My First Day Off
Okay, so normally we only get one day off a week. Saturday, for Shabbat. And you can’t go anywhere because everything is closed down and nothing is working. It’s a wonderful idea, but a horrible concept. The one day you have off, you can’t accomplish anything! You can’t catch a bus or go to the store. It’s frustrating. I know my mentality sounds uber-American right about now, but I’m telling ya what … anyway, yesterday I took my first day off. Originally there was a plan for about 5 of us to go to Petra to visit the ancient ruins, but my better judgment told me it would be wise to stay within Israel’s borders for the time being. Hopefully I’ll get to go there before I leave, but maybe I won’t. That’s life.
Sarah and I headed for Eilat after a late night and sleeping in and the day got off to a rough start as we were caught in a massive 2-hour traffic jam outside of Eilat. Probably from increased security, but we were starving. We did manage to find an excellent vegetarian restaurant once we arrived and from there on out, we were in all out vacation mode. We headed down to the south beaches, famous for their coral, tropical fish, and myriad of watersports. We were given some poor advice and accidentally went to a bad spot first, but realized this and decided we’d just walk the mile to where we needed to be. Not the best idea, during the middle of the day, in the desert. I think I may have had a mirage or two. Haha. So we finally, finally, finally make it to our destination, only all of the beaches are private and we’re dying from the heat. So we just walked into a hotel lobby to sit in the air conditioning. After re-hydrating and coming back to our senses, we realized that one could enter a pool area from the lobby and past that the private beaches. So we said, “Don’t mind if we do!” and proceeded to mosey on down to the beach and then we were right next to Club Med’s strip of beach, which looked better for snorkeling so we sat our stuff on the chairs and hopped into the water. Never has anything felt so refreshing. Thank you, Red Sea.
But beyond that, the snorkeling was fantastic. Full of tropical fishies including blowfish, rainbow fish, neon this and that, okay so I don’t actually know any technical terms per se or names for these fish, but I do know they are gorgeous and magical to stare at while you float weightlessly above. Not to mention snorkeling is a good time. Also, we hung out at the beach and when we were done, went back the way we came – through the hotel, making use of their swimming pool, showers, bathroom, and lobby for a cup of Turkish coffee before setting out again. We pretended we were French tourists like everyone else. I felt like one of the rich and famous. A true vacation day indeed!
After that there was some shopping in the outdoor markets and eating of falafel. Best day off EVER.
There are some other random things to write about now, so stay with me.
First of all, I have a favorite cat. “What!?” you say! “Corey? A favorite? WHAT?” It’s true. I’m a new woman. I fell in love with a cat named “Sweedy” who keeps me company during the days at Keren Kolot. She’s one of the sweetest, kindest animals I’ve ever been privy to. So yes, the object of my affections is a cute, skinny cat that hangs out with me at work. I think I’m in love (But I still love dogs more, don’t worry). I didn’t know cats could be so nice, though I am still allergic so I wash my hands religiously after petting her. I tried so hard to resist, but today she sat right next to me while I was taking a short break and I caved. I also have new appreciation for things such as clean hotel rooms, fruit smoothies, cockroach-free bathrooms, rain & clouds, easy transportation and many other things that I thought of yesterday, but am failing to recollect today.
Things that I don’t appreciate: The Egged Bus. Ahhhh! This is the slimiest, most-crowded mode of transportation you’ve ever experienced. There are never enough seats to sit down and when there finally are, this sweaty, overweight, sleaze-ball of an Israeli man sits next to you and basically crowds you up against the window and starts touching your leg and face and telling you you’re beautiful and trying to kiss you and making you feel like you’re going to vomit because he’s this huge boulder of a person and you can’t make him move and he doesn’t understand English. Ugh! Then you have to wait for the screaming baby across the isle to distract him enough so that he gets out of his seat; meanwhile, you slide out behind him and make a mad dash for the back of the bus. Okay, maybe this only happened once. But it was enough to scar me for the rest of my life! No one deserves to have this happen to them. No one, I tell you!
Well I have to stop ranting because my time here on Sarah’s computer is up. Why? Because it’s pool time, baby! So grab your swimsuit and hit the water!
Love,
Corey
Sarah and I headed for Eilat after a late night and sleeping in and the day got off to a rough start as we were caught in a massive 2-hour traffic jam outside of Eilat. Probably from increased security, but we were starving. We did manage to find an excellent vegetarian restaurant once we arrived and from there on out, we were in all out vacation mode. We headed down to the south beaches, famous for their coral, tropical fish, and myriad of watersports. We were given some poor advice and accidentally went to a bad spot first, but realized this and decided we’d just walk the mile to where we needed to be. Not the best idea, during the middle of the day, in the desert. I think I may have had a mirage or two. Haha. So we finally, finally, finally make it to our destination, only all of the beaches are private and we’re dying from the heat. So we just walked into a hotel lobby to sit in the air conditioning. After re-hydrating and coming back to our senses, we realized that one could enter a pool area from the lobby and past that the private beaches. So we said, “Don’t mind if we do!” and proceeded to mosey on down to the beach and then we were right next to Club Med’s strip of beach, which looked better for snorkeling so we sat our stuff on the chairs and hopped into the water. Never has anything felt so refreshing. Thank you, Red Sea.
But beyond that, the snorkeling was fantastic. Full of tropical fishies including blowfish, rainbow fish, neon this and that, okay so I don’t actually know any technical terms per se or names for these fish, but I do know they are gorgeous and magical to stare at while you float weightlessly above. Not to mention snorkeling is a good time. Also, we hung out at the beach and when we were done, went back the way we came – through the hotel, making use of their swimming pool, showers, bathroom, and lobby for a cup of Turkish coffee before setting out again. We pretended we were French tourists like everyone else. I felt like one of the rich and famous. A true vacation day indeed!
After that there was some shopping in the outdoor markets and eating of falafel. Best day off EVER.
There are some other random things to write about now, so stay with me.
First of all, I have a favorite cat. “What!?” you say! “Corey? A favorite? WHAT?” It’s true. I’m a new woman. I fell in love with a cat named “Sweedy” who keeps me company during the days at Keren Kolot. She’s one of the sweetest, kindest animals I’ve ever been privy to. So yes, the object of my affections is a cute, skinny cat that hangs out with me at work. I think I’m in love (But I still love dogs more, don’t worry). I didn’t know cats could be so nice, though I am still allergic so I wash my hands religiously after petting her. I tried so hard to resist, but today she sat right next to me while I was taking a short break and I caved. I also have new appreciation for things such as clean hotel rooms, fruit smoothies, cockroach-free bathrooms, rain & clouds, easy transportation and many other things that I thought of yesterday, but am failing to recollect today.
Things that I don’t appreciate: The Egged Bus. Ahhhh! This is the slimiest, most-crowded mode of transportation you’ve ever experienced. There are never enough seats to sit down and when there finally are, this sweaty, overweight, sleaze-ball of an Israeli man sits next to you and basically crowds you up against the window and starts touching your leg and face and telling you you’re beautiful and trying to kiss you and making you feel like you’re going to vomit because he’s this huge boulder of a person and you can’t make him move and he doesn’t understand English. Ugh! Then you have to wait for the screaming baby across the isle to distract him enough so that he gets out of his seat; meanwhile, you slide out behind him and make a mad dash for the back of the bus. Okay, maybe this only happened once. But it was enough to scar me for the rest of my life! No one deserves to have this happen to them. No one, I tell you!
Well I have to stop ranting because my time here on Sarah’s computer is up. Why? Because it’s pool time, baby! So grab your swimsuit and hit the water!
Love,
Corey
This entry was posted
on 17 July 2006 at 06:43.
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