Taglit Birthright Winter 2012 - Day 10
Posted on 12/25/2012 @ 05:00 PM
We woke up on the last day not fully ready to leave Israel yet.
Looking back on the last 10 days, it’s hard to believe how much the trip changed my view on Israel and how close our group became with each other. We woke up in Jerusalem, packed our bags for the final time, ate breakfast, and boarded the bus headed to Tel Aviv.
Once in Tel Aviv, we got off the bus and took in the sights of the modern day city. I was quite surprised at how new and fast paced the city seemed. We walked through the city and into the Hall of Independence where we watched a short video there about Tel Aviv’s founding. It was amazing to see how this modern city started by the hard work of a few people in a sandy desert. We sat in the room where David Ben-Gurion declared independence for the State of Israel. We heard the recordings from the meeting that day and you can feel the energy and excitement of the people in the room. It was interesting to note that the celebration didn’t last long as there was a war going on and the attention of the people in the room needed to be focused elsewhere.
After leaving the Hall of Independence, we walked across Tel Aviv to the spot where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. We learned the back story of what lead to this event and saw the monument and artwork on the block. It was very interesting to hear the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination.
At the end of the day, we boarded the bus one final time, made our way to the airport. After a long and very sad goodbye with our Israeli tour guide and medic, we went through security and boarded the plane for our long flight home.
Andrew Alexander
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