Kipat tikvah by Mikey Shamah

A couple of screams from the חניך תורן woke up us pioneers at 4 A.M. With tired eyes and constant yawns, we all sluggishly rolled out Of bed and got on the bus. While sleeping, the bud drove about 45 minutes before reaching הר מרון. No one wants to hike this early in the morning, but we still reluctantly crawled off the bus, grabbed an energy bar and fruit, and we started our trek up the mountain.

Everyone has different ways of passing the time; while some people like to talk others, such as myself, enjoy singing in large groups(Miley Cyrus’s The Climb and Cristina Perri’s 1,000 years are favorites). As we ascended into a cloud, a cool breeze was a nice change from the usual sweltering sun. It was amazing to see the droplets of water bead at the end of leaves. We reached the top of the 2 mile- or 3 kilometers as they say in Israel- hike and prayed. After a short walk to the bus we drove back to the hostel for breakfast. All this happened before 9 o’clock!

After a much needed meal we went to the Bohemian High Gardens. We walked through the leader of the religion’s shrine and then took pictures with a bride and groom. After the garden we went to Nahharyia for some shopping. After we went to all different type of stores we met up with the families we brought up from the south.
Every two pioneers are given a room of 4 people to get to know and become close with. We each had to take our room out to lunch. At lunch we talk, laugh and broke the language barrier over a nice meal at Cafe Cafe.

The highlight of the day was finding out how the lives of these people are so different than ours that it is like we are on different planets. It was the similarities the brought us together; we bonded over music, food and school.

They were so thankful for being treated to this weekend away from home that they could find the words to express it. We took the bus ride home mixed with pioneers and Israelis and we continued the conversation from lunch. We said goodbye as we walked to the rooms to get ready for Shabbat. This Shabbat will be the best yet because we get to share it with others.

mikey shamah