You’ve read all about our experiences. You’ve seen the pictures. You’ve had the travel envy. So now you’re wondering, “Should I too go on this trip? Is it right for me? Will I also have an amazing four-week experience?” Well wonder no more, for I am here with the 7 reasons (inspired by our favorite hang-out, “7 Days Café”) why you should definitely go on this trip.
1. Play in the Dirt
Cubicles aren’t for everyone. Consider passing on a desk from 9-5 in air conditioning for seven hours a day digging outside. It is some hot and hard work, but very different than the average summer opportunities for college students. Regardless of your major, there’s something very satisfying about heaving a giant pick axe into the ground.
2. Family Breakfast
As someone from a nuclear family of four, our breakfasts were always very calm. On school days, I would pour a bowl of cereal, eat it, and head on my way. But breakfast on the Tel is like Cheaper by the Dozen times four. As someone with a smaller family, I loved the experience of shouting down the table for peanut butter, passing eggs up and down the sides, communist sugar, and other sorts of shenanigans. This is also where I met a lot of the great people on this trip who were also at Akko for the first time. Nothing builds comradery like one zany breakfast!
3. And the Food in General
4. Break Out of your American Bubble
Beyond the people from all over the States you will meet in Akko, you will also meet locals from Akko: like our favorite business proprietors (shout-outs to Isa and Waifa) and the kids in Akko who come volunteer at the dig site through the Youth Conservation Program. Getting to know people close to our age and their experiences from a different country are priceless opportunities. Though knowing Hebrew is not necessary to come on this trip, the favorite hang outs are not tourist stores, but rather local cafes and beaches where local Israelis frequent as well, so you do become immersed in the local language.
5. Learn Valuable Skills for Many Fields
Of course anyone interested in archaeology has lots to learn on this trip, but those from all disciplines have opportunities to strengthen skills for their prospective fields. Learn GIS for geology majors, conservation law for law students, examine ancient seeds for biologists, and much, much more. This certainly isn’t a trip limited to one major.
6. Explore a Whole New World
From the shores of Galilee to the crowded streets of Jerusalem, every Saturday offers an exciting adventure to a new location of Israel. Visit religious sites important to Christians, Muslims, Jews, and the Baha’is and see ancient sites from the Romans. If there’s a period of history that interests you, chances are you will visit somewhere directly related to that interest. And the city of Akko itself has a deep history that encompasses the ancient Greeks, the Crusaders, the Ottomans, and more.
7. Become a Duckling
Those lucky enough to go to Miami get the special privilege of having Dr. Rozensweig as their professor at Akko. We lovingly dubbed her as our “Mama Duck” because Dr. R always made sure we were having a good time, staying safe, and getting as much as we possibly could out of our experience. In turn, the Miami students became a little pack of ducklings. While it’s important to make new friends, we also got to form great connections between each other which we can continue back on campus.
But there’re so many more reasons! For those who came on the trip, feel free to put down other reasons you loved coming to Tel Akko in the comments below.
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