By Samuel Freudenberg
Our travels from Pittsburgh to Newark and then to Tel Aviv were tiresome. We flew from Pittsburgh at eight o’clock, arrived at Newark an hour later. Our layover was a very long six hours, with a one hour delay added on because of a mechanical failure. We departed from Newark to embark on our 10 hour flight to Tel Aviv. Once we arrived, we noticed the refreshing 80 degree heat, a far cry from the below freezing weather we experienced only 18 hours before. The drive was relieving. We sat in an air conditioned tour bus with a scenic drive that offered picturesque views of Israel. We made it to Karmiel and proceeded to get ready for a village wide bar/bat mitzvah. At the beginning stages of the celebrations we met our mishpachton families who graciously welcomed us with open arms. Although we suffered from great fatigue we were gratuitous for their kind offerings of food, drinks, and love. The end of the party consisted of ear busting music and dancing as we left to go back to the house. To end the night, we threw a frisbee around the village square, ran away from mayflies and other petrifying bugs, and played Cards Against Humanity.