover her shoe, that she lost in a Dead Sea mud pit. She had to wait for her hero Brian to come to her rescue and easily pull out her shoe.
-Sam Richards