Personal Narrative: My Life Changing Trip To Israel

Thirty-six thousand feet above France, on my way to volunteer at an archeological site in Israel, I was sleeping, unaware to what was happening around me. El Al received an anonymous call that a bomb was in the galley of the plane. To my relief, the call was a hoax. I did not actually know this occurred until my aunt told me two days later. Nonetheless, this experience was dangerously exciting, but also an interesting way to start my life-changing trip to Israel where I traveled around the historical region, experienced different cultures, and volunteered at an archeological excavation. Before volunteering, I wanted to travel around the country. Although I traveled to Israel alone, I had my Israeli aunt Julie to show me the beautiful country. Julie lived in a small desert town called Dimona, where we started our travels. We took a train north to Haifa,
Daniel Varga. We were excavating at an old Byzantine farmhouse. Dr. Varga split the workers and the volunteers into two groups with a few archeologists supervising us. I worked with a small group of local teenagers who were working at the site for a summer job. They did not know English, and neither did most of the supervisors. I managed to communicate with them through the Hebrew I knew and a little bit of the English they knew. After two days, we started to uncover some Byzantine artifacts. During the time in which I volunteered, we only uncovered potsherds, but it was still fascinating. Working with complete strangers that did not know my native language as a teenager was an incredible experience. Ultimately, this trip to Israel changed my life. I was able to travel around the world, experience different cultures, and to work with complete strangers. I learned how to communicate with people who could not speak my native language effectively, while speaking in depth. Traveling to Israel was truly amazing, and the experiences will stay with me