Maddie, Sasha and Annabelle
This morning we started out on a hike at Baniyas. We visited an old Roman Pagan temple where we learned the story of the god Pan. After the temple, we started the hike. It was very beautiful and sunny, there were flowers surrounding us and a small breeze. In the middle of the hike we stopped at a tiny Druze pizza shop. We all tried honey or cheese pita pizza. It was really good! We also saw a beautiful waterfall and walked up some stairs for the rest of the hike. It was a good start to the day.

After lunch today we overlooked the border of Syria. In front of us, we could see a grey road that was the border between Israel and Syria. We stood on an overlook that had bunkers from one of the Israeli Syrian wars. As we were looking over the border we talked about the complex Civil war that is going on in Syria. It involves Syria, Russia and Hezbollah and is still going on today. We also could see Mount Harmon, the only mountain in Israel that people can ski on because it is the only mountain with snow. When we looked to the left we could see Lebanon in the distance. It was a very pretty view, and it was very interesting to learn about the conflicts between Israel’s bordering countries. 

I’m the afternoon, we arrived at the campsite and set up our tents. We then got split into 6 groups where we heard the instructions to our fun master chef activity. On a big table in the middle of the campsite was several vegetables, meats, and other cooking essentials for us to create a meal. We had 1.5 hours to cook our meal and present it on a platter for the judges. The meals that were prepared by the groups ranged from pasta dishes to chicken kabobs to classic Israeli meals. This competition was a super fun way for us to get creative and work together. Overall we had an amazing day! 

During the evening some of us chose to learn about stargazing while others chose to relax and play cards. Around 10 everyone retired to their tents. Some of us slept well others got up a little bleary-eyed. But for all of us, camping out and eating the food we made is an experience we will never forget.