Eilat, Petra, Mitzpe Ramon, Be'er Sheva, return to Kfar Vitkin

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Just a quick summary of the past few days, because I am pressed for time right now.

Eilat was lots of fun!

The first day we pretty much spent taking care of hotels and financial stuff in the morning, and sitting on the beach for the remainder of the day.

The next day we went to Petra in Jordan!!!!! This is one of the most incredible places I have EVER been to. Pictures on the internet and in albums do not do justice to the majesty of this city. I wish I had time to post my own pictures but I don´t. The tour was very well-organized, safe, and informative. If I have time I will elaborate on the details later.

The third day in Eilat was fun as well. We randomly bumped into Noah´s friends again who we had met in Jerusalem and ended up spending the day with them snorkeling at the beach. Shelly and I saw an octopus swimming in between the coral, and all of the surrounding fish were attacking it. I also got a little sunburnt on my neck and shoulders 😞. I didn´t even realize that they were exposed the entire time that I was snorkelling and the sunscreen that I had previously applied washed off.

Later that day we drove to Mitzpe Ramon. We kept thinking that we had entered the crater... but eventually we realized that we hadn´t...until we actually did. It is HUGE.

We slept at the youth hostel that night, and were way to tired to do any significant hikes the next day, so we took some photographs, and made our way to Be´er Sheva.

We ate lunch with Noah´s friend Ilana and some of her friends, talked for a while, and made our way back to Kfar Vitkin.

At night, Cecee & Yos and Ori & Rivka took us out for dinner at a great Arab restaurant. There were literally at least 10 different appetizers, and I was too full from eating them to enjoy the fish that I had ordered. Then I had diarrhea afterwards. It smelled.

And so today is my last day in Israel. The feeling is bittersweet. I have had an amazing time here, and the amount of time that I have spent with the family here has made me seriously consider spending and extended amount of time here, possibly for a year for school, or something like that. I will be back soon though, rest assured.

On the way to the airport, something notable happened - the opposite direction of traffic was closed because of a suspicious vehicle. When Yos & I drove by, we saw the sappers sending in a robot to inspect a taxi. On the side of the road, 4 people were being strip searched. Not even 5 minutes after we had passed, we heard on the radio that all traffic on the highway was closed temporarily. I would surely have missed my flight if this had happened.

But everyting worked out, and now on to Barcelona

Shalom, ve lehitraot!

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