Our Southern Escapades

Tuesday morning we boarded our air conditioned coach en rout to the the southern part of the country. On board were 15 students, several staff, and copius amounts of bottled water.

The first stop of the tour was a hike through the red canyons of the Ein Bokek spring. It almost seemed like a mirage to see a huge spring of fresh water in the middle of the baron desert. You will also see below a group picture of us taken there. This also led to a big friendly water fight with a group of children visiting at the same time

Stop number two was to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. The students had the opportunity to cover themselves in the nutrient rich mud, and then go for a float in nature's saltiest body of water. It was a scene from a Club Med brochure.

We checked into the Massada Guest House which looked like an Egyptian Palace, of course with a kosher kitchen though. Hasbara Campus Coordinator Elran Tsabag led an Everyday Activism Session about campus media. He was followed by another Campus Coordinator, Jonathan Cohen who taught an EA session on building coalitions and engaging student government.

After dinner, in which I already promised I wouldn't discuss how good the meals are, we did the first of our role-playing sessions. Students went head to head against each other debating the anti-Israel claims of occupation, excessive force and racism.

This was followed by a screening of the film Conflict at Concordia which is about the riots that prohibited Benjamin Netanyahu from speaking in 2002.

And finally, I know its hard to believe we crammed so much in a night but we capped the night off by sharing songs and stories under the stars of the Negev.