No Tricks AND No Treats!

Well, that's not EXACTLY true, but Halloween is not celebrated in Israel. My mom arranged with the English teacher to come to school and teach a lesson on the American tradition of Halloween - she explained all about the holiday and then the kids tried bobbing for apples and guessing how many candies filled a big jar (winner? Roman guessed it exactly!). Most of them caught apples! My mom's friend on email laughed when she learned that my mom was teaching about bobbing for apples, since nobody really does that in America in the last 50 years: she wrote "what are you - colonial?!" LOL!!

KEY WORDS & PHRASES - OCTOBER

• SHAKSHUKA - OR IS IT 'SHUKSHUKA'?
• WHAT TIME DOES SCHOOL END TODAY?
• DON'T LET YOUR TEACHER LEAVE SCHOOL TODAY WITHOUT GETTING A SCHEDULE OF TIMES SCHOOL ENDS!!
• YESH ULPAN ACHSHAV?

Birds! Hula Birds!

No, we did not fly to Hawaii to hula dance... instead, we took a trip up North to the amazing Hula Nature Reserve. It is an amazing place because of all the birds that go there. It is a place where ½ a million birds migrate during the fall season. The birds stop in Israel because Israel is the crossroads for Asia and Europe to Africa.

While me and my dad were there walking through the park full of birds, we see this extraordinary bird. Its whole body was covered in blue. It was the coolest shade of blue that I ever saw!!!!!! The shade of blue was a mixture of turquoise, the ocean on a beautiful day, and silver. It was pretty much an exceptional sapphire color that was shiny. It was truly amazing!

A couple days before that, my mom was driving me to school. The same kind of bird started to fly in front of our car, escorting us to school. I swear on my soul, I felt like I was in a Disney movie. The bird was flying in a straight line in front of our car. I felt like I was Jezell! My whole family started singing in a low voice, tweetle dee: do-do-do-do. Then in a medium pitch, do-do-do-do. And finally in a high voice, do-do-do-do-do.

During the fall season, 500,000 birds from Asia and Europe migrate to Africa to escape the cold of Asia and Europe. On their way, they cross over Israel and stop at the Hula Nature Reserve to rest before taking off again. Once the European and Asian birds are in Africa, the African birds leave. Why? The reason is because the African birds find it too crowded in Africa, and so they leave to go to the Hula Nature Reserve till the birds from Asia and Europe go back to their homes. We went in the fall so we saw mostly Asian and European birds. If we had gone in the winter or spring, we would halve seen mostly African birds.

This park was so fun!!!!!!

I didn't get any photos of birds at Hula, but this is Hula Lake at sunset.

Mutant Fruit!

I may have mentioned how yummy the fruit and vegetables are here. But I don't think I mentioned how STRANGE some of them are!

I think this is called Dragon Fruit! Comes in Red or Yellow.

Besides a few fruits that I never heard of, there are a few mutant ones too!

Siemese twin bananas

Check out these crazy heart-shaped kiwis!

More School Stuff

Other Random School Info:
1) I am much taller than most kids in my class, and grade for that matter.
2) Kids in my class speak Hebrew, Russian, French as native languages.
3) We have Drums class 1x a week - most kids love this class!
4) We have Dance class 1x a week - I thought it would be Israeli folk dancing but we are learning African dance to Shakira's World Cup Waka Waka song.
5) We have Art class - teacher was mad that I didn't have a portfolio and was just folding up my pictures to take home (I have one now!).
6) During some classes - Science, Religious Studies - I mostly sit and read my own book, because the teacher has not translated lessons into English. I have read A LOT of books while here!
7) We have Geography class.
8) Israelis must be bad drivers (or bad pedestrians): we have a class called Roads and Safety to learn how to be careful on the streets and sidewalks!
9) We have English class 2x day and I help out a lot.
10) Computers: we have a computer skills class and spend the whole time designing comic strips online (see mine of me and Ben on my blog page).

Mom's Become Quite the Israeli Chef!



"Shakshuka" for breakfast, lunch or dinner!



Cheese bourakas - SO good!

Israeli "Dave & Busters"

My classmate Tal had his birthday party at "Jorky Ball" - an indoor sports complex. It's main sport is indoor soccer called Jorky Ball but there were also all these other things to do like Dave and Busters in the US. We had a lot of fun on a school night! And of course I ate lots of treats!

Here I am as Jorky ball goalie; you can't use your hands, so my body took a beating!

Time Magazine's Pick for Most Beautiful Place in Israel!

While we were visited my friend Noam in the Jezreel Valley, we spent a day at Gan HaShlosha, the Garden of 3. It is a natural springs with a huge park, lots of waterfalls, hiking trails, places to sunbathe and picnic.

Dad and I swam UNDER this house's tunnel cave which was SO cool except there was a big crab in there! And so many fish! 
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Ben & I tackle shmackled with Dad in the springs - I am getting strong, took him down a few times!

Freewheelin' on Noam's Kibbutz!

Guess who rode on a motorcycle?! Me!! We arrived and I immediately got on the back of the motorcycle with an old friend Noam and off we went. The scariest part was going up hill on a slant. As we were chugging along, I felt the wind whip through my hair.

Our friend Noam lives on a huge, fun, socialist farm (kibbutz). She is a 3rd generation kibbutznik on Kibbutz Beit Alfa in the Jezreel Valley. If you go on Wikipedia, you will find a lot of information on kibbutzim (plural of Kibbutz). This one in particular is so beautiful in a valley next to the Gilboa mountains. There is nothing like a kibbutz in the world.

We know Noam because she was a year-long emissary in Worcester 2 years ago. She's in the army now. She comes home on the weekends. She gave us her apartment to use while she went to stay at her parents' house along with her 5 brothers! 

This was the best part of the kibbutz weekend!

We ate dinner with them at the kibbutz dining room (cheder ochel).

After dinner, we went back to her grandparents' house for desserts and a visit. It was fun to sleep in Noam's apartment! I walked around the kibbutz barefoot like the kibbutz kids do! The laundry room is cool but the little market was closed when we were there so I didn't get t check it out for Creme-Bo! The kibbutz grows 'pumelit" a combination grapefruit and pumelo so Noam's parents gave some to us to take home. I am not sure if I would like to grow up on a kibbutz or not - it sure is quiet there!

Wow! 15 Years!

My parents had their 15th wedding anniversary. Ben and I made dinner, made restaurant menus and chalk board, and Ben dressed up as the waiter and I was the chef...we served them and ate our own dinner in the back kitchen. Later, we all went out for ice cream!

Not A Firedrill!

Today we had no fire drill - we had a bomb drill! The siren went off and everyone, including the teacher, dived under their desks. I swear, I felt like I was a Vietnamese child in the Vietnam War. When we realized it wasn't a real bomb, we all came out from under our desks. For real, this is the ONLY thing the kids have taken seriously all year! Every kid rushed to the door and lined up neatly. We all followed the teacher to the basketball courts. We lined up behind the cone that read "5B" for my class. The other classes did the same behind their cones as well. The principal screamed out directions through a huge bullhorn. All the teachers did quick attendance to make sure no kid was left in the bathroom. When they finished, they all reported to the principal, who then screamed through the bullhorn to go back to class, so we did.
1) Wow, it's the ONLY time the kids actual listened all year!
2) The principal is serious and mean-looking so when she screams in the bullhorn, she means business.
3) I knew right away it was a drill, not real, so wasn't scared.

School Contrasts

Everyone here (and at home!) asks about school... well, school here is very different than at home. For example we go to school 6 days here instead of 5 days however the number of hours each day is less. In total, we go to school here 31.5 hours and at home it's 32.5 hours. We have to go on Sundays here and there's a half day on Fridays. 2 days a week they get out earlier here but it keeps changing which days, so it's very confusing! Even the teacher confuses it!

All but 1 of my teachers here speak English but not very well. I think they understand a lot more than they can speak. Same for the students.  My homeroom teacher is the English teacher for the whole school.

There are security cameras in every corner of the school here. And the school is gated in, with the gates locked all day except during the start and end of the day.  There is a guard with a gun at the gate.

Kids here are very loud and can be pretty obnoxious to the teachers. They don't raise their hands and constantly interrupt the teachers. They keep changing seats and I have seen 2 fist fights with blood. They don't seem to turn in their homework (but maybe I didn't see it when they did?!) and I even saw one kid sitting in the backseat of his mother's car in front of the school in the morning while his mother was doing his homework in the front seat! Everyone calls the teachers by their first name (you are supposed to, it's not being obnoxious, it's what we all do).

We have periods at school where we have different lessons and different teachers. I have a different teacher for homeroom and English than for Hebrew group ulpan, 1x1 ulpan, science, and tanach (Jewish studies). The teachers get to school after the kids, so it's hectic first thing in the morning! Instead of a bell ringing between periods, for every school bell, they play nursery rhymes instead.

We have 2 breaks each day, one at 9:30 and one at 11:30. I eat my lunch sandwich at 9:30! The other kids mostly bring junk food like these giant pastries or white bread with no crusts and gobs of nutella! Some crunch on cucumbers. After a quick eat, we play: some kids stay inside and basically fight in the classroom, and the rest play outside. There is no playground so we play on the blacktop this keep-away game with a tin foil ball called Prisoner. Many kids have cell phones but they're not supposed to use them during school. Lots of kids live near the school and walk home by themselves but the sign says kids under 8years old are not supposed to but last week, I saw a kid about Ben's age (4) walking by himself with a cell phone!

I am one of the tallest in my grade. The kids look younger than me because they are so much shorter. And also because of the way they act, they seem younger.

I know that Itamar school is just one example of schools in Israel, and I can't say for sure what all Israeli schools are like. Same like Dawson: it's probably pretty different than a school in an inner city.

So these are just some of the differences between Itamar and Dawson schools. Oh and my dad says that Itamar's mascot is the dolphin like Dawson, and even made up a song "We are the Itamar Dolphins" which he embarrasses me by singing in public!

BOOK REPORT - INDEPENDENT RESEARCH

BOOK SUMMARIES

I read a couple of books by Christopher Paul Curtis: The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 and Bud, Not Buddy. This research is based on those books. I worked on my internet lookup skills, typing skills, math averaging, historical knowledge, reasoning and drawing conclusions.

In The Watsons Go To Birmingham, the story is told by Kenny, age 10 who lives in Flint MI with his brother Byron, 13 and sister Joetta 6 and his parents. The book is about African American life in Flint in 1963. Byron is starting to be a juvenile delinquent so his parents decide to drive him in the "Brown Bomb" down to his grandmother's in Birmingham where life tougher for African Americans to teach him a lesson.  In the book, we learn about events in Birmingham, AL as the Watsons travel south to visit Mrs. Watsons' mother.

Bud, Not Buddy is about 10 year old Bud, an orphan in the Depression in Flint MI. He goes to live with a foster family and hates it because the foster family is so mean to him so he runs away to look for his father who he never met before. He has adventures and runs into prejudice people along the way looking for thius jazz musician he thinks is his father. Bud's mother turned out to be this jazz musician's daughter. At the end, he lives with his grandfather.

  

TIME COMPARISONS: 1963 and 2010

I did some comparisons online:

 

House Prices:
1963: $12,650
2010: $232,880

 

Bread Price:
1963:  $.22
2010:  $2.49

 

Air Conditioner Price:
1963: $150
2010: $163

 

Car Price:
1963: $3,233
2010:  $23,340

 

Average Annual Income:
1963: $5,807
2010: $55,000

 

Cost of College:
1963: $1,450
2010: $40,514

 

% Blacks Who Graduated College:
1963: 6%
2010: 18%

 

% All People All Races Who Graduated College:
1963: 8%
2010: 28%

 

From this, I see that some things like houses and college and incomes went up a lot over 40 years but other things like air conditioners did not. An air conditioner cost a lot more of your salary in 1963 compared to in 2010. I also learned that there are 3x more educated African Americans now than in 1963, which is good news. And the total population has 3.5x more educated people, also good! It's good that both went up but not good that African Americans did not keep up with the total population's increase.

 

CITY COMPARISONS

 

Info about Flint MI, 2010:

• 53% Black, 41% white, 6% other
• High crime city
• Average income $31,400
• 34 sq. miles, 66 miles northwest of Detroit.
• GM Autos had a plant there.
• Summer avg. 80'
• Winter cold, snowy, teens' with 45" snow/year
• On the Flint River.
• 200,000 people.

 Info about Birmingham AL, 2010:

•  73% Black, 24% White, 4% other
• Also High crime city
• Average Income $31,800
• 152 sq miles.
• Within AL, some of the best schools.
• 25% of the people fall below the poverty line.
• 200,000 people.
• Summer avg low 90s'
• Winter mid 50s'
• Economy around steel, construction and engineering, and 2 soft drink bottlers.
• Even though it's got a lot of poverty, if you try and get a good education, you can get a good job and be prosperous. It's named 1 of the best places to work and earn a living, so that is good hope for the people there.

 

 

HISTORY LESSON

Civil Rights 1963, Birmingham AL
The story Watsons Go To Birmingham takes place in the middle of the civil rights struggle. African Americans were standing up to Jim Crow laws and trying to get equal rights. They would try to sit in restaurants where they were not supposed to, to hold peaceful protest marches, and wanted to go to school together, drink from fountains or ride in the front of the bus when they were told by white leaders not to. Martin Luther King Jr. and other religious leaders encouraged this type of peaceful revolution, which is different than armed revolution like we had for the American Revolution against the British. Even with peaceful protests, some white leaders got angry and felt threatened. One day in 1963, a church was bombed in Birmingham and 4 little black girls died. It was a horrible time.

White police and their dogs try to arrest Black protesters.

Translucent Baby!

My mom and Ben met our friend Itzik and his baby Ilai at the beach - Ben is so dark and Ilai is almost glow-in-the-dark!

Our 1st Babysitter! And A Picnic Dinner!

Last night Mom and Dad went out for an early anniversary dinner and Imbal, my friend and camp counselor came over to babysit. She taught me how to make yummy teriaki pasta but I picked out the veggies!

Notice the Crane Lake attire?!

Then tonight we had picnic dinner on the beach, complete with Imbal's leftover pasta!

Then we took Ben to a carousel where he flew on a toy helicopter:

Whee! Look at me!

And finally after sharing ice cream with me, Ben (and I) danced in Independence Square.

BOOK REPORT - MANIAC MAGEE

Maniac Magee is a white orphan trying to find his way in the world. From sleeping with buffalo to staying at the home of a black girl's family (in the West End, for whites only), he has many adventures. In the end, he tries to bring black and whites together, but mostly fails. Overall Maniac Magee is a sweet and loving boy so it's sad that he can't get them together.


I think this book reminds me of the Palestinians and Israels' differences. There are public differences like they have different schools and different areas where they live. In Israel, a different color license plate indicates if you are from Israel (yellow), service vehicle (red) or Palestinian areas (green or white). Also it's like Israelis and Palestinians because the blacks and whites don't like each other but also don't really know each other well. Like Maniac Magee who tries to get them together, there are people here working for peace too but right now they haven't been able yet to get together.

Yo! Check Us Out! Bros at Da Beach!

It Fell Below 80' Today...

and Kanir, the one kid who talks to me each day in English, actually wore a winter coat and gloves, saying he was cold!!! Huh??

Cartoon-Me at the Dead Sea, Covered in Mud!

This was made from a real photo, at befunky.com

A Night to Remember... for Dad! Hurray for Him!!

On 10-10-10, Dad participated in the 4th annual Tel Aviv Night Run, with our friends Anat and Itzik. We unfortunately missed it because it was too late at night for Ben's bedtime. Over 15,000 people ran the 10k, with a huge party atmosphere.

Dad's somewhere in that crowd of 15,000 runners!

Click here to see the YouTube video of the Run:

Masada Rises Again!! Along with the Dead Sea & Ein Gedi

We skipped school and went to Masada, dipped in the Dead Sea and slathered in mud, and hiked in Ein Gedi's springs. It was cool to think of the ancient people who roamed this area 2000 years ago. The water cistern at Masada was really cool and a bit spooky.

The Dead Sea hurt my cuts.

Swimming in the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth! The sea floor was all hard crystal salts that hurt my feet!

Here's us slathered in mineral mud:


Aren't we PURTY?!

I loved swimming in the water fall and seeing ibex in Ein Gedi but we had to rush through there to get home.

In Ein Gedi's Nahal David.

FACTS & MAPS OF PLACES I'VE VISITED - Masada, Dead Sea & Ein Gedi

Masada

Masada is a mountain top mesa in the middle of the Judean mountains and the site of a very important dramatic event in Jewish history. 2000 years ago, Jewish rebels fled to Masada for their last stronghold against the Romans. When the Romans successfully surrounded and then climbed Masada, they found all the rebels were dead by their own hand rather than be forced into slavery. Soon after the Romans conquered Masada, an earthquake destroyed much of the site so that's why it's mostly just in ruins.


Masada is a symbol of Jewish strength and determination against difficult odds.


On the cable car up to the steep plateau, we met 2 Worcesterites! We saw ancient ruims or a Roman palace and the army camps around the mountain. We went into a deep water storage cistern which was creepy! As we left many more tourists arrived.

The Dead Sea
We went to a spa on the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. We quickly put on swimsuits and went to the sea. There was no sand, just hard rocky salt which hurt my feet alot. In the sea, I floated with all the heavy salt. My cuts burned on my body like my mama's chilli burns my daddy's tongue! After floating, we covered ourselves in mineral mud because it's supposed to be good for your skin. After showering, my skin was so smooth as a newborn baby's!

The Dead Sea is shrinking rapidly! It's from natural erosion, especially with the salt, and also over-mining by both Israel and Jordan. Come visit before it's too late!



Here's a zoom-in on the map of Israel's Dead Sea, so you can see where Masada and Ein Gedi are located.

 Ein Gedi Nature Reserve
So we started hiking in Ein Gedi. After 5 minutes I thought this could get boring but then we saw a huge clear waterfall and my thinking changed... Ein Gedi is a nature reserve, an oasis in the middle of the desert. It's where in the Bible, David hid here away from his father King Saul who wanted him dead. So anyway, I climbed down and waded through the clear, drinkable water (and drank some!) and out my head in the pool. I drank directly from the pool: cool, clear and fresh! We hiked some more, to bigger water falls with deeper pools where we actually swam! On our way out, we came upon a big tribe of Ibex (biblical animals like deer or antelopes only found here!) -- we waited for them to leave but after 10 minutes they kept eating so we carefully sneaked by trying not to disturb them. My mother was scared because their horns were huge!

Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves!

Old Akko remains a port city with a well preserved fortress, it felt like exotic times! We took a boat ride and watched these crazy kids jump off the high walls into the sea!

Dad sipping coffee in the Arab shuk.

PERSONAL NARRATIVE - A VISIT TO THE AKKO MARKET PLACE

As I step out of our dusty car, the hot sun beats upon my back. I look up to see a beautiful mineret next to a domed mosque, reflecting the turquoise color of the sea beside it. I slam the car door shut and hear "Ah ah ah," a man's voice trilling the Muslim call to prayer. I am instantly paralyzed with awe and respect for this beautiful musical prayer. 

I encourage my family to head towards the sounds of the prayer but as we walk, I am hit with a strong mixture of smells: my nose and these scents are like two sides of a magnet colliding. Without a map to guide us, my nose leads my way much like an animal's natural instinct leads to the smells of food. We enter this narrow alley filled with sights, sounds and smells all new to me.


Walking through the winding passageways, I witness a crowd of shoppers gathering around one shop in particular. I snake my way through the sea of people and see a plump, old Arab lady in a head scarf and silk shawl sitting in front of a domed oven with a stove-topped roof. She takes dough balls the size of oranges and stretches them neatly on a cushion one at a time, into the size of an extra large pizza. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was on the stove. Bubbles appeared as the bread browned and crackled. Without skipping a beat to her cooking rhythm, she pulled the fresh hot bread off the stove and began a new one.

While still hot and crispy, the bread was lovingly filled with fresh cheese, local olives, Arab spices and herbs; it's wrapped and handed to me. I sink my teeth in instinctively. A creative symphony of flavors burst in my mouth! It wasn't Papa Gino's pizza, trust me!

My Mom Can't Stop Cooking Tomatoes!

They're such fresh and yummy here - I can't imagine going back to green, tasteless ones from Shaw's!

1st View of Jerusalem!

Our family friend's nephew got sworn in to the IDF paratroopers tonight at the Western Wall! After the ceremony, all the families of the new paratroopers sat around on the Plaza with picnics. What a night!

First view of the Western Wall!

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH - A NIGHT IN JERUSALEM

1) Describe the Western Wall.


The Western Wall is a place of Jewish worship and has the most tourism in all of Israel. The Hebrew name for it is Kotel Maaravi. It is located in Jerusalem's Old City. Jerusalem is Israel's capital city. Jews who are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist mostly think the Kotel is special because 2000 years ago, it was part of the very big and holy Temple and is the only remaining part. Since the Temple was destroyed 2000 years ago, Jews lived in a diaspora scattered around the world and did not return to the Kotel until it became part of modern Israel in 1967.

2) What is the IDF?

The IDF is the Israeli Defense Forces and paratroopers are elite parachuters and fighting ground forces. The people who join them are really really smart and in very very good physical shape and are the best of the best athletes. It is voluntary to join the Paratroopers and very competitive to get in (1 in 5 applicants make it).

3) Why was the swearing-in ceremony for Paratroopers at the Western Wall?

In 1967, paratroopers parachuted into the Old City of Jersualem (then controlled by Jordan) and captured the city, then making it not just part of Israel but Israel's capital city. The Jordanians had been disrespectfully trashing and dumping their waste on the Kotel from 1948-1967. When the paratroopers tried to take the Old City, they were very careful not to bomb the place but instead did hand to hand combat. The reason they didn't just bomb it was because the Kotel Maarivi (Jews), Dome of the Rock and its minerets (Muslims), and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Christians) are very holy sites for different religions and they wanted to respect that. Many paratroopers died or were wounded because of this decision and that is that.

My videos are my eyes and ears this trip, so don't forget to watch them!

A Few Regulars! LOL!

There are several stock characters here in Israel who look exactly like people we know in real life! We call them the "total so-and-so" as in:

• "OMG, she's the total Jessica!"
• "There goes total Eli!"
• "See that guy, he's the total Howard."
• "The total Farzin, wonder if he does massage?!"
• "I've seen 13 total Dan Shertzers today!"
• "See total Grandma over there?!"
• "It's total Zadi, I swear!"
• Quick, look! Total Brenda just walked by!"
• "Total Sabu at eleven o'clock, quick!"

Even Ben gets it - he will shout out, "Look Dad, it's the total Jessica!" We all just die laughing!

A Break From History

On Saturday, we went to an amusement park in an orange grove with water rides, go karts, ropes courses. There was this ropes course high atop the trees which I did. There were water rides and lots of climbing zones.

We kayaked through a little maze. Ben rode his own go-cart and I did go karting for older kids - so fun! I tried to get Ben to climb up through this ropes maze and down some tubes but it was not made for a kid his age and he freaked out and had to make his way back down (after I had him tilted head-first down the long/high tube-slide!)

FACTS & MAPS OF PLACES I'VE VISITED - Ayalon Institute in Rehovot

Ayalon Institute - Oct 2, 2010
Ari's Diary - An Historical Fictional Story by Caleb

There goes my alarm clock. Then I remember what I have to do today. I get up and get on the cart to "Field B." While nobody's in the laundry room, we slide over the washing machine and crawl down the hole. My job is filling the bullets with gun powder. It is a very frustration job considering the fact that I can't spill any gun powder because it is too hard to come by and is too expensive.

Leah is so pretty but I'm scared to tell her how much I love her. She seals the bullets, so each bullet I fill I give to her and try to touch her hand!

One day while I gave her the 5,642nd bullet, the alarm sirens went off. I was panicking! We all quickly brushed off our feet from loose shavings and climbed up fast as we could. The doctor in charge of the secret bullet making mission handed us all doctors' white scrubs. He said that a British train had crashed 1.5 miles away. Then, Rachel, Leah's sister, shouted out "But right now we are against the British government! They are not letting Jews in from Europe! Then the doctor replied, "Yes but if we help them, we will not be suspected of Hagana activity. As I was running, I thought "Darn those Lechi militia fighters! I know we have the same goal for a safe independent Jewish state, but blowing things up I think is not the best way to achieve it!" (I know, it sounds weird coming from a guy making bullets, but we are preparing for the day when this becomes our homeland that we must defend.).

Ayalon is in Rehovot, southeast of Tel Aviv. My mom stayed on Kibbutz Na'an near there 20 years ago.

Rosh Hanikra!

Today we went to Rosh Hanikra, on the border with Lebanon. Rosh Hanikra is a limestone rock formation that has all these caves formed by water erosion. These grottoes are HUGE and really fun to explore. There was even a scuba diver!

To reach the grottoes, you have to take a cable car, in fact it's the steepest cable car in the world at 60' angles! The ride was quick though, so it wasn't scary.

There is a military base on the border and the UN is there, so no tourists are allowed to even take pictures. This border is where the bodies of 2 Israeli soldiers were returned from Hizbollah to the Israeli army.