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Blogs from Eilat, South District, Israel, Middle East
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Border Crossing – Eilat to Aqaba and Back
Published: May 10th 2013Middle East » Israel » South District » Eilat
May 10th 2013
I grew up reading Cold War spy novels and watching James Bond movies. Border crossings and the exchange of enemy agents often figured prominently in such fiction. Those stories had at least a brush with the facts, though; the Glienicke Brücke, a small bridge linking Berlin in West Germany with Potsdam in East Germany, was the site of many such exchanges. I was reminded of those stories as I walked across the lonely border between Eilat in Israel and Aqaba in Jordan. I took an El Al flight from Tel Aviv to Eilat. This flight left from Terminal 1 at Ben Gurion Airport, not Terminal 3, which is for international flights. I got there a little early, and the terminal was full of IDF soldiers, most of them carrying machine guns. Other than the lady in ... read more
I can't believe I'm halfway done in Eilat
Published: April 15th 2012Middle East » Israel » South District » Eilat
April 13th 2012
מה קורה (Whats up!) Well, it has taken me much longer than I had previously anticipated to make my second blog entry here. A variety of issues contributed to this delay. The small laptop I chose to bring on my travels had difficulty charging with the adapter. My iPhone served as my only other piece of technology but is not conducive to long body texts. My dad visited me a few weeks ago and solved the issue by presenting me with an iPad (how lucky am I!). The last hurdle that needed to be jumped was the inconsistent Internet connection in my apartment. Last week my program coordinators solved the problem. Now that you understand why I have been absent for two months I can relive the last two months in Israel for you! Today marks ... read more
Southern Negev and reponse to my Class's Questions
Published: April 10th 2011Middle East » Israel » South District » Eilat
April 10th 2011
Last week we took a second trip to Kibbutz Ketura in the south of the Negev. The kibbutz is a community of people who live and work together like a family. They all do work for the kibbutz. Some people help with the cooking, others help with laundry and such. The kibbutz also teaches Jews, Arabs, and others about sustainability, alternative energy, peace making, and other subjects. The kibbutz is right across from Jordan, so the guests have to be careful not to cross the border. In the dining hall, they never serve meat and dairy in the same meal because lots of the students are kosher and it would be disrespectful. The kibbutz is a very respectful well run community. All the people there are very nice. The next day we went to Hai ... read more
April 10th 2011
Last week we went to an fantastic nature reserve in Eliat called Hai Bar Biblical Nature Reserve. It had three parts to it. In the first part, we saw Griffon and Egyptian vultures. The Griffon vultures had long necks and were very big, while the Egyptian vultures were small and fuzzy. It was funny to think that Egyptian vultures (who are so small) could eat Griffon vultures (who are so big) if given the chance to get at them while they are chicks. There were also jaguars, jackals, great horned owls, wolfs, hyenas, vipers, and other wildlife naturally found around Eliat. There was also a dark room where one could see owls, mice, and bats. They used a technique of making it dark in the daytime and light in the night time. Next we went on ... read more
March 7th 2011
My family and I went to Eliat to go snorkeling. It was amazing! The second I put my face in, I saw fish…neon blue fish…with bright orange tails! There were so many! They were colorful and exotic - just like the ones I have seen in an aquarium, but they were wild! You could see the coral reef and lots of schools of tropical fish. They seemed not to be afraid of humans. Once, I put my foot down and accidentally stepped on a huge yellow fish. The fish swam away angrily. It was so much fun, even if I did swallow three gulps of salty Red Sea water. The next day, we went to an underwater observatory. It is like a glass room under the sea where you can observe wild fish! The room overlooks ... read more
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March 7th 2011
Today, I went to Eliat and went snorkeling in the Red Sea. I could see the country of Jordan from across the water. The water was slightly chilly, but not as cold as the water in Maine. There were hundreds of fish in the sea and they were tropical fish. All the fish were swimming in a real coral reef which I could see. The fish were brightly colored. We saw blue ones with bright yellow outlines and green ones with pink stripes. We even saw big schools of fish. Then, we went to an aquarium…but unlike normal aquariums….this one was underwater. We saw even more fish in the underwater aquarium because we were deeper in the water. We saw a puffer fish, a lion fish, a coronet fish, and this giant fish with big teeth. ... read more
January 31st 2011
Highway 40 runs from central Israel all the way down to Eilat, cutting through the Negev desert, serving as one of the main connections of the area. The speed limit is 90 km/h, sometimes 100, but the cars zipping past me are going rather at 120-150. It's mostly young couples in posh Lexus or Toyota SUVs that I see this Thursday morning. They are on their way to Eilat for a long weekend in one of the many upmarket Red Sea resorts. They're looking forward to their massages, jacuzzis, spa treatments and facials. Usually the men drive, shades on, looking straight ahead, ignoring my outstretched thumb. The girlfriends/young wives are busy doing their make-up; upon catching sight of me, they scowl, irritated that somebody would have the chutzpah to solicit them for a free ride, an ... read more
September 10th 2010
we are in kibbutz grofit - me, kristy, keenan and gabriella ! we can see the desert all around us and a few other kibbutz which are in the distance amongst the sand and mountains! eilat is to the left of us - we will be heading there in a few days to go snorkle around the clear water and spot some beautiful illumious fishes. Then to sinai on sunday! a week or two of resting and more diving, in some great hot spots in the world!!! This place is so different from the north, - the north is very green and there is a chilly wind in the air at night. Here there is a wind as were at the top of a mountain - not as high as bar'am - but its a hot ... read more
The Journey Begins...with planning...
Published: April 24th 2010Middle East » Israel » South District » EilatApril 24th 2010
Hello everybody! I am currently sitting outside at my house in Boulder, CO...not anywhere near the Middle East...yet! This Summer's trip has come around thanks to NFTY for accepting me as a staff member for one of their 2010 NFTY in Israel Summer extravaganzas. The program is a 5-week tour comprised of 10th graders from throughout North America. We will start in Prague, visit concentration camps in Poland, and spend the remaining 4 weeks in Israel. At this point, I know that I will be going, but that's about it. My orientation will either be June 15 or June 22 (in Israel) and any travel I get in will have to be done before this orientation. My immediate travel interest was Egypt...and it remains so. However, I am still unsure of how much time I will ... read more
April 1st 2010
Again, I took the nightbus from Haifa to Eilat and arrived in Eilat at 5am (Egged bus). Me and my sister were both tired and therefore rolled out our sleepingbags and slept on the beach until 8am. Our plans for Eilat were simpel, we were going to swim, snorkel and tan at the beach. A week before we left I also booked us a divingtrip with dolphins at the Dolphin Reef. It is the only place in Eilat where you can swim with dolphins, you are not allwed to touch them, but you do swim quite close to them. My sister never dived before and therefore did an accompanied dive, with a professional diver that she basically held hands with during the entire dive. She dived to 6 meters depth and got to see the dolphins ... read more
