So I left off on Erev Erev Rosh Hashana (Eve Eve). On Wednesday, I went with about 15 other students here to Eilat. It was about a 5 hour bus ride from Tel Aviv. It takes us through the Negev, which is the desert of Israel. It is the polar opposite of Tel Aviv. It was again out of the movies. Our bus twisted through windy mountain paths, just us and the desert. I never really thought the desert was that pretty. I've seen pictures of the Negev and it never occurred to me to call it beautiful. But there is something so captivating about it. The canyons, the mountains, the solitude under a boundless sky. Also along the way, we had some funnier experiences. Instead of signs warning about deer crossing the street, in the Negev, they are signs warning drivers of camel crossings. No joke. Also really interesting was passing the Bedouin villages. They're really just large collections of tents in the middle of nowhere. Occasionally, the bus would stop and one person would get off in what look like desolate land, but it turns out they live there. I'm gonna try putting up some pictures, but I'll say it for this and it will be true for all of these stories: the pictures just don't compare.
When we got there it was close to sundown. We settled into our rooms at a hostel that's part of the same association Bnei Dan is. We decided to go to the beach even though it was dark. I think we saw about 5 people walking to and on the beach. Everyone was at services or with family. That was actually really nice. I got to float on the Red Sea (which is colder than the Mediterranean and you can't help but float on) looking at the stars by myself pretty much (only 3 of us went deep into the water). It was so cool. After a while we started to walk down the boardwalk looking for dinner. Almost everything was closed. But the walk was nice. I determined that Eilat is kind of like Ocean City. Kind of trashy, fun arcade games, boardwalk food and some incredible looking resort hotels on the beach. Finally, we found an open sushi/Asian place and a shwarma place. I had kebab for lunch so I opted for stir fry noodles. Apparently boardwalk food is expensive everywhere.
We went back to the hotel and played charades, which was a lot of fun and went to sleep. The next day we got up, had breakfast, and made our way to Coral Beach. this area is fenced so you have to pay to get in, but it is what the name implies. It's the site of a coral reef and they rent snorkeling gear so you can explore it. SOOOOO COOL! We swam out to where it was like 25 ft deep but like I said, we couldn't help but float. Looking down we saw tons of different fish of every size and color, some in pair, some alone, and some in school that must have included hundreds of fish. Some of them even got really close, but they wouldn't let me touch them. Near the reefs was the best as that's where most of them were hanging out. Seeing the communities of so many different kinds of fish living in the coral (which was a wonder it itself) was too cool. Wish I could have taken pictures. Now that it was day time, the more secular Jews and tourists were all over the beach. People swimming and para sailing everywhere.
So that night we split up for dinner. After that we decided to go to this bar in the tour book that was advertising 6-8 Shekel beers. Turns out that by bar, they meant neighborhood bodega. I thought I was back in Colombia. It was a corner store that also doubles as a laundromat that has some tables as well. We couldn't help but laugh, but at the same time it was kind of cool. It was clearly the kind of place that people who actually live in Eilat go. We were there with like 4 other Israelis and the occasional person picking up water or their laundry. We headed back by midnight because the next day we new was gonna be long.
The next morning, we got up around 7 got ready and made our way to the Jordanian border (a 5 minute cab ride) for a day in Petra. Petra was built in the 6th century BC as the capital of the Nabateans. It has since Been ruled by the Romans and was lost to the Western world for about 600 years to be found again in 1812. We crossed the Israeli border and paid the 100 Shekel exit fee (Grrrr) and then crossed the no man's land between there and Jordan. Being literally nowhere was pretty awesome. We then waited in line at the Jordanian border for visas. The security guys who checked our bags were very playful with us (especially the girls) in a cute way. It took a while, but we got the visas and crossed into the country. We found a group of cab drivers waiting for us. They wanted to charge us 60 dinars each way each car (there were 7 of us), but we got it down to 45. by the way, the dinar is so strong. Each one is worth like $1.60 so our cab ride which totaled 180 dinars was like $250. Granted it was for a 2 hour drive each way, it was divided by 7, and they were driving us on Eid al Fitr (which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan and is probably the holiest day in Islam; O and they agreed to wait around in Petra for 5 hours and take us back). So we had 2 drivers: mine was named Leith (he spoke great English as a result of studying English Literature in India) and Fadi was the other 4's (who spoke about 20 words of English, not that we can say anything as we speak 0 Arabic and are in their country). Leith was very fun. He played American hip hop the whole way (which he loves) and drove like 140 km/hour ignoring lanes for the most part (to the point that not he not only crossed lanes on his side of the road but even went onto the other side of the road on twisty roads through the mountains). We had a great time listening to music, joking around, and taking pictures along the way.
Once we got there, we had to go to an ATM and change money as we did not anticipate the cost. Turns out it's 60 Dinars to get into Petra if you're not staying overnight in Jordan (33 if you are). After the ride and scrambling to find money, we entered at about 12:30. We walked along a path littered with Jordanian of all ages (literally from 5 to 60) offering horse rides, donkey rides, carriage rides. As we proceeded, we hit some of the first structures, which were pretty cool, but we had no idea what was in store. As we arrived at the official entrance to Petra, we walked along through a 2 km canyon to the treasury. The path was surrounded by sandstone a good hundred feet up in beautiful layers of different shades of red and gold. There were some more structures, kind of random stairs and tombs, along the way. The grandeur of it all was really overtaking. And then we passed through the narrow exit end entered the area of the Treasury. Pretty much all the buildings I mention are carved into the stone rather than free standing. The treasury is probably the most incredible. It stand at 43 meters high and 30 meters wide. It was incredible to see this magnificent building carved into the rock. We proceed to walk along paths with a theatre, tombs, temples. All along there were vendors with souvenirs. The coolest of them were the Bedouins. They were the original inhabitants of Petra and while most were expelled for tourism, some have resettled in their caves around the city. They were incredibly friendly and spoke great English for having learned from hearing tourists. A few of them offered us advice, and to stay in their caves overnight (plus dinner) and one even offered us free donkey rides and walked us down to a spring off the trail. The most striking thing about these people was their humility. They live such simple lives selling to tourists, taking care of their chores, and it didn't seem like much else. The offers they made to us may appear suspicious, but really think they were genuine and wish I could've stayed the night. the way they describe sunset from the top of the monastery and evening under the stars sounded so incredible. Unfortunately, we had to turn buck before we could even reach the spring to get to our cars and be back to the border by the time it closes at 8. We probably saw 1/16 of the whole thing which actually totals 60 sq km (I'm pretty sure, although the touristy part is only a section of that).
The way back was very fun/scary also. We decided to switch cars so the other group could have the music and English speaker. That did not last long however as Fadi got jealous of Leith (he could kind of tell we liked Leith better) and he asked why we switched cars, so we switched back after a while. But first Fadi decided to show of driving fast, passing cars on windy parts of the road, and when we pulled over and Leith did a 360 with the car, Fadi had to do the same. We were glad to be back with Leith, but the other group was not thrilled to be with Fadi. He spent the entire time smoking, drinking coffee, and yelling angrily on his phone in Arabic. Turns out he hadn't slept in 2 days. We stopped at a little store on the road to get a snack and coffee (we didn't eat lunch that day) and the people were soooooo friendly. Turns out Jordanians are incredibly hospitable and have nothing against Americans. They tried to make conversation in their broken English and told our ladies how beautiful they were (in a very sweet manner, really).
Finally, we got back to the border and passed through Jordan. Just before crossing, we got to hear the call to prayer at sundown. It was the most spiritual experience. You really just feel so at peace at the passionate melodies professing God's greatness. The Israeli border would turn out to not be quite so beautiful. We started going through and everything was fine until our friend Jaya went through. She has a UK passport and her Israeli visa is on a separate sheet of paper. For some reason they pulled her aside and questioned her and when they realized we were with her, they took the rest of us too. We waited for half an hour and they finally let us go. Turns out they asked Jaya a whole bunch of questions like "Where are you from?", "Why did your family emigrate?", "Where does you family name come from?", and "Why are you in Israel?". At the end they told her they were curious because they had never met a Brit with the last name Malik (which is an Arab name although Jaya is Indian) and ended by asking what religion she is (Hindu). They also had the other Indian girl in our group, Nitya, answer a bunch of questions and verify some of Jaya's information. Jaya was very taken aback by this experience. It was one of those Israeli experiences we hadn't had yet and until then, Jaya didn't know what it's like to be targeted due to her background. I think it was really good for us to experience this. While many of you may be shocked, this is normal in Israel. Privacy does not exist at borders and all questions are fair game, unlike in the US.
The next day, we packed our bags and checked out, but spent one last day on the beach. It was so cool; so much better than American beaches. Not only was it beautiful, but everyone was back out now that the holiday was over and there were bars on the sand playing Israeli and American dance music, people were drinking and dancing and swimming, and everyone was just having a great time. It was hard to leave.
Ok, so that was really long. I just realized that this blog is turning out to be more of a book. I apologize for that, but I hope it was at least somewhat interesting. I was going to include my birthday festivities in this one, but I'm gonna save that for tomorrow so I can get lunch and do some homework . . . and for your sake.
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