From last weekend Feb 26- March 1
Thursday
Last day of Ulpan! We found out our teacher Ettie was gonna keep teaching during the semester..shes honestly amazing. And we have a bunch of foreign people in our class including these 40 something man and woman from Romania. They were always helping e/o during class, sharing their book and hanging out during breaks. It was so cute - we all thought they were married. Anyway we found out Anita is this travel agent so she comes to Israel to learn about where ppl should go. Costell has his PhD in like philosophy or palentology or something like that and teaches at a university in Romania so its weird for him to be a student now. anyway - THYERE NOT MARRIED...theyve just been best friends since 1990. So cute and all but this literally broke the hearts of everyone in our class. We were always awwing at them when Anita helped Costell pronounce words or when they shared lunch. Theyre just friends? How sad! Apparently he might be a priest? Like im all for meaningful friendships but it was like our romantic dreams for them were crushed..Anyway this was very notable
- We took our final exams..they were kind of hard. But I later learned that I got the highest grade in the class! Not by alot or anything but still, Ettie was really impressed and happy for me!
- After I quickly finished my exam I loaded up all my stuff and hopped the 27 bus towards the central bus station
Now let me say a few brief words about traveling alone. Its never been something Im scared of. I've navigated alone plenty of times and usually people mind their own business and are caught up in their own life. But in Israel, its alittle more scary. The moment I got off the escalator in the central bus station, some guy walked up to me and asked if I would be his girlfriend..um..No thanks? Israelis arent afraid to catcall..even though they would never DARE do that to Israeli girls for fear of being killed. When you dont respond they start cheering in English. All harmless of course but soemtimes just for fun I would say I only speak Spanish just to throw them off and put them in their place haha.
- So I bought an 8 pm ticket to Eilat and then wandered into the sherut area. 50 minutes later I'm in Jerusalem! Ben's roomate met me at the central bus station and together we found a bus that would take us to Ammunition Hill.
Ammunition Hill is cool because I remember running through the trenches as a little kid. Its a really cool place with alot of history and I think everyone is very honored to recieve their beret there.
Ben's family was there - his brother who made Aaliyah; his mom who was visiitng and some random cousins. It was really happy and was nice to be part of a celebration. It was sooo crowded too and everyone was so proud of their soldiers, Literally it was a packed stadium because atleast 200 guys were receiving their red caps. Families had posters and stuff it was cute.
- At the "tikun" (i think its called?), I met a really nice man and his ex sister in law who "adopted" Ben when they met him after he had surgery 2 years ago. They were so nice and very funny to talk to during the ceremony. I was telling them about my plans when they mentiond that they were going to Herziliyah and had no problem driving me to TLV! Score! They brought everyone some rugalach and berekas to celebrate which was amazing because i was starving!
- I found out that Shimon and Rachel "adopt" alot of people - they were telling me about the amazing food made by Rachel and Shimons mom. She's Morrocan and he's Yeminite and apparently they have the best shabbos meals ever. He told me he can get me free movie tickets in Herziliyah and that if I ever wanted to visit during the week, they'd drive me back to Ramat Aviv! BAsically they were the most amazing ppl ever and I couldntve felt happier that I met them!
- Well they got lost in Jerusalem for a while and had to stop by Rachel's sisters apt since she got married. I met Rachels sister, brother and new brother in law- they fed me chocolate and showed me videos of the prewedding party and Rachel's sons. ha I got to practice my hebrew since they kept encouraging me to speak it as much as possible.
It started getting late and I needed to get to the central bus station in TLV. I felt really bad but I started getting stressed since my bus left at 8 and the next one wasnt until 12. Luckily, I put Rachel on the phone with the bus company and they said I could get on at a different stop since I had my ticket. One of them happened to be closer to us and they drove me to this stop where I got there by 8! We hung otu for 20 minutes or so until the bus came and I hugged them goodbye like they really were my family. Seriously, nicest people ever. I sent them a "toda roba lachem" (thanks TO you) text and throughout the next couple days they called/texted me to make sure i was ok! Wow!
The bus ride is like 4.5 hours long to Eilat and some of the points in the desert gets alittle windy..its scary when ur making a quick turn around a cliff and I didnt have the most comfortable ride. Still, I made freinds with the guy sitting next to me who was about to graduat the army and was very happy to exchange differnces btwn Israel and America with me. I asked him about places to go in Eilat, Tlv etc and I actually knew of some of the things he mentioned!
When we arrived at the bus station, I called my friends and found out (they had all taken a TLV chartered bus down at 2 pm) that our hostel was real close! There were 10 of us staying in this one..5 in one rooma nd 5 in the other. The receptionist let me in to our little bunk and I quickly changed. I explored the Eilat area close to me and found a little 24 hour place where I picked up a thing of hummus adn the guy gave me 2 pitas for 2 sheckles! Just as i was finishing up a late snack, they called me to tell me to come out! I was having the best luck ever! Turns out one of the girls got an extra ticket and I even got to go in free of cover.
I had fun seeing all the TLV kids in a new setting in Eilat but it was really fun at the hostel. We had a shared kitchen and bathroom but it was the total hostel experience! People just ontop of e/o and made me feel like a real traveler!
FRIDAY
- We got up early anticipating a day on the beach. The weather was kind of pitiful at like 69 and cloudy but still we put on dresses and walked the tayellet. There are so many stores its really overwhelming but makes me so happy to be there. On the street are ppl selling everything from icee style drinks, crepes, shoes, sunglasses, beachy clothes, engraved leather stuff, etc etc. Eilat is cool because you feel like you're in Vegas, like these huge hotels and fancy stores - but then you look in the distance and see these HUGE Jordanian mountains. Breathtaking. Also its kinda cool to think about the Red Sea, since its the one that Moses supposedly split.
My friends stopped for food but I kept walking the Tayellet into the fancier/more private area of some of the hotels. Theyre small quiet beaches with palm trees and chairs and is soo pretty. I stopped for some (aka it was huuge) falafel just in time to meet up with everyone on the main touristy chaises. People were acting typical spring breakish with hookah, running into the water, taking pics - excpet all in sweatshirts haha We took a mini nap and everything closed for shabbat! Luckily we found this delicious sushi place! It was the first time most of us had had sushi in a while and we were soo happy haha Apparently half of OSP had the same idea too and we owneeed the restaurant. At night we explored and found that the "tourist center" was the main attraction - not the tayellet. All these clubs were on top of e/o and lit up! Even the hookah lounge was a club. I was too tired to go in anywhere but ti was cool to see.
SATURDAY
Me, and 2 of the girls I was staying with woke up at 6 am to get ready for Petra! Most of the other ones had done the trip before or would be goin later with their family. We had to be at our friends hostel at 730 am cuz we had booked our own tour so we wouldnt be with random ppl! I called the guide at literally 6 am to make sure I could go and he said I was the last spot..phew.
We got picked up in one of those little army hummers and drove to the Jordanian border only 15 away! The proces sto get in took awhile since it didnt open until 8, then we had to get our bags scanned, and wait for a visa. So now I can live and work in Jordan for up to a month haha.
We got our tour guide Alias and hopped a cute little bus.
Soooo..Jordan. Well this country alwaysss looks beautiful from far away so I was very curious to see what it would be like up close. Its not technically a Muslim country like its neighbors but is still 90% Islamic. This country, twice the size of Israel only houses 5 million residents...but its kind of easy to see why. Except for the capital Amman and Aqaba - the city that neighbors Eilat - the country is like inhabitable! Most of it is desert - just like Israel but not pretty in the same way (unless im just biased). There were very few grassy or tree covered areas and most of the 2.5 hour drive looked the same - just dirt and mountains. Sometimes we saw random Muslims covered in head to toe hurding sheep. Since NOOO cars were on the road, our little van drove like 100 mph but the time we drove passed a semitruck, I swear I thought we were gonna tip over!
After a 2 hour drive or so we stopped on the outskirts of a small town with a great view of a mountaintop. I was pretty drowsy still and it was freezing out but from what I could gather – on the mountain is where Aaron, Moses’ brother, died.
We then hopped back in the car and started driving towards the city of
We finally got to the big parking lot right outside the ancient city and got to the entrance. Its so funy it was like a complete 360. All of a sudden we were surrounced by rock formations in the sand and Bedouins were riding around on Arabian horses.
Included in your fee for going to
Its a 3k walk down to the main ancient city and we learned that there are mulitple entrances, but now theyv blocked off the other ones. The ancient people of Petra actually lived off in ahill far away but they built caves for tombs and decorated the exertior, building form up to down. The city was passed through different hands over the course of generations - to the Romans, etc who kept on the tradition of building into the desert. The city went msising for about 300 years when Bedouins found it and not understanding, turned the caves into their homes. Around 1850 a traveler found the city and it reintroduced it to the world.
There are only a few sparse caves within the first 700 km but afterwards u reah the enterance to the rock tunnels. You can see where the gate had once been. The path is a little road surrounded on both sides by the most beautiful rocks - naturally colored from years of erosion etc. Back when it was first becoming a tourist attrction, a flash flood knocked over alot of poeple and things - exavaterors began digging, tryin to build a mote, when they discovered an ancient water mote for the same purpose!
Carved into the rocks were little holes/portraits designed to hold the god/goddess the culture believed in - hoping it would help the enterance stay blessed. There were even some drawings carved inot the rock - like a man leading a camel!
In some areas we were even walking on the origial Roman stones they had placed! Our guide said these stones were found when they excavated further down 25 years ago - but maybe if they kept digging theyd find even older floors!
Finally we came to the end of the tunnel - which is a natural wind tunnel/air conditioner and saw the famous breathtaking sight: "the treasury" - which is what you see in Indiana Jones. Of course like everything else, its just a tomb but its so elaborate and you can even see marks from where scafolding was. Little camels were hanging out at the front of it and you coul take pictures with teh guards!
LIttle bedouin kids were running up to us asking if we wanted to buy a necklace or postcard.
We kept walking and you could see literally1000s of these caves. it was so cold the beduoines were making fires in them, even though they really dont live in them anymore. Our guide had a friend who owned a store. and we sat by the stores fire and alot of ppl ordered sweet bedouin tea. The guy told us how he was born in a cave nearby, has 3 wives and about their community. Our guide could tell we were still cold, so he snuck us into one of the caves. In it there were 4 buriel rooms and it was sooo much warmer!
In Petra there was even an auditorium built inot the rock by the Romans! There were some remnants of ancient columns. We could have wlaked on and on but we were on alimiteed time frame anddd it was freezing! There were some public bathrooms we stopped at that acutally was once a burial cave..woops!
There was a cool man selling a book his mom wrote about how she gave up her New Zealand life to marry a bedouin and live in a cave - i didnt buy it haha
We walked the 3 km winding uphill path in like 30 minutes we were so cold! I wanted to buy a tshirt or scarve but was too busy huddling for warmth instead. Our nice Petra security guard on our trip (cool ho wthey follow u on private trips here too - military guy just like in Israel but wearing a navy blue pantsuit, sweater and beret! very classy!) let us in.
We then went to one of the nicest meals ever! The Jordian food was like Israeli - amazing lentil soup, peta hummu sand misc salads, rice and potatoes and fish, and yummmy deserts! Their fruit is not as nice as ours tho and was really puny.
We then hopped the 2 hour bus backkk to Aqaba where we wandered the city for alittle bit. They very friendly there just like in Israel but the people couldnt help but stareee. For one it was mostly men out in public - the only place we saw women were with their kids hanging out in a park. It was a really funny park since there were barely any green - they acutally set up green lights to give the illusion of green since mostly it was just bushes and shrubs and sand. haha Families were eating dinner and having picnics but mostly - it was just women hanging out and kids running around. You could tell theyve never seen such a large group of white girls before. Some of the little kids were whispering in Arabic. It was pretty crazy. I liked Aqaba tho since it felt the most famillar, but furthurest from my idea of "typical" Middle East - desert, nomads and Bedouins living in caves.
We also stopped by the largest flagpole in the world and took some pics with the setting sun over the OTHER side of the Red Sea.
Our guide had been awsome the whole time and before we left, our bus driver asked us to please take a group picture. He didnt want to be in it but randomly pulled out a digital camera. He was so cute - i think he wanted to show us to his family? On the way through Aqaba he picked up some pantyhose for his wife since she asked him too since Aqaba is a tax-free city hahaha The Jordanians were really nice to us and sent us off feeling like wehad been welcomed - our guide was like "We hope to see you in our lovely country again soon"
But by the time we crossed out of Jordan and walked the 20 feet neutral strip towards a "Welcome to Israel" sign at 7, we were soooo happy to be back in Israel! It had felt like ages even though it was only 12 hours! It really made us appreciate the country and beauty of Israel. Still, I know Petra was a once in a lifetime opportunity and hopefully hopefully Israel will maintain Peace with Joirdan because I think it was a cool experience to get to see the differences between these neighboring countries.
At night after a long nap we went out and walked around. We were in a small snack shop that was linked to a club by a little window. The cover for the club was 100 sheckles but we were talking to the snack guys and the bar people through the window so they gave us 9 free passes! Which means they lost 900 shecks on us! haha We went in for a little but it was so weird! So many drag queens and these belly dancers dressed as peacocks dancing on the table..weird. haha
Sunday
It was cold..sigh :( We had to check out at 9 am and had no where to go except to wander the beach for a little! Eventually we gave up and went to the mall where alot of stores I had been looking for finally seemed familiar! I even stopped by a little kiosk selling turquois jewelry we had boughten from 3 years ago. AND I found muchh needed black flat boots for 89 scheckles! Finally the private group bus that TAU students chartered arrived and we pilled on, quickly sneaking on some snack items for the trip. Our guy friend had bought some DVDs to play but none of them were that interesting and we all slept the 5 hour ride back
The Week
- First week of class - tryin to figure out our schedules
- I think I finally settled on: Hebrew ( i need to or else Ill forget it all! Plus were learnin the past tense!), Israel and the Environment (once a week cool class with field trips, etc), the Religion of Islam (really interesting to see how alike and unalike we are!), Contemporary Jewish Issues (rabbi addresses things like conversion, homosexuality etc) and Jewish Education ( a really neat once a week class that discusses the best methods of teaching Jewish education, takes field trips and offers a potential internship next semester with a conference in Malibu)
- My schedule is nice; I have 8:30 - 12 mon -thurs; with additional mon 4:30- 7:30 and thurs 2:15 -4! Not bad at all! Gives me time to work out, lay out , run to the shook, do hw, etc etc!
- We went to the "clothing shook" to find outfits for Purim! 9 of us are going to be 80s workout girls - which is simple but easy to find!
- Wed we had an interesting class for the Jeff Seidel's "$ for learning" about the "everything happens for a reason" kinda thing and Rivky (our teacher) told us about her story how she didnt get into the right school but it eventually led to her meeting her best friend and husband!
Next up: SOUTH TRIP!!! Give me a little bit to write it up but should b a long one too :)
Ah Mel! Your trip to Jordan sounds really awesome and I bet purim is going to be crazy fun!!! Tske pictures and post them because I have no fb, or email them to me aginsbe2@illinois.edu........wow I hope I will get to see you in May because that would amazing!! Your school schedule sounds pretty good, I am excited your taking hebrew I hope you can help me with that next year lol...Well miss you tons! Skype date asap!!
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