Long time no write! For the past ten days I have embarked on one of the most unique experiences of my entire life. It was hectic, messy, enjoyable, some dissapointing, and altogether: incredible. In this post I am only writing on Masada and the Dead Sea for time's sake and organization. The next two will be about the army and then Eilat.
In the beginning of the ten days we left Kibbutz Tzuba, which hadn't felt like home to us. We began our adventures in the familiar area of Jerusalem going to ancient homes of Cohenim and other religious leaders from BCE. Though this was interesting, it wasn't until later that night (or next morning?)
At 3:45 am all of EIE awoke to a blackened sky, dreary eyes and a sense of excitement as we began to climb to the top of Masada to see the sunrise and study the tragedy there. The hike was much harder than I remember, the 5,000 stairs I climbed made the New Trier staircases seem like babysteps to this. On the way up I actually had a slight asthma attack, but no worries, the good ol' inhaler kept my breathing in check. When we got to the top the sense of relief was met with an incredible view and a cold wind which felt good from the sweat drenching from our bodies. However, the cold wind soon became bothersome because as our heat died down, and the sun came up, the temperature didn't seem to change much. But watching the sun rise as we said the Shema and other prayers was both spiritual and beautiful. The rest of the details I wont bore you all with because the next three hours was filled with learning about the mass murder/suicide that was carried out on the mountain.
From there I took the cable car down and we bussed to the Dead Sea. I have been to the Dead Sea before, but it was very shallow and so I didn't actually float. This time I really got to feel the floating sensation that the Dead Sea provides. It was so surreal! It was fun and luckily no one got the salt water in their eyes. We then did the typical mud spreading which was very fun. My skin was smooth for quite some time (of course, the army then reversed that feeling). The two days spent there were relaxing and great to get a tan going. I really loved it.
In the beginning of the ten days we left Kibbutz Tzuba, which hadn't felt like home to us. We began our adventures in the familiar area of Jerusalem going to ancient homes of Cohenim and other religious leaders from BCE. Though this was interesting, it wasn't until later that night (or next morning?)
At 3:45 am all of EIE awoke to a blackened sky, dreary eyes and a sense of excitement as we began to climb to the top of Masada to see the sunrise and study the tragedy there. The hike was much harder than I remember, the 5,000 stairs I climbed made the New Trier staircases seem like babysteps to this. On the way up I actually had a slight asthma attack, but no worries, the good ol' inhaler kept my breathing in check. When we got to the top the sense of relief was met with an incredible view and a cold wind which felt good from the sweat drenching from our bodies. However, the cold wind soon became bothersome because as our heat died down, and the sun came up, the temperature didn't seem to change much. But watching the sun rise as we said the Shema and other prayers was both spiritual and beautiful. The rest of the details I wont bore you all with because the next three hours was filled with learning about the mass murder/suicide that was carried out on the mountain.
From there I took the cable car down and we bussed to the Dead Sea. I have been to the Dead Sea before, but it was very shallow and so I didn't actually float. This time I really got to feel the floating sensation that the Dead Sea provides. It was so surreal! It was fun and luckily no one got the salt water in their eyes. We then did the typical mud spreading which was very fun. My skin was smooth for quite some time (of course, the army then reversed that feeling). The two days spent there were relaxing and great to get a tan going. I really loved it.
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