Hello all of my dearests! So I am finally here in Israel. I am writing from the dan panorama hotel along the seaside of the med ocean. We (the people in my birthright Israel group) just returned from a frolic along the coast. The water had a very nice temperament--extremely warm and gentle waves. As a result, I have more freckles and a few nice sea shells.

OK, so this email may seem a little frazzled but that's ok. I did not sleep a wink on the 10-hour flight (even with the useless aid of THREE!! sleep-inducing pills). I guess I was way too revved up. Instead of sleeping I attempted to talk to the flight attendants in my freakish Hebrew which resulted in them hissing back at me. At least it was in Hebrew so they didn't think I was the lamest American.

Let me rewind for one moment. Mother-- you told me that you would allow me to go to Israel on one condition: that I speak and yak and complain only in Hebrew. Well your wish was fulfilled immediately! At the El-Al security check (before I even checked my luggage) a beautiful blond and freckled security guard asked me if I spoke Hebrew. I answered yes and then she proceeded to conduct my entire background check in Hebrew. As a result, what should have taken about three minutes was protracted to a good 10. I was sweating by the time I went through the metal detectors. But then, of course, something in my body beeped and I had to get searched. Not stripped search, though, which did happen to one of the guys on my program.

Now to get the funny story, which is a necessity.

So I met a nice co-Birthrighter named Emily. Low key and chill. Well, after she got off the plane she complained of queasiness, and I am the queen of sun problems. SO I happily took her under my wing. I sat in the shade with her and bought her water and gum. She kept saying to me that she wanted to throw up but she couldn't (meanwhile everyone else in my group is sitting outside in this cute little falafel place).

And then I got this brilliant idea! Emily said that the thought of eating anything would make her hurl. SO I gave her an enormous hunk of my shwarma pita and stuffed it down her throat. She immediately puked into a handy plastic bag and instantaneously felt better.

But then I had to throw out the remainder of my pita because now, of course, it is associated with watching Emily puke over the streets of Tel Aviv.

But, I am happy to say that she is now perfectly fine and healthy! A doctor, I should be.

Alright there's a massive line for the single computer at the "business center" in this hotel. Tomorrow we float in the Dead Sea, dig in a cave.

Oh yeah, earlier today we visited the ancient town of Jaffa checked out a museum, went to Independence Hall where Ben Gurion declared Israel's independence. We also saw the place where Yitzhak Rabin was shot in 1995. Love to everyone. And stay tuned. Hopefully, there will be less vomit and more content in the upcoming note!

Love, Hinda.

Editor's note: This is the first e-mail dispatch from our beloved former staffer Hinda Mandell from her recent birthright israel trip. To read part two, click HERE.