Left: David Brown
and Megan Golani
get muddy at the
Dead Sea.

Bottom left:
Adam Duchemin
and Alison Tschirhart
of Bus R-4 enjoy the
Havdallah service
in Jerusalem.

Bottom right:
Lindsay Berman
hangs out at
Atractzia Waterpark
on the Dead Sea.

Opposite page:
Jackie Tate of
Bus R-2 watches
the sun rise from
the top of Masada.

of the hike, it seemed as though Becca's
prophesy would come true.
Spirits began to rise, however,
when rocky paths and desert winds
ended, giving way to a beautiful and
very deep canyon. The path down
was steep, but at the bottom we
found, to my delight, cool streams,
waterfalls and shady trees. The group
took some time to relax, enjoying the
clear water and fascinating vegeta-
tion, then hiked along the bottom of
the canyon. This leg of the hike was
my favorite, because it involved some
rock climbing, stepping into the
water, and, best of all, it was out of
the hot Israeli sun!
Throughout the four hours, I was
in a constant state of amazement at

the sights that surrounded me, and
that more than made up for the
strenuous hikes•both up and down
the canyon, at least in my opinion.
As we left Zavetan, I felt a new sense
of attachment to this incredible land
for which we have fought for genera-
tions.
Clearly, the trip so far has been all
about connections both personal and
natural, not to mention spiritual and
historical. These connections have
given us all such a strong base that our
remaining time iii Israel will be the
most amazing yet!

— Jennifer Nathan is a 10th grader
at Bloomfield Hills Andover High
School.

