Normally people on Israel Trips go on this thing called yam (sea) el(to) yam(sea). They start at one side of Israel and touch the sea there, then they hike to the other side of Israel and touch the sea there. It normally takes 4 days and it is a lot of fun. However our group got a special invitation to the dress rehearsal for the official ceremony for the transition between the memorial day and independence day of the sate of Israel. So instead of going to yam el yam we went around the hill of Jerusalem. We started calling this givha(hill) el(to) givha(hill).
On the first day we went hiking in this dry river bed, and there we saw the remains of the English being in Israel and their system for taking water to their trains. That night we camped at this camp site near the road and had an awesome night.
The next day we went hiking on a trail that went around one of the mountains around Jerusalem. It was neat and I got all cut up because I was wearing shorts and the plants were thorny. That night we went to the dress rehearsal for the official government independence day ceremony. It was kind of odd being there because it was not yet independence day, but it was still cool and fun. Our seats were the closest to the stage that someone could be. This year the government chose the theme “the children of Israel” for the ceremony. It was neat because there were a lot of children in the ceremony, children my age. The most moving part of the ceremony was when a Arab teen and a Bedouin woman light a candle for the glory of the state of Israel and cooperation between all religions and peoples. That night we also camped out.
The next day we went hiking on the Burma road. It was cool being on the road that saved Jerusalem and the state of Israel. After lunch we went mountain biking. It was a lot of fun.