Hi everybody!
After three days of no blog posts, I will be writing about all three of these days to fill the gap.
We left off on Friday, the 29th of July. The Dillers wrapped up the Kaitana on such a great note, with the entire camp up on their feet, belting the lyrics to our "Shir hakaitana" (Camp Song). After 5 days of dealing with some pretty amazing, and sometimes crazy kids, all of us were looking forward to our free Shabbat with our host families. However, before going off with our host families, we had a nice kabbalat Shabbat on the beach in Yafo/Jaffa. This was centered around a meaningful discussion about our journey on Diller, where it has brought us, and where it will bring us in the future.
I am staying with Sagi Damari, and his family decided to take me north to the Kinneret or Sea of Galilee for Shabbat. It took only 1 hour to drive to the Kinneret, and we unpacked the car which had been filled with a boat load of raw food ready to be cooked for a special shabbat BBQ. We cooked chicken, beef, kabbabs, and many other things I cannot pronounce, and grilled them in the most amazing spices I have ever tasted in my life. As we ate dinner that Friday evening, we had front row seats to the most amazing sunset over the mountains surrounding the Kinneret.
The next morning we woke up and headed down to the shore of the Kinneret and swam for about two hours on what may have been the hottest day of my life. Then it was time to get back in the car and head back down to Rishon. It was such a nice way to spend my free day in Israel, and I really got to experience family time, Israeli style. Sagi's family is so warm and welcoming, despite the fact that not one of them can speak english very well, excluding Sagi.
That night in Rishon, Saturday night, all of the Dillers reunited to see "Mayumana's Momentum" show, which is similar to "STOMP" but significantly "cooler" and more entertaining. It was really an incredible experience, and our junior counselor Darren even said to me "I think I just discovered my future job".
Today, Sunday, we all woke up and had a breakfast picnic in Park Hazikaron in Rishon. We ate Gachnoon, Shakshuka, Burekas (sorry for my spelling), and Chocolate milk! It was the most Israeli meal that anyone has ever had, I'm positive.
After breakfast, we headed to the beach in Bat Yam, and were greeted by windsurfs, surfboards, and kayaks. This was a surprise from the "Last day committee", a group of five Israelis who planned our entire last day here in Israel! We all had a great time in the sun, and truly soaked in our last day together as Diller Metro-Lezion before heading to the airport tomorrow.
Later tonight we have our closing ceremony, which will be followed by a party at Ofir's house.
It's so sad that tomorrow around this time I will be approaching JFK airport, but it calms me knowing that I have a family both in New Jersey and in Israel, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. I am so thankful for everything this program has provided me with, and have absolutely no regrets about anything these past three weeks in Israel. Diller has been the most incredible experience in my entire life, and I am confident that we will all remain a part of each others' lives forever.
See you all soon! :) :(
-Ari Bernstein
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