Maren’s Travel Blog: Happy Birthday to Me
I remember when I found out I made the team and thinking about celebrating my birthday in Israel. I can’t believe it’s happening! I am celebrating turning 26 in a country that means so much to me and surrounded by so many people that I’ve grown to care about in such little time.
I am writing this while finishing my second plate of watermelon because Israel has the best watermelon I have ever had. I’ve found myself going straight towards the bowl twice a day every day since arriving. I feel like eating the fruit offsets the amount of pita bread and hummus that I have consumed.
Let’s backtrack now since I haven’t written in a couple of days.
Thursday, June 29: Jerusalem
This first week of my trip is called Israel Connect. The Maccabi USA organization has made a strict schedule for us every day of the week. After practice on Thursday, we came back to our hotel and got ready for the day. We drove to Jerusalem and went a bit of a different way because an accident had the interstate backed up. We ended up driving through Zone C of the West Bank which is for Israelis and the interstate was lined with fences and walls. Definitely, something that I’d never seen before.
Once we got to the city, we immediately headed towards the Old City. There are four living quarters in the Old City and we walked through two of them, Armenian and Jewish. It was so cool how Jerusalem has combined modern with historic. In one spot, there is something from thousands of years ago and next to it is a modern coffee shop.
Just like a person who has several layers to his or her story, Jerusalem has the same layers and because of that there is always excavating. Trying to discovered new layers and new stories that date back thousands of years. We traveled underneath the city in what is the old sewer system and actually entered through the City of David. The City of David is like Washington D.C., it’s part of Jerusalem but it is its own city.
When we exited, we saw the Western Wall. The women in the group stopped to put on skirts and shawls because there is a modesty rule and then we proceeded to pray. Even if you aren’t a religious person, the Wall brings out something in you that you didn’t know existed. The power of God is real and you feel it there.
We ended the day with dinner on the rooftop of a restaurant in Abu Gosh and ate our weight in kabobs, pita, and hummus.
Friday, June 30: Tel Aviv
We woke up early Friday for our second practice which went a lot better than the first. There are a few of us who haven’t played competitively in a while so we are knocking the rust off a little at a time. From there we came back to the hotel for brunch and to get ready for Tel Aviv.
I’ve never sweated so much in my life. It was 32 degrees Celsius yesterday which meant it felt like 90-something with 100% humidity (I might be exaggerating on the humidity). Never wear a light gray shirt because it will just turn dark because of sweat (gross).
We walked through along Rothschild Blvd. which is where a lot of high-tech companies have offices. Between the new building are older ones like Independence Hall and outside of that building is a memorial for the 60 families who starting the Tel Aviv community.
We ended our tour of the city at Rabin Square. The memorial for Yitzhak Rabin hits you like a ton of bricks. The Prime Minister gave a speech on November 4, 1995, at a peace rally. He finished, walked down the stairs and was assassinated at point-blank range. There are markings on the ground to show where he was standing and where the murdered was standing.
We continued to the beach in Herzliyah for about an hour before getting ready for Shabbat dinner. Because of Shabbat, we have Saturday morning off which gave me time to write and catch everyone up. Tonight we are having an early 4th of July celebration and barbecue and then back to the grind tomorrow.
