Israel is Freaking Awesome.

Hey guys! 

So sorry for not posting in about a forever and a half. I have been in Israel for 2 weeks on the Birthright Israel program through Israel Outdoors. First off, it is exhausting. It is also amazing, wonderful, eye-opening, hot, mountainous, and desert-y.

I met some very cool new friends, including a long-lost cousin Jamie and I never knew we had. :) 

Here is my cousin Jamie and I. We went on this trip together, and I am so, so glad we did. Bonding, mountain climbing, and sharing a Camelbak. Now that is the very definition of Family.

And here is our long-lost cousin Lauren Scott! We sat next to her on the flights, we reconnected, and we planned future family reunions.

This is a pic of our group (Woo 287!) climbing Mount Masada at 4:30 in the morning.

The gorgeous sunrise from the summit of Mount Masada....









....and what looks like a photoshopped picture of me with the sunrise. I swear I was really there. 

Haters gon' hate!




The group I was there with was really great. We all got along so well and remained mostly drama-free! We played cards, we played one very odd game of Mafia, we played guitar and sang (one night even around a campfire when camping in Bedouin tents out in the middle of the desert!), we drank a lot, and we all just generally goofed around. 

 

THIS IS MY AWESOME HANDSOME-FACE CAMEL! He is ready for his close-up!

This is me riding my amazing camel.

And here are some rad camel shadows.

And even though I am leaving out a lot, like the really great friends I made, floating in the Dead Sea, swimming in the Mediterranean, rafting on the Jordan River, playing Go Fish with Paige, eating chocolate with pop rocks in it, and even hiking up multiple mountains, there isn't enough blog-space here to explain how flippin' cool the trip was. Also, I came back with jetlag and slept A LOT.

And here is the last picture I took in Israel, a parting shot of Tel Aviv and the Mediterranean. :)