My fifth weekend in Israel differed from the previous ones in a few major ways. First, it lasted five days. In addition, it was extremely organized, complete with lavish accommodations, and entirely free from danger. Weird, right? Don’t worry, it wasn’t anything I planned. It was the official MIT Israel seminar.
All thirty of us in Israel for the summer met up with the program director and with a tour guide, armed guard (all tour groups in Israel must have an armed guard, by law), and a bus driver to travel around the country together. While the best part of the weekend was getting a chance to meet and hang out with all the other MIT students in Israel, the five-day all-expenses-paid seminar also allowed us to travel to several parts of the country and see some sights that we might not have otherwise seen on our own. The trip was perhaps “tamer” than some of my other ones, but I suppose it’s still worth telling what we did.
We had been given a bit of information beforehand, something along the lines of: “You will be picked up Thursday morning at 8AM. Wear shoes you can get wet.” Sure enough, on Thursday morning, vans brought all of us from our homes in Israel to a centralized location in Tel Aviv. One of Tel Aviv’s city engineer’s led us on a walking tour of some neighborhoods, but we were all too busy talking and catching up to pay much attention. We then hopped on our convenient tour bus to travel to the next location, where we found out what the shoes were for: our next stop was Mey Kadem to see some ancient Roman aqueducts.
Normally aqueducts are depicted as long bridges supported by arches, but these ones were carved into rock underground. We climbed down into them to follow the tunnels, which still contained a few feet of running water.
Continuing the Roman theme, we traveled to Caesarea, on the coast north of Tel Aviv, to see the ruins of some ancient Roman buildings including a large theater, swimming pools, and bathhouses, all located next to a beautiful, modern coal power plant. Apparently one popular service provided at the bathhouses included covering your body in olive oil and getting a full-body shave. This was for men only.
We then checked in to our hotel down the road, and I realized how much I had missed having nice hotel rooms—a lot, but not enough to change my “no more than ten dollars a night” policy, I guess. During the free time before dinner, my roommate, Chris, and I walked outside to see if there was a swimming pool and instead found the ocean. As we swam, groups of guys trickled out until there were around a dozen of us out there. I’m not sure where the ladies were. They probably wouldn’t have liked it though, since all we all got stung by jellyfish.
At the delicious hotel dinner, we noticed a group of frighteningly large blond girls, which we determined to be a visiting Russian basketball team.
In the evening, we returned to the site of the ruins to find the stone theater we had seen earlier illuminated and full of people. It has been restored a bit and is used today as a concert venue. We saw popular Israeli musician Idan Raichel and his group put on an amazing performance, made even more enjoyable by the outdoor atmosphere and the view from the ancient theater overlooking the ocean.
The next day, our bus brought us to Jerusalem. The first stop was Yad VaShem, Israel’s Holocaust museum. It was extremely well done and told the story effectively and surprisingly unbiasedly. After lunch on a hill overlooking the city, we drove to our next hotel and listened to a speaker talk about political activism among young Jerusalemites.
Friday evening, of course, marks the start of the Sabbath. We walked to Jerusalem’s old city to watch Jews pray at the Western Wall, the most holy site in Judaism. It was packed. When we returned to the hotel, a huge Shabbat dinner awaited us. At dinner we talked, and a few groups of people agreed to meet up afterwards and go out at night.
Word spread fast, and when the time came, almost all of us ended up meeting in the lobby. We called an army of cabs to transport us and had a fun night out in the city with all the other disobedient Jews.
The next morning, Chris and I awoke early, consumed a delicious and much-needed breakfast, and went back to sleep, much like many other people.
We heard a speaker during lunch, and then went out to get a tour of the Old City, which brought us through the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Quarters. I had seen most of that on my own, but it was nice to hear someone explain the history and the significance of all the places.
In the afternoon, we listened to a Jewish and a Muslim man, both of whom had lost children in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, tell tragic stories about what had happened. They talked about a project they helped start to get bereaved families on both sides of the conflict talking in hopes of reducing violence.
At night, we were free to go out and get dinner on our own. I went with a group of people to an Italian restaurant, and afterwards we returned to the hotel and hung out.
In the morning, we awoke early to listen to several speakers. Readers, let me tell you something: if anyone ever asks you to speak to a group of students, keep in mind that students are very tired, especially in the morning. Thus, you have to SMILE and entertain, engage the crowd, ask questions, and above all, make sure that your speech is INTERESTING. Also, if nobody laughs, there’s a good chance they’re not enjoying your talk. If you cannot accomplish this simple feat, please politely decline the invitation to speak. Seriously.
Needless to say, a few of the morning speakers did not comply with my guidelines and remain a blur in my mind. One woman that stood out spoke passionately and enthusiastically about the Holocaust and its impact on Israeli history and Israeli identity. We also met with Israel’s chief scientist, who told us about the nation’s infrastructure and energy supply.
That afternoon, we traveled to Haifa, a coastal city in Northern Israel. There we toured a huge and magnificent garden complex owned by the Baha’i religion, which was started in Persia 150 years ago and combines aspects of many modern religions, like pouring vast amounts of money into austentatious tourist attractions.
Next, an architect led us around Haifa’s German colony and explained the significance of various aspects. Interestingly, there aren’t actually any Germans there anymore. I guess things got awkward.
Dinner that night was one of the most memorable. We ate a traditional meal prepared by the Druze people, an Arab minority religious group. We returned to the hotel that night and enjoyed the large roof deck.
On the last day, our morning began with a trip to the Technion, Israel’s MIT, to hear the head of Israel’s water department talk about… water. Coincidentally, he’s an MIT alum.
Next, we visited a biogas plant and learned how they take cow poop and turn it into methane. Yum.
The final part of the seminar was also one of the most fun: we drove to the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Kinneret, where a young Jesus once water-skied. There we met up with a group of Israeli students from Oranim College, had a picnic, and spent a relaxing afternoon swimming and hanging out on the beach. When the seminar came to an end, vans drove us all back to our homes around the country.
Overall, the weekend was a good time. It was nice not to have to worry about transportation, meals, or deciding where to go or what to do, and I think we all enjoyed the chance to get to travel and hang out together with everyone in one place. However, I definitely returned home looking forward to getting back the normal swing of nomadic immersion and living on the edge.
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