"Eilat" of fun in Eilat

It has certainly been awhile since my last entry… and I really thought I was on a roll there for awhile! The few weeks since “chili night” have been pretty eventful. First was the last week of our summer session which included ulpan and bible history. We had our last few days of classes, took a final exam (which apparently I passed, since I’m still here!!), and had an end of the summer party with our teachers. Ulpan ended a day early so that the class could go on an all-day tiyul to the northern part of Israel on Wednesday, but I skipped the tiyul because…

Sean finished his Taglit-Birthright trip on Wednesday morning, and arrived at my apartment at 10am! Sean and I spent Wednesday hanging out, exploring my neighborhood, eating in some great Jerusalem restaurants, and of course, doing all of his laundry! On Thursday, after getting ourselves VERY lost in the Arab Quarter of the Old City (my fault!), Sean got the chance to meet all of my friends at one of the student’s (Jon) surprise birthday parties. Afterwards, we went with a few friends to the Jerusalem Beer Festival where we (obviously) tasted beer and (not so obviously) watched some crazy bike trick exhibition… clearly, the Beer Festival is an exciting event. We had a great Shabbat dinner at Leslie’s, and spent Saturday relaxing and watching the first Buckeye game on the computer (not only do I have Slingbox, I now also have access to all of the shows that Sean is recording and storing on a computer built especially for recording TV)!

Sean and me at Jon's birthday party

On Sunday morning, Sean and I got on a 7am bus bound for EILAT!! For those that don’t know, Eilat is the southernmost city in Israel, situated on the Red Sea (it’s real name is the Sea of Reeds, but it became the Red Sea due to a typo in an English printing of a Bible… also called Suf Yam in Hebrew). It is now mainly a vacation spot, but does have some industry located in the area. Of course, with a name like Eilat, the city invites a bunch of "alot" jokes! We stayed at a great hotel near the beach and the promenade, and had access to the VIP lounge, which we maybe visited too much to get the free snacks and diet coke! We did all kinds of great activities in Eilat, including LOTS of eating and trying out fun restaurants. Sunday was spent exploring the city, eating (of course), and resting after a VERY long bus ride. Monday was our scuba diving day in the Red Sea, which arguably has some of the best diving in the world (Sean thinks Bonnaire is better, but what does he know!). Unfortunately, my ears clogged up during our first dive, so I had to surface while the rest of the group continued the diving… this wouldn’t have been so bad, since I got to dive in the Red Sea last summer, except that a bunch of “Medusa” fish bit me all over my legs. Sean did a second dive that day so that he could experience the diving in Eilat, while I watched the awesome windsurfers that were doing cool tricks in the water off of the dive shop beach.

On Tuesday, Sean and I went to Petra, Jordan. I visited Petra last summer while I was in Eilat, but Sean and I thought he should see it, so off we went! The pictures of Petra below are from last summer’s trip, since Sean took the pictures of this trip and they’re with him in the States! Don’t worry; since the city dates back to the 1^st century BCE, it looks exactly the same! Petra is an ancient Nabotean city, located near Aaron’s burial place, carved almost entirely into sandstone mountains. Though Naboteans (Aramaic-speaking Semite traders) who lived in Petra dwelled in free-standing homes that are no longer in existence, EVERYTHING else from the ancient city, including carvings of gods and idols, the Treasury building (originally built as a tomb for someone important, but rumored to have stored treasure- thus it’s name), burial tombs, the aqua-duct and water pipe systems, and a large amphitheatre similar to the coliseum in Rome. We entered through the eastern side of the city, walking through a dark, narrow passageway called the Siq (shaft), which leads first to the Treasury, and then on to the more open part of the city, which includes the amphitheatre and more tombs and monuments. We ended our tour with a big buffet meal, and then took the long, steep, 4 kilometer walk up to the entrance of the city. The tour was wonderful, and definitely worth a second trip. Enjoy the pictures!

the view of the Petra mountains from a hillside in Jordan

the Siq

a monument for one of the many Nabotean gods

remnants of the ancient water system

the view of the Treasury as seen from the Siq

the beautiful Treasury

the amphitheater

We spent the last two days of our trip enjoying the beach and pool in Eilat, checking out more fun restaurants and bars, and just relaxing on the balcony of the hotel. We hosted a big Shabbat dinner at our apartment last Friday, which was spent recapping all of our great trips during break (the guys and Amy went hiking in the Golan and Galilee, Lisa and Leslie went to Crete, and Deana and Jason traveled to Rhodes). Saturday was spend getting ready for the start of the actual school year, and of course, watching the Buckeye game! While the game was pretty ridiculous, we actually go to watch it on TV… yes, I have ESPN here in Israel!!

I’ll write another entry soon to tell you all about my first week of school, since I think this is enough to read. Sean left Israel last night, Monday the 8^th, after 10 days touring with his friend on Birthright, and another 13 days with me in Jerusalem and Eilat. It was hard to see him go, but I’m looking forward to going home in January, when I can see him again, and finally see my family and friends!

I’ll be back soon with the back to school edition of the blog! Happy Fall (it’s still unbearably hot here, but that’s another story)!!!