We drove a long way from Kibbutz Lotan to the middle of the desert where there was a Bedouin tent community. After we arrived we were showed to the tents we would spend the night in. They were modest yet modern and had a pile of sleeping matts in one corner and our sleeping bags in the other. Soon we set out to ride camels, but because of the large amount of people in our group we were split amongst riding a donkey or a camel halfway then switching with each other. However, most of the Schechter girls waited and we were able to ride the camels the whole way in groups of 2. The whole ride was about 10 minutes into the rocky desert, but the intense heat made it feel very long. My camel (who we named Salvador) tried to race the camel in front of us which was a little scary! We went back to the Bedouin tents where we had a cultural discussion with a tribe member and we learned all about the customs of his nomadic people. We had their traditional tea and coffee which were rather yummy! Then we socialized with some other Jewish teenagers from all over the world, including the UK and Brazil, before dinner. Our dinner was a communal style meal where we ate lamb meatballs (which were super yummy) with rice and vegetables. We all got super full really fast because the food was great! In the evening we took a stroll amongst the stars in the beautiful desert and we prepared for an exciting but early morning at Masada!
Hannah Vallario
