Week 18

This week’s blog will be the entire Yam Le Yam trip. We hiked from Haifa all the way to the Kinnerat.

Our first day started at 8am as we boarded the bus to head up north to Haifa where we had our opening ceremony. We all stood on the beach and received plastic little bottles to put the water from the Mediterranean Sea in. We sang the Haktivah and then drove to where our hiking began as we said goodbye to air conditioning and the bus.

The hiking was literally all uphill. We were out of the sun for most of it which was positive. The hike was good! We had a tour guide who litterly stopped every 5 minutes to show us a part of nature. It got old very quick to say the least. After 6 miles and 3 liters of water later, we reached our camp site for the night. I have to say, we were very spoiled at the campsite. We got there and our tents were already set up and our night time bags were already there. We had hot-soup made for us which sounds horrible since we were all sweaty and hot, but it was so good everyone had 3rds. We ate dinner and just enjoyed everyone’s company. We couldn’t really use our phones because we needed to save battery life so we all were just living in the moment. One thing we didn’t anticipate was how big of a production it was to go to the bathroom. We all had rolls of toilet paper with us in our bags because there were no bathrooms. We had to go with a friend or 2 to search for a spot nobody was at to go to the bathroom. It could take half an hour depending on how long we looked for empty areas. We ended our first day by stargazing and then going to sleep in our tents. My tent was of course on a huge rock so I couldn’t really sleep which really sucked because we had to wake up at 5am the next day.

Day 2 started bright and early at sunrise. We quickly got dressed and ready for the day. We ate breakfast, cleaned up the campsite and then we were off. We hiked for half the day entirely in the blistering sun. We actually got lost at one point because we went the wrong way when we encountered a proverbial fork in the trail. The hiking was mainly downhill which I thought would be a lot easier than the day before, I was wrong! Downhill was so much harder as we all slipped on the lose rocks many times and almost had our knees give up on us. We finally reached the bottom and then went on a water hike. The water was up to our shoulders so we basically were swimming to our next campsite. The water hike was also our only form of showering for the entire trip. We finished hiking to our next campsite and immediately we were served hot soup again. I will never get over that delicious vegetable soup. Again, people were getting 3rds and 4ths. The campsite was really special because there was a camp fire in the m middle and our tents surrounded the fire. There was an open field that we were able to relax in as we watched the sunset. It was on this open field we had our own little fireplace. We all chilled for the rest of the night. We had dinner, roasted marshmallows, and stargazed. Our nature peeing adventures continued as well. We played a game called word-assassin which is where you have a person and a word and have to get them to say the specific word. It was such a fun game. So far, the trip has been extremely bonding for all of us, it’s really been fun, connecting and challenging all at the same time. We ended the night feeling gross and tired and went to sleep from complete and utter exhaustion.

Day 3 was the longest day. We woke up again at the crack of dawn to start our day. We hiked 12 miles and it was all in the blistering sun again. It was so hot we all ran out of our 3 liters of water that we had with us quit quickly. We walked and walked, making few stops for breaks in the shade and lunch. Walking for this long with your friends really bonds people together. Everyone admitted how much closer we all felt together while being on this trip. There were defiantly moments where I wanted to give up but I kept going and walking through the heat. We chatted life, school, our feelings of goign home, listening to stories from our teacher about the history of the very ground we were hiking. It was at times mesmerizing. There was a point where we got to a lookout that viewed the entire Kinnerat, which was our final destination. It felt so rewarding seeing it even though we still had a long way to go. I guess thats a true metaphor of life and setting goals. After some more walking in the heat, we finally reached the campsite. It was overlooking the Kinnerate, we were literally on top of a cliff. We had our hot vegetable soup again and then dinner afterwards. The last night we all decided to sleep under the stars together in our sleeping bags. It was my favorite night as it was so wholesome for all of us just living in the moment together. We all fell asleep as we stargazed. I still smile thinking about this evening.

Day 4 began with a beautiful sunrise on the top of the cliff we slept on. Our teachers lead a brief morning tefilah as we all stood in our sleeping bags freezing our butts off. We cleaned up the campsite and then left for our last day of our trip. Today was probably the hardest of all the days we hiked. Our hike began on top of a thorny, narrow, cliff. Our tour guide got us very lost and led us onto a dangerous cliff. We went through every type of prickly bush possible. There were points where I even fell down and wanted to give up, as it was boiling hot, my ankles were being twisted, and tears were incessantly shed. Thankfully, I have the bestest of friends in the world and they helped me up as I helped them up. It was true team work! I probably would not have been able to get through the hike without them. After miles and miles of hiking, we finally made it to the bottom thinking we were done but we still had ways more to go. A false sense of glee. We then hopped on mountain bikes and biked all the way to the Kinnerat. I think it was about 6ish miles, some being uphill, some in the shade, some in the scorching sun. When we finally reached the Kinnerat, I felt so accomplished. I was so proud of myself that I didn’t give up and that I stuck through it all . I was proud of everyone that lasted as well. We were all feeling super confidant that we made it and simply refused to give up. When we got to the water, we all ran in at the same time and poured the Mediterranean water out of the glass tube into the Kinnerat water. We were all just so relieved. It was one of the best feelings I’ve had. I took this long, hard, difficult journey and I didn’t give up. It made me really believe I can do anything if I don’t give up. I persevered as I will always in life! Yam Le Yam was one of the hardest but most rewarding moments of my life. I didn’t think it would be possible to become any closer with my best friends, but we left the trip more bonded than ever. I learned about myself and that if I stick to something, I can do anything.