I have spent the past week and a half on a different continent. Asia, to be exact, in the country of Israel. I found out about the trip less than two months ago, it was free through Birthright, an organization that sends young Jewish adults on a tour of Israel every summer. I’d never even considered going until my friends brought it up, but it turned out to be just the kind of unexpectedly captivating and fulfilling experience that I love. It may just be because we’re young, but there’s nothing we crave more than a good adventure.

My memories of the first day are fuzzy, the 10-hour nonstop flight really knocked us out. But on the bus into Tel Aviv, I was struck more than anything by all the flowers. I came to the Middle East with nothing but the media and movies to inform my expectations, so I’d envisioned sand dunes and dust. But there were mounds of bougainvillea along the highway, orchards full of orange trees, poisonous oleander and bright red flame trees in the city center. It was beautiful, and I was so surprised.

That evening they drove us north to the Sea of Galilee. It was a long trip, and we were delirious with jet lag, so I don’t think anyone remembers the drive except for me. I am very bad at sleeping just in general, so while everyone else dozed and recovered, I looked out the window. The highway began to go along a wall, beyond which I could see smaller towns. It took me a good 10 minutes to realize I was looking at the West Bank. Israel became very real to me then, and I spent the rest of the trip only beginning to understand my connection to it.

The most intense part of the trip were the days we spent in Jerusalem. We arrived on a Friday, just before the start of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. The entire city observes it, and so did we. They took us out to the main market that evening to see it begin. It was utterly deserted, and as the sun set, a horn sounded, announcing Shabbat across Jerusalem. We stood there frozen, listening. It was all very serious as it happened, but yes, it sounded exactly like The Purge.

The next evening, after Shabbat was complete, we went back to that same market and it was transformed. Everything was open, the candy stores, the juice stands, the falafel joints, the bars blasting Israeli techno music into the narrow, covered streets. I had some excellent food there, shawarma with French fries on top, an indescribable dessert called knafeh. It was an incredible night out, the antithesis to Shabbat, and the whole trip followed that balance of strangely foreign and fun.

Israel really showed us a good time. I felt uniquely welcome there as a Jewish woman, which is not something I’m usually very in touch with. It’s a complicated place, and our guides never shied away from that, but I feel very lucky to have been able to go and absorb the history and beauty of the land. It was what they call once in a lifetime, and it will stick with me.