Taglit Birthright Bus 857 Begins the Journey

Birthright Bus 857
After facing 15 degree New Jersey weather, getting questioned at the airport, searched up and down, we learned firsthand how thorough El Al security can be. Aaron Punim and Justin Gorkawitz were randomly chosen by El Al security to switch ID’s to test the gate interrogators. Aaron’s interrogator picked up on the falsified documents while Justin successfully fooled his with the assistance of Aaron’s sister, Danielle.
After being reduced to canned sardines for 10 hours, we finally landed in the beautiful land of Israel.... 70 degrees. Hello there parents, this is Chad Meyers, Aaron Punim, and Rachael Kester reporting from Israel on Day one.
It was a rough day to say the least, with our day starting as soon as we got off the plane (it was 7 am when we landed). To those who slept little on the plane (this guy (chad)) it would be a struggle. We started in Jaffa, an old Arabic city that existed before neighboring Tel Aviv was more than sand. With a beautiful view of the sparkling Mediterranean, we took our seats and were introduced to our tour educator, Gal, and our security person Shirom. With the smell of a cool spring air in our noses, we were left with half an hour of free time after our initial welcomes, and explored the surrounding area with glee.
We started with Jaffa, with its churches made it feel just outside the realm of true Israel, and soon departed for the beginnings of Tel Aviv. The first Hebrew city, Tel Aviv sprouted literally from the sand to becoming the thriving center of culture it is today. We watched/passed out a video on how the city came to be, and visited the room where Israel was officially declared a country. It was very surreal to leave the building after seeing pictures of that house in the middle of the desert, to viewing towering skyscrapers that stand today. It truly brought a new meaning to the building of a nation. I believe that many of us have a new connection to Eretz Israel; as Ben Gurion said, Israel is a state that belongs to ALL Jews! (meaning us too).
Rewarded with an hour of free time, we soon explored the open markets and festive activates of the city. Haggling was done, falafel was eaten, and no one got lost. Mission accomplished. We ended our long day with a trip to one of the most historic areas in all of Israel, the spot were Prime Minister Rabin was shot and killed. Rabin, the leader of Peace with Palestine, was close to finally solving the conflict and bringing calm to the area. With his death brought continued violence and no clear solution in sight.
3 hours in the bus later, we arrived at our hotel in Tiberius to celebrate the New year and Schluff. Day 2 tomorrow!