Help! I'm Lost in Nature!

So finally, I've finished with the regimented schedule of birthright and I am free for 5 days of exploring whatever I want in Israel...sort of. The most amazing Jerusalem market. Almost made me want to move there. My dad met me at the hotel after the last night of Birthright. Naturally, I got only 3 hours of sleep because I had to maximize my time with these amazing birthright people in case I never see them again. My dad and I head to the Jerusalem market. There are so many fruits, vegetables, spices, dry beans, nuts...pretty much everything I could ever want. Honestly, if they had a market like that in America I would never go to a grocery store again. So little waste and processing. However, we were only there briefly because we had tickets to see the Western Wall tunnels in an hour. After rushing to the tunnels, we were amazed at the history underneath this 2000 year old structure. In fact, some of these areas are so religiously significant and old, that no excavation ...

It's funny--I thought with all the time over break I'd be filled with writings and musings, but I didn't really get inspired until I went to Israel. Cooking and concocting lotions is very fun, but I wasn't really learning about me. On the contrary, after 15 days in Israel I feel quite self-reflective. Feeling self-reflective atop of Masada in the Negev Desert I had mixed feelings as I was driving to the airport for my Birthright experience. Birthright, is a fully-funded program for Jews from around the world to spend 10 days in Israel with ~35 Americans and ~8 Israelis to reconnect with their Jewish heritage in Israel. Many of my cousins have gone and had mixed feelings. Some experienced extreme pro-Israel propaganda, while others felt too trapped to the rigid schedule and agenda of the program to fully enjoy it. And at first, I definitely felt that rigidity stifling my Israeli experience. Right off the plane, we ventured to Caesarea where we were in a ~2,...