So Ulpan officially ended last Tuesday with our final exam, and I had my bags packed a ready to go. As soon as I handed in my exam I all but ran home and grabbed a cab to the bus station. We rode about 5 hours South to Eilat with a number of friends. The bus ride was interesting in that people can buy last-minute tickets and stand or sit in the aisle of the bus, making a sort of transportation hierarchy which made me feel awful...until I conked out fifteen minutes in.
We arrived in Eilat and agreed to meet up later in the evening. Rachel and I hailed a cab with a man and his wife as drivers who seemed to readily recognize the name of our hotel, the Prima Music. Soon, we were driving past town and into a dark area near the Red Sea that was totally industrial and desolate. Rachel and I broke out into a cold sweat and checked to see that the doors were locked- I was pretty sure we had been kidnapped and were headed to Egypt and that the old tuck-and-roll would be necessary. As per usual, all the worrying was for naught, and we were safely delivered to our Boondock hotel after about 10 minutes.
The hotel really had us worried because we booked it last minute and were unsure of how it would actually turn out, especially considering the dirt-cheap price. It proved to be totally awesome. It was kind of bizarre/cool since every floor was decorated in a music theme and we had the "Rock" floor. Dad would have loved it. When we checked in, they informed us that breakfast and dinner were complimentary, which we hadn't known but saved us a small fortune.
That night we headed out with friends who were going to Egypt the next day. Sam found this cool bar called "Papaya" right on the beach. It was basically like a huge deck where we sat on white couches and smoked hooka. A couple mojitos later, it was like Ulpan had never happened. Afterward, we got some pizza at around midnight at this place on the boardwalk that has sesame-seed crust. We were awestruck to find the place filled with kids who looked no older than 10 - and on a school night. The girls were all wearing tube tops and other astounding examples of (un)dress. I wanted to give all of their artifically sparkling, glossy faces a good scrubbing and stick them in some footie jammies, but such is life here.
There was some sort of Orthodox convention staying at our hotel, so we headed down to swim the next morning, only to find that there were separate pool hours for men and women. Good thing we didn't just walk out in bikinis without asking, or it would have been prime man time and we would have had some explaining to do. Instead, we took the bus to the mall and fulfilled our dream of shooping outside the super-frumpy,ultra-religious goods that Jerusalem has to offer.
Afterward we hung out at the pool all day. It turns out orthodox women don't really swim, so it was just me, Rachel, and the lifeguard. They had these big matresses with pillows laid out under cabanas and we were situated right between the Red Mountains and the Red Sea.
That night we headed out, and found an awesome seafood restaurant. I was so happy to be in Eilat, which is largely secular, because it meant I could order shrimp, which were so good and will sustain me until I come home and hit "The Dead Fish" with my mom and dad. The restaurant's staff had clearly had to audition for their position, as they seemed to be the best-looking men in all of Israel. They're a little girly for my tastes (our waiter had a full-on head band) but one can still admire the general beauty. We marveled, concluding all bad-looking men must be banished to Yemen, only to remember that men in Yemen are pretty hot, too.
That night we took the wrong bus, ending up almost outside of Eilat, at which point we got off and had to take a cab back. Along the way, we asked the cab driver for his suggestion of a good bar, and he told us a place called 'the three monkeys' had great live music. Sold. We found the bar without too much trouble, and they told us the music would start in about an hour. We were so happy when a guitarist took the stage; expecting some authentic Israeli music. They started playing and then two women danced out to a Gloria Estefan number. They had these coordinated sheer getups and the cheesiest dance moves I have ever seen. They introduced themselves as "Hazel" and "Debbie" and proceeded on with a plethora of bad American music. We had to excuse ourselves as soon as possible, as I felt my years of a Smith education were being jeopardized just by being present.
The next day we hit the underwater observatory and aquarium. We saw the hugest turtles and this exhibit were you felt like sharks were swimming right past you. The underwater observatory allowed viewers below sea-level to actually look out into a coral reef of the Red Sea, teeming with bright fish. Ian, they totally had a circular observatory, which reminded me so much of the classic Steinhart tale.
We spent the rest of the day by the sea with Jordan in the distance and teal water for miles in-between. The water was so warm and there were the same bright little fishes swimming all around us, seemingly unafraid. It was fun to watch people scuba dive and snorkel, especially little kids on vacation with the folks. We also drank Pepsi, which was cool as there is only Coke in the north. I heard they have some beef with Jerusalem.
That night I stayed in. I had come down with a cold and finally decided to take it easy. I wrote some postcards, etc, so be expecting those in the mail! I also saw the "International" version of the Daily Show, got my CNN fix for awhile, and watched some really cheesy Israeli soaps.
It was a good thing I stayed in, because I felt much better the next day. We spent time by the pool, putting the finishing touches on our tan. Well, I had used SPF 5600 all weekend, so I only got a few more freckles; I was not willing to chance it, circa Mexico. Rachel got tan, though. We caught our bus back and got stuff together for classes, which started today.
Now all of our friends are back; one group got in last night from Egypt and another just arrived from Turkey. We're meeting in Sam's room in 30 minutes to talk about our trips and plan the next one, as well as take advantage of Sam's hookah. Had a great vacation, but I am also looking forward to classes!
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