Eilat (and Everything in Between!)

So all of Oranim went to Eilat this weekend. Eilat is a port city at the southernmost tip of Israel, at the bottom of the Negev desert, sitting on the Red Sea (the sea that Moses parted when the Israelites made the exodus from Egypt). For me it was a great, bad, and everything-in-between weekend.

Left to right: my friends Talia, Dave, and Naum

On Friday, the Master's program woke up at 5am to catch the bus at 6am. We picked up some Russians whose program in also in Tel Aviv and we headed down south. We passed through Jerusalem and drove all the way through the Negev, hitting places such as Dimona (where we got breakfast) and Beersheba, and driving past the Dead Sea. We stopped to take a short hike at Makhtesh Ramon, which is the biggest natural crater (or more accurately, erosion cirque) in the world. The Bedouin tribes (mainly Arabs) are known to inhabit this area and surrounding cities, along with Syria and Jordan. The Bedouins used to be governed completely by the Israeli military, but they have developed to be more independent for themselves. They govern themselves off of RESPECT for each other via honor codes. They are, however, well-known for being skilled thieves, desert nomads, and hosting Taglit-Birthright groups all the time (they are very modern, given that they use electricity and have indoor plumbing but live in tents). After the hike, we drove another 2 hours or so, stopped for lunch, then drove to Eilat.

The rest of the day was devoted to relaxing and getting ready for Shabbat. I moved into Room 531 with my roommate from home, Simon, and a friend from Ramla, Geoff. I futzed around for a bit, then went to a small Kabbalat Shabbat service (beginning of Shabbat) led by some really Orthodox guy who spit out the Hebrew words quickly. I then went to the program's Kabbalat Shabbat service with some friends from Ramla. I had dinner at the hotel with my Ramla friends and hung at the hotel for a while. Later, we went out to a bar called Joya (for anyone who clicked the link, I originally wanted to make a corny joke involving Goya beans, but realized they're not spelled the same way). We did a little dancing, got down tonight, but made no love (two out of three ain't bad).

Dinner at Pastory, an Italian restaurant.
Pictured left to right: Caroline, me, Zak, Anna,
and Shoshana.

On Saturday, I got breakfast then went straight to the beach. My Ramla friends and I went snorkeling (most of us, including me, for the first time). Boy was it exciting (I wish I had pictures, but alas, I don't have a waterproof camera)! We swam around the main buoyed area, chilling with the fish and coral for about an hour. After taking a break and some of us checking out the rest of the beach, we went back in, swimming to the second pier on the side of the beach. We looked at the fish on the way and I swam right through a school of fish. On the way back, I was having trouble putting and keeping my goggles on and breathing out of it considering I accidentally swallowed about half a gallon of seawater, so I jumped out at the first pier and walked the rest of the way. We all left the the beach and come back to the hotel.

Then I noticed something... I lost my necklace! If anyone who has talked to me about it knows, my Chai (חי) necklace is one of the most important of my possessions. It belonged to my Zadie (Yiddish for grandfather) until he passed away June 2010; I have worn the necklace just about everyday since to keep his memory close to my heart. I immediately bolted from the hotel, took a cab the 5 kilometers to the beach, and frantically searched for the necklace in the small area where I KNEW I placed my backpack. I had put the necklace in my shirt in the bag and it must have jumped out when I packed up earlier. I spoke a little Hebrew to the guys who were sitting right there, and after a few minutes, one found it for me! You should have seen my face. He pulled it out of the sand and my eyes and mouth widened, I gently grabbed the necklace, and thanked him for saving my day. I would have been devastated if I had not found it. I gave the guy a hug, thanked him again, and hailed another cab home. That was the best 64 shekels (or $18) I have ever spent.

Booze cruise with my Ramla friends left
to right: Max, me, Geoff, and Max.

I came back to the hotel and took a nap before Havdalah (the end of Shabbat). After all of Oranim did the Havdalah service next to the nearby shopping mall, I went to this great Italian restaurant across the river from our hotel with Shoshana, Anna, and our Ramla friends, Zak and Caroline. I got a delicious dinner of ravioli with aubergine (smoked eggplant) and a four cheese sauce (Bon appetite!). I'm still licking my fingers. All of Oranim then went on a cruise around the Gulf of Eilat (tip of the Red Sea) and we had a booze cruise! I took a billion pictures, check them out in my Eilat album on Facebook. We danced, sang, celebrated, and partied. Alex and I then strolled back to the hotel together and just shot the shit. I then ran into Shawna from Ramla in the lobby and talked with her for a good 2 hours. I went to sleep at 3am.

We woke up at 7am on Sunday and we got ready to go, leaving at 8:45 to take a hike at the Red Canyon in the Eilat Mountains. It was a very rocky hike (literally) walking up and even rockier down. We took a break on the way to play a game in which Alex had to pretend to be a kangaroo and everyone had to guess what he was. No one guessed right because he was set up to look funny! :) Once we got to the top, it was the most beautiful sight. As far as the eye can see, we could see the Red Sea surrounded by parts of Saudi Arabia, Egypt's Sinai peninsula, Jordan, and the very south of Eilat. After the hike, we drove to David Ben-Gurion's resting place in Sde Boker, a kibbutz. It was used by Ben-Gurion and his wife, Paula, as a retirement home until they both died. They are buried side-by-side there. David Ben-Gurion is very important to the history of Israel and its politics. He was Israel's first Prime Minister 1948-1963 and helped build Israel's statehood. He moved himself and his wife to the Negev late in his life for a reason; he had a dream that one day, 5 million Jews will inhabit the Negev. Currently, 700,000 Jews are sprawled throughout. There is hope that it will grow in the future. After getting close to Ben-Gurion's grave, we hopped back on the bus and went home to Tel Aviv. On the way back, I enjoyed a very long talk with Aline, a Brazilian girl in my program.

Me overlooking southern Eilat and the edge of Jordan

Well, I'm beat from an intense weekend. I leave you with the music video of a song I've been listening to on my iPod a lot recently. Thanks for reading!