Day 4 (from Bus 693)

Today began with an eighty person wakeup call in our communal tent at the Mamshit Camel Ranch. After an evening around the campfire filled with late night singing and games, we huddled in our sleeping bags and endured the cold, only to wake up and find beautiful weather congratulating us on successfully roughing it in the desert.

We had breakfast at the camel ranch of fresh pita, eggs, humus and the usual Israeli salads before setting out for the much anticipated camel rides. We were briefed on the camel's colorful personality and on proper camel etiquette. We finally make it over our training “hump” and found ourselves atop the camels. My camel, whom I affectionately called Jonsie (Hebrew name: Chutzpah) showed great courage and prevailed in the intense footrace by displaying incredible speed.

After disembarking the camels, we reentered the 21st century and boarded the bus, heading for our final activity before Shabbat: we visited Kibbutz Sde Boker, the home and gravesite of David Ben-Gurion. At his gravesite, we received a history lesson from our guide, Korin, with breathtaking views of the Negev in the background.

The tranquil setting left no doubt as to why the Prime Minister requested to be buried here. We are now preparing for our Mifgash introduction with eight Israeli soldiers who will join us for the next few days. After getting to know them, we look forward to Shabbat services and a chance to rest after four exhausting days.

-Benjamin Arfa '08