On Shabbat, I got to sleep late(I got up at about 7 in the morning). My family and my three cousins went to a 7:45 AM tour of the makhtesh(NOT THE CRATER!!!!!!!). A makhtesh looks a lot like a crater, but it is formed by water erosion, and is unique to this part of the world. While on the tour I spotted a herd of ibex in a school playground and went to take pictures of them. The eventually moved towards the makhtesh and started jumping down the rocks. I got some awesome pictures of them jumping down and also headbutting. 
When we got back from the tour, we ate breakfast with all of our family together. When breakfast was over, my mom, sister, cousins, and grandparents went on a camel ride, while my father and I stayed at the hotel and did homework. When everybody got back, we went to eat a late lunch, and then went to another building to hear former students of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies talk about their experiences. They talked about how most programs to bring people together like that don’t work because of the amount of time they spend. At the Institute, they come for at least a semester, so if they’re having a conflict, they will eventually have to settle it because they live together every day. They said that earlier this year, during the Flotilla Crisis, all of the different people were pointing fingers at each other, but they eventually sat down one night, all together, and had a meeting all night, not necessarily a friendly meeting, but by the next day they had settled all of their differences. If you would like to learn more about the Institute, you can go to their website, or send me an email. The meeting made me feel like all of the money I have raised is going to a very worthy cause, and I hope you feel the same way. After that, we went to a havdalah service at the edge of the makhtesh to mark the end of shabbat. But it wasn’t the end of our riding (duh duh duuuh). More pictures later!
Gabe
