by Ashley Kippley

Before I left for Israel, I just wanted to go to the beach and watch the sunset. Instead I was watching the sunset from the seat of an airplane. After being up over 24 hours with very little rest, I arrived on the Kibbutz, meeting several new people. We said goodnight and prepared for a 4:00AM wake-up call. We slept in until 4:30AM and waited at the bus stop by 5:00AM to start our day. Being mine and many others first time to Israel, Norma took us on a tour of Tel Jezreel. As we learned the history we slowly descended down to the work site, but not before we could witness something majestic.

Back home the only time I am awake at 4:00AM is from studying or traveling. I’ve seen the sunrise a few times, said “that’s pretty” and moved on. Something was different in Israel. As the sun rose around the mountains, the misty valley below became clearer. It was very surreal knowing that as I watch the sunrise and usher in a new day, back home was closing their eyes for bed. The view was beautiful and as Norma spoke you could almost imagine the history unfold as you looked down to the valley.

As we continued, we were introduced to the worksite from last year as well as our site for this year. Still in its early stages, I am super excited to see what our efforts will reveal.