Hello Arad

(Camel smiling at me)

(Bedouin tent)

The last couple of days have been crazy hectic. Back in Bat Yam, everyone was really sad to leave the Israeli Scouts :( They added so much to our group and we became so close with all of them and it sucks to leave them behind. Aviv (my scout) was SO cute and surprised us the last night in Bat yam by making a little party for us in our living room. She put a candle out with tons of food and candy around and played a slideshow she made for us. She also wrote me a really long, amazing letter. I love her and will really miss her :(
We moved out and went to a random forest area to weed plants and trim trees. Funny thing about it is I went to the exact same place for Muss to do that and they had a picture of my Muss group there. It made me really miss Muss. Muss was the most amazing, spiritual and impacting two months of my life. After the forest work, we drove all the way down to the Negev to Bedouin tents. (We went there on Muss, too!) All around us was desert. And Camels. For dinner six people sat on the ground around a big trey full of rice, potatoes,vegtables,kebobs,etc, and just dug in with our hands. Then they blasted music and we had a dance party in the tents. I walked through the Bedouin village with my friend and we sat by this old Arab guy playing the harp. He taught me how to play a bit and then we got into a long conversation about the similarities between Judaism and Islam. Everyone got their sleeping bags and slept under the tents but me and a couple friends slept outside under the stars even though it was freeeezing cold. We woke up at 7.00, had an amazing Bedouin breakfast buffet, and then I went on a 3 hour hike through the desert. We walked through dried up waterfalls and river canals. Then we drove to Arad, found our apartments, and started to settle in. My apartment is definitely not as big or nice as my last one, plus there's 7 of us now. But it's still cute and were starting to make it homey. I'm really excited to be here. Good always comes from change.

PS- I know deep deep down that I will be happiest in Colorado. I want to go there so bad!