Playing catch up - March

March
The month of March sort of caught me by surprise. As you probably noticed it was my first large update gap. Well, the first month I was in class 4 hours a day and had the afternoons to go to the beach and pretty much do whatever I wanted all the time. The came the first week of classes and KABOOM...whirlwind of stuff to do all of the time. So, unfortunately my internet time, and tanning time, and all that stuff got pushed to the weekends. BUT, it's still beautiful, and I'm still having a wonderful time. I can also be very thankful that I've been able to travel on my weekends, and that is the most exciting part, and is therefore what I want to write about.
In March I took 2 main trips, one to the north and one to the south.

North Trip 1 - Photos
Early on Friday morning, me, David, Erin and Sarah pack our stuff up and headed to the Hilton (exotic eh?). end post.


I mean...we went to the Hilton, and on arriving, made our way to the rental car office. Picked up a cute silver 4-door and headed out the door. Renting a car is fun. After being void of simple transportation I found myself uncontrollably smiling (I know, nerdy right?) as we pumped some techno music, the wind in our hair, and the big open road.
After a few hours (yay for Israel being so small) we arrived at the northern border and found the Kibbutz (Jewish settlements based upon communal living) we were staying on and dropped our stuff in our rooms. We spent our remaining daylight driving along the Lebanese border and walking around some of the small towns in the area.
Our second day here was one of the best days I've had in Israel so far. First we drove to the Hula Valley Nature Reserve and enjoyed the swampland and many animals in the area. But the real story is the Yehudiyah Nature Reserve. Absolutely gorgeous. David and I split off from the girls in order to do a more difficult hike and spent the next 5 hours exploring such beauty, and doing one of the most difficult hikes I've ever done. We hiked into the valley three times, and what happens every time you get in a valley? You hike back out! Needless to say, my thighs were burnin' like Aunt Jemima's pancakes in Mexico, but it was well worth it. This place is filled with valleys, rivers, streams, pools, and flower covered fields. But of greatest mention are the hexagon pools. The cooling of some of these basalt formations caused the rocks all surrounding the pools to be formed in hexagon shapes, they are very neat to look at and fun to climb on. Check out the pictures to get a real taste!
The second trip of the month was Jordan, and the third trip happened the weekend just before I left for Italy! So as you can see, it got a little bit crowded, but I ain't complaining!

South Trip - Photos
The south trip was organized by the overseas students office and include a nice 3 days of hiking, eating, and swimming. Day 1 was spent hiking in the "maktesh," one of the largest craters in Israel, and even the world. It's big :). That evening we arrived at our surprisingly nice hotel next to the dead sea and prepared for a big shabbat dinner hosted by the overseas office. Let me tell you, on these trips, the like to FEED you. And that is exactly what they did, all day long, especially for shabbat. After dinner a group of friends and I headed to the local bedouin tent for belly dancing (viewing, I'm not much of a belly dancer, though I hear it's great exercise) and enjoyed a nice evening with what I like to call, the European Union. A combination of, what seems like, the entire european population in the program adopted me as an honorary member as well as Laura and Zach. So, this is the evening I spent with the European Union, watching belly dancing, eating watermelon, drinking...drinks :), and sitting on big fluffy pillows on the floor.
Unfortunately, something they like to do on OSP trips is get up really early. So around 6 they come knocking on your door so everyone can have enough time to shower and get ready before breakfast and a long day of hiking. So when we woke up, the weather was absolutely terrible. Winds whipping around and torrential rains falling on our hotel. But, for me, this was a good thing. There are 5 busses of students on this trip, but i wouldn't qualify all of these students as "trekkers." So, despite the rain, a bus and a half of people still went out to hike in the Judean desert. Well, by the time we got there, the rains had been stopped (Thanks!) and we enjoyed a dry beautiful day in the desert. (see photos) This evening was spent in the desert eating a bedouin dinner followed by a big music show put on by a group from Tel Aviv. They took us on a "tour of the world through music" playing different very exotic instruments and performing traditional dances. They were very funny, entertaining, and gymnastic :). One instrument they showed was this thing that looked like a UFO which they make in Switzerland. It's like an inverted steel drum, so when you tap it (with your fingers, no sticks) then it makes this nice strong tone. I want one, so if anyone has one they don't want, or in fact, even knows what this instrument is called, please let me know!
Finally, on day 3 we hiked in Ein Geddi, an oasis in the desert near to the Dead Sea and then finally ended the trip with a nice swim in the Dead Sea. Oh how I love Israel!
As a side note, to end this all off with something we can all appreciate:
I enjoyed my first McDonalds meal in Israel on the way home :), and it tastes...just like home.
Thanks for readin!