A bottle of water cost around 5 shekels, which would is around 1.50 US dollars.
I really enjoyed tasting bourekas for the first time. They were a baked pastry made from either a cheese or potato filling—sprinkled with sesame seeds. I also enjoyed jachnun, a slow cooked pastry that was normally served during Shabbat morning—Saturday morning. The third food I really liked was a batch of date cookies a friend made using the local dates the kibbutz sold.
In my program, there was always someone playing a playlist to dance to. Some of the songs I recognized, such as “Despacito”, which is by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, two Puerto Rican musical artists. There were many other songs which I didn’t recognize but which were more locally known to the Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian students. One song that was stuck in my mind for weeks was “Ensay” by Saad Lamjarred and Mohamed Ramadan; it was very catchy at the time and I would hum it during hikes.
Definitely hiking! There were several hiking trails behind the kibbutz, where I would go and hike with a friend or two, and try out different terrains and difficulties. We also camped overnight (it got very chilly), and reached heights where people were the size of ants from our perspective. I had never hiked before, so I definitely challenged myself over and over again when it came to this brand-new hobby.
