Here comes the day to pause bands and media team assignments to go out of the village for a naturalistic trip.  
As I had never been to the Dead Sea before and all I heard about it was the usual popular stories regarding how you could read a book by sitting naturally on the water because of its high-salted composition, I pretentiously felt I already knew what to expect once I was there. In the morning, we were asked to be at the meeting point at 9 sharp and I remember waking up with anxious feelings. I was late getting ready, I was not sure I was well equipped for the heat and negative thoughts and worries spinning in my head were making me feel far away from the shared excitement.
When I finally sat on the bus, I took out my book from the bag and detached myself from the surroundings for some time until I looked up and turned to the window. I could not take my eyes off of what I could now see in front of me. I saw a camel chilling in the desert and ocher mountains all around. Hill forts and antique ruins were allowed to be half-seen on a navy blue background.

We first visited the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve. The variety of landscapes that can be unearthed are to be looked for in the most hidden spots, and so I followed the more tortuous side paths and I found myself inside a little stream that led me inside a tunnel made of rocks and bamboo. Beautiful waterfalls were waiting for me outside. I was mesmerised. Through the main hiking trail we arrived on the top of a mountain. I can’t even describe how I felt looking at the infinite Dead Sea but all my worries suddenly felt so small and irrelevant. I was one with nature and I was sharing that emotion with the other MHFR project participants. We were a whole.

To have lunch, we waited to reach a shadowy place along the shore.This short trip on the bus became a local electronic music party that kept everybody enthusiastic.
We had two hours to enjoy a totally unexpected experience  inside the ten-times-more-salty sea whose bottom was covered in big salt clumps. It has been a lot more astonishing than I could have ever imagined.It’s needless to say that nature’s power and positive friends reminded me once again that daily problems are only a reflection of the stressful society we live in.
What better place to connect deeper with people, nature and music than the fascinating Dead Sea and its splendors?

The project Music For Human Rights s co-founded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union – EU.
European Commission is not responsible for any upload content. Such content represents the view of its author only.
Thanks to JUGEND für Europe for cooperation.

Comala, Farra Fanfarra, Narandžasti, Roter Baum Berlin, Zdravo Da Ste OC, The Israel Goldstein Youth Village of HaNoar HaTzioni.

Written by Angela Cantaro