Mount Hermon!

Mount Hermon is the highest mountain in Israel.  It is all the way in the North by the Golan.  In the winter, there is snow there.  It's amazing how in one part of Israel you could be skiing or playing in the snow and at the opposite end, you could be swimming in the beaches of Eilat, all in a country smaller than the size of New Jersey! From Jerusalem it's about a four and a half hour drive to get there. I slept for about three of those hours... both ways, which is six extra hours of sleep.  It wasn't very comfortable sleep and my shoulders ended up being achy, but it did give me an extra energy boost.  About an hour before we got to the Hermon, when I was awake, I began to see really pretty changes in the scenery outside.  The landscape went from they dry desert to lush, green meadows to snow-capped mountains.  I never saw that much greenery in Israel ever before.  It was really beautiful.
When we got to the mountain, there was snow on the ground and everyone was so excited.  My friends from South Africa and Australia and even friends from Florida had never seen snow before.  There were people skiing and snowboarding. Some people who had never seen snow before were just having snowball fights.  There was a ski/snowboard lift and there was a lift for people who just wanted to go up the mountain.  The school got us tickets to go up the mountain.  Being on the lift without skis was a really strange experience.  I went on the lift with my friends Meira, and we just sat there looking at the scenery.  At the top it was very foggy and hard to see, but we still had a good time throwing snowballs and chillin out.  It was my friend Miriam's first time in the snow so she decided to rent a sled.  There was a small hill that we could go down so we would sled down the hill and then run back up to do it all over again.  The last time we went down, we raced against two of our other friends.  I don't know who won, but I don't think it was us.  Going back down the lift was even colder than going up because the wind was blowing right in our faces.  When we got back down to the bottom, we ate lunch and then got back on the bus to go back to Jerusalem.  It was a fun and really chilled out day and it was a great experience.  Shalom V'lehitraot!