For the past two weeks, I left my Boca Raton home and traversed the sandy terrain of the Middle East. All right, that’s a bit overdramatic. Two weeks ago, I left the US and went on a family trip to Israel. With all of the newspaper headlines about death and terrorism being prevalent in that area, I was a little bit nervous. But once I got there, I realized there were a few misconceptions that needed to be cleared up.

1. Everyone in Israel is in grave danger

Some aspects of this statement are true. Israel is only about the size of New Jersey and it is surrounded by Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan-countries that historically haven’t been very fond of the only Jewish state. Despite this, Israel is actually very safe. During my trip, I stood yards away from the border of these countries without any qualms.  Believe it or not, people actually go about their daily lives without much fear. Once they graduate from high school, every Israeli joins the military for a couple of years. By dedicating their time to their country, security remains top notch.

1. The entire country is a desert

First of all, during my two weeks in Israel, the weather was nicer there than it was in Florida. With almost no humidity and a temperature of about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s sad to say that the desert is preferable to Boca. Anyway, it is true that a large part of Israel is the Negev desert, but in populated cities such as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, technology and innovation are huge.  Driving on the highway, everything looked exactly like the United States, except for the fact that every sign was written in Hebrew, Arabic and English, I couldn’t tell that I had just gotten off of an 11 hour flight. Everyone—even the Hasidic Jews—are talking on their cell phones, driving in cars and living their lives.

1. You can’t get Wi-Fi

I had a great time going on archeological digs, touring ruins and seeing museums, but probably the most amazing part of the trip was the fact that you could get Wi Fi almost anywhere. On my first day in Israel, my family and I went to a small farm where we pretended to have traveled back to ancient times. We rode donkeys, made our own food and milked goats. (Side note: goat milking is gross) When we sat down for lunch, I was pretty surprised to see that the hut we were in had free Wi Fi. Five thousand years of history aside, that was a true miracle.