Going on 27 hours of no sleep so I’ll apologize in advance if there are missepllings or ramblings on about nonsensical matters. Nevertheless, my quest to inform you about our fantastic first day continues!

The highlight of the day had to be herding sheep. We went to Neot Kedumim, a nature reserve created completely by people planting trees. We were tasked with the challenge of herding some sheep and goats into designated circles. The tour guide warned us, “I have had groups larger than you fail. Plus the sheep have already been herded today so they probably think they’re work is done already.”

Well I am happy to report that we herded those sheep like pros. Nothing like a bunch of yelling and screaming Americans to get sheep off their lazy butts and scurrying towards the nearest “safe zone”. Mission Accomplished

The next highlight was definitely riding segways down the Mediterranean coast from Jaffa to Tel Aviv and back. What gorgeous scenery. I’d never ridden a segway before but they were ridiculously fun. Our teenage girl biker helmets really made the afternoon perfect ;)

Finally we checked into our cool boutique hotel room. I promptly turned the shower on, causing the shower head to pop out of the holder and fly around the bathtub a few times, completely soaking the entire bathroom. Luckily, I had lots of towels, and the staff is super nice!

We ate dinner with some of Israel’s Lone Soldiers. These are soldiers who are currently serving in the Israeli Army, but have no family in Israel to support them. Many times they have nowhere to go when they get leave days and so the Lone Soldiers program organizes social events for them and hooks them up with locals who are happy to take them in for things like holidays and leave days. The guys were really cool, and I was surprised at how young they were when they knew they would eventually make Aliyah and move to Israel. One of them knew when he was just 11 years old! Overall it was a fantastic dinner and we all enjoyed getting to speak with the soldiers and hear about their decision to join the army as well as their new lives in Israel.

Tomorrow starts with yoga on the roof of the hotel and then a visit to Better Place, an electric car company. Stay tuned for more updates tomorrow!

I’ll leave you with a picturesque Tel Aviv coastline.

Author: Sam March