"...And While the Sea is Boiling Hot and Whether Pigs have Wings."

    This is now part 3 three, but I had to finish the poem!!
    Most of you know that the cease-fire with Gaza ended a few days ago. For those of you didn't, there was a cease-fire with Gaza. Israel wanted them to stop shooting rockets into settlements so they stopped for about a year and it ended last week and it has gotten really bad. There have been attacks in Ashkelon, in Be'er Sheva a few hours ago, and Ashdod. All the places are south of me. Very south, beyond Jerusalem.
    I know my family is nervous about my safety, but honestly I feel that it's different when you are actually here. When I am in the US, it's hard for me to understand why you would live in a war zone and although Haifa is not a "war zone" per se, rockets are going off only a few hours away. That's like 9/11 everyday. Maybe not AS dramatic, but close. At home, it's hard to connect to a place that an ocean and thensome away. It's to foreign to feel any true emotion. I do feel bad for the soldiers who have to go and fight. But actually seeing these 18 year olds holding a gun. Or knowing that my friend's roommate's boyfriend is going to be stationed in Gaza is a bit nerve racking. As my friend in Israel says, everyone know someone. Despite this, I personally do not feel unsafe. I am not worrying about Haifa being hit at this moment. I might feel differently if the attacks were going on in, say, Akko, which only forty five minutes from here. It's hard to explain why it's different here. In my Psychology of Conflict class we talked about how we felt about our safety and I was trying to explain this and it did not come out well. (On a side note, my English has gotten so bad. I realized today that I was saying "um" in the places that Israelis say "um" and I can't think of the right words anymore). Another thing that is kind of unrelated is that to get anywhere you have to ride the bus. Everyone rides the buses. Public transporatation is used so much more here than in the United States. So when riding a bus in Jerusalem, you don't think about the "what ifs". Riding the bus is another part of your everyday life.
    I think that the point of this post to reassure my friends coming here. If Israel were that unsafe, they wouldn't let you come. The university does a good job in looking out for your safety. (Shaina, you can tell your mom that). But honestly the whole atmosphere is different in Israel than in the US.
    And another thing, the Boston Globe says that over 360 Palestinains have been killed. What they don't mention is that most of those are Hamas followers and terrorists themselves.

"...Of Ships and Shoes and Sealing Wax, of Cabbages and Kings..." (Part 2)

    The first day I was here, one of my friends told us a piece of advice that one of her friends told her. I think that it is something that all my friends who are going abroad for the Spring should abide by or at the very least just think about. She said: "Not everyday has to be a great experience. You are going to have bad days." It's not that this helped me, but when I had a bad day, I would look back on this phrase. Going into the program, I was terrified about basically everything. Cooking my food. Finding places to get food. Not knowing anyone in the country. My friend told us this the first day we were in Haifa and she was right. You have to accept that not everyday has to be a day where you have to do something amazing. There are going to be bad days where you wonder why you chose to go so far away from home. Or why you picked a country where you can barely ask where the bathroom is. Or just wish to go home because you are homesick. Of course I had all these thoughts, but I also had some experiences that I would never give up. I learned to cook my own food. I went to a different country by myself (ie no parents). I met people from all over the world: From Canada to Denmark to the Marshall Islands. These things that I have encountered and learned formed my amazing time here. I would never give up this experience. How often do you get to live in a different country/culture for three and half months?    
    The big change I have found in myself is that I am more confident about everything. I think that if you are in a place where few people speak your language, you have to gain the confidence to ask people what you want in a foreign language. I am more willing to go up to strangers and ask them stupid questions, like how to get a train ticket. I am also more confident in using my Hebrew. Sure my grammar and gender usage is probably wrong, but how else are you going to learn it if you don't השתמש עברית (use Hebrew)? I am also more talkative in class, but I think that's because my teacher wants us to think a certain way and for some of the topics that we talk about, I just can't imagine it. (For example suicide bombing, although for this topic I could try to see the other point of view). But besides the specific class that I'm talking about, I think that I'm more opinionated about certain topics. I feel that I can argue better against my brother, who has an argument for everything. I am also more confident in my cooking. The first week I was here I didn't know how to cook or even what to make. I think part of that, though, was because I was in Federman where the kitchen is the size of the closet at school. That's not an exaggeration. I am proud of myself for cooking dinner every night. I had real food and left overs. I am even willing to make dinner when I get home. (I say that now...)
    I have also learned many non-academic things. The main thing being how my mom goes to the grocery store everyday and spends so much money. I never understood this, but buying food for myself, I have found that I have to go everyday, because somethings just don't last that long or I just forget to buy it the day before. There is also easy access to food because the mini-mart and right across from the dorms. I have also learned that in order to learn your way around a place, you have to actually go out and explore. That seems so obvious, but the exploration is more than taking a bus down and walking around a mall for a few hours. It is walking around by looking at a map in order to figure out how the heck you ended up where you did and how the heck you are going to get back. You don't actually know a place until you have been there during both the day and the night. It looks different at different points in the day and in order to learn the city, you have to know both the nighttime and the daytime life of the city. I have also learned that I really like teaching English. As frustrating as it was to teach the letters for two months and get no where, I liked doing it. Maybe it will be something I look into as a career. I don't know what else I want to do...
    Now that I have been in Israel for three months, it is natural to open up my bag for the security guard when I enter a restaurant or to walk through a metal detector to go to the mall. Or to see blobs of green on the bus going home for the weekend. (That would be the Israeli soldiers). The one thing that I have gotten used that is a little bit scary is that the soldiers carry these huge guns. I don't know if they are loaded, I'm assuming not because they are in a public place and don't want it to go off by accident, but seeing these long black metal things is just part of the everyday life that Israelis do in order to survive. How often do you see a soldier in uniform carrying their gun? The scary thing about the whole thing is that most of these soldiers are younger than us. (For those of you who don't know, Israel has a draft for the army at the age of 18. Girls serve for two years and boys for three). Except some of the soldiers don't look older than twelve and seeing them hold guns is a bit frightening.
    I have ten days left in Israel...how does time go so fast? Ten days is the length of time of birthright and it seemed like a normal ten days, but I know that this coming week will just zoom by and before I know it, I'll be on a plane back home. Home.

"The Time Has Come," The Walrus Said. "To Talk of Many Things..." (Part 1)

With less than two weeks left, I feel that it is time for a reflection:
       I was so nervous about coming here because I felt that no one ever told me anything about living situations or about my classes or if I even got in. But I have learned that they really did do everything Israeli style. From little things such as emailing me about getting my stuff (ie transcript, health insurance) to bigger things like, well if I was accepted. I have learned to accept the Israeli style of things and I like the way it's done. No one worries about anything and the attitude is "when it gets done, it gets done." Israel is such a relaxed country. When you look around the streets, no one is rushing to get to work (or class). When you get to class, you get to class. If you're late, you're late. I like this not worrying about being late. I don't have to rush in the morning to get dressed or rush back from my food shopping spree. If I get to class a few minutes late, it's ok. 
    I really just love almost everything about Israeli culture. Everything about it is due to the relaxed atmosphere. There are no lines. Just clumps. Getting onto a bus requires pushing and cutting in line. Waiting in "line" at the supermarket requires cutting people so that you can get to the front. Buying something from the vending machine requires more cutting. Going through security requires elbowing and swimming toward the detectors. Basically, as long I say "Slichah" (excuse me, sorry) and push, I'm socially accepted.
    I also love how there is no time here. I mentioned class, but there is also the bus schedule. If the bus is supposed to show up at 7:30, it'll show up at 8. If the Madrichim are putting on an event, they'll say one time but mean another. All of my friends have assimilated into using Israeli time meaning that if we're going to have dinner or watch a movie, the time we start is usually an hour or two after what is said. Unlike when this happens back home, it's not annoying. It's part of what Israel is about.
    I think my favorite part about Israel, though is that the majority of the population is Jewish. Hebrew is used in the classroom as part of a lesson. In America if you used the Ethopian language of Amharic, for example, as part of a lesson (that wasn't related to Ethiopia), everyone would have confused looks on their faces. They would be thinking what are those random symbols on the board? Also, if you go to the Shuk on a Friday, it is more than likely that you will be thanked with a  "Shabbat Shalom". Everyone just assumes you're Jewish. It is nice being in a country where you can say the "CH" in Chanukkah or Chummus. I have gotten so used to saying "Chummus" (instead of the English pronunciation of "HA-mis") that when I realized that that's what I say, I decided that it sounds strange to my ears to say it the American way. It's just not right. Since it's Chanukkah now, there are chanukiot everywhere and each day a new "candle" is lit. Every bakery and supermarket sells Soufganiot (jelly doughnuts) and Livivot (latkes, potato pancakes). There are very few signs of Christmas around. There are a couple of small decorated trees in the windows, but that's about it. I haven't listened to the radio since September, but I'm pretty sure that Christmas music isn't playing 24/7. It's not that I'm against all the decorations, it's just that I like being in a country where my religion is celebrated. Where my religion is the national one.
    Since it is Christmas this week, my psychology class was moved a day forward. There are seven people in my class, five of whom are Jewish. A few weeks ago, one of the non-Jews asked my teacher if he could move the class from the 24th to an earlier time in the week. The reason she for this, she said, was because it was Christmas Eve and she wanted to go to mass. Understandable. However, all the Jews stood up and were like "What do you think we have to do on Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur and pretty much anytime we want to celebrate a holiday?" We can't miss class, but we don't have a choice. The thing is, it's not that I didn't want the professor to not change the date, but it was the principle. I mean, you are coming to Israel knowing that it celebrates Jewish holidays. I wouldn't go to say India and expect a class to be changed because I have to celebrate a holiday. I would expect to miss class, or whatever my commitment was and find a way to celebrate. I don't know if this is something that I think is an automatic response because it's what I do anyway or if is something that most people would do.
    The difference that I find between Israelis and everyone is else, is that they are so OCD about only one thing. One of my roommates is obsessed with keeping things tidy, which isn't that hard and another one of my roommates is very anal about NOT washing dishes. She won't clean up after herself. I'm not sure why OCD hasn't said anything. I can't stand it. It's my turn to clean this week, but if the sink is piled with pots and dishes, it's not getting done. That is my one pet peeve. I cannot stand dishes piled in the sink. I can stand a few here and there, but when I have to wash out a plate and a fork because there are no clean plates, it's kind of ridiculous. This roommate is also OCD about the hot water. It can only be on at certain times which is why me and the other international roommates end up taking cold showers half the time.
Ok, enough ranting. More reflection later.
   

The Decision

    This weekend I went to Jerusalem as a "it's the last time" kind of thing. My friend and I were supposed to stay with a one of my friend's cousins, but that didn't work out so we ended up crashing at some friends of a friend's apartment at Hebrew University. Because I spent the weekend there, I got a taste of the University and I am happy that I chose Haifa. It's good to know that I made the right decision and that I chose correctly for me. The apartments are nice. The kitchen/common area is much nicer than where I live, but the rooms are small, although they have a lot of shelves and a big desk, and there are separate rooms for the toilets, sinks, and shower. The downside that I personally saw was that you are surrounded my Americans. All their roommates were American, all their neighbors are American and everyone speaks English. I like the fact that I have ONE American roommate, from Illinois, one Danish roommate, and three Israeli roommates. If I wanted to, I could use my Hebrew. I never see them so I don't usually talk to them period. Also, the program that they were in is really big and I think mostly, of not all, American. I like that my program is only a little bit over a hundred and that some of my friends are from different countries. I now have a reason to go visit Denmark and Hungary.
    My friend and I left Haifa in the early morning Friday and made good timing to Jerusalem. We managed not to get lost going from the bus station to Hebrew U. That night for Shabbat, the girls in the apartment had a potluck for their friends and I think I was connected to all of them somehow. Which was another reason I'm glad I didn't choose Hebrew U. Everyone knows each other. I like that going to Haifa will only be MY experience. I mean yes it would have been nice/helpful to have someone from umass here, but by being on my own, I feel that I got to experience everything more. I got to be who I wanted to be. No one knew anything about me and I could mold myself into the person that I wanted to be. One of the people that was there goes to Mt. Holyoke, a few know a bunch of people I know at Umass, one knows a friend of my brother's. The connections keep going and it was quite amusing. After everyone left we decided to go to sleep and instead of sleeping on the common area floor, someone picked the lock to one of the empty rooms and so there was a bed and our own room.
    Saturday, we slept late-ish according to normal people standards and walked to the Old City. It was about an hour walk there, even with us getting lost, which I thought was impressive. The girl that we were staying with did not give us the most, um, greatest directions so we had to ask a few times:
"How do we get to the old city?"
"Turn left at the end of this street. Keep walk straight and then ask someone else."
The best answer, if I've ever heard one. Because both of us were on a mission, we walked through the Arab shuk looking for scarves. (Yes, Leah. I got you one). For lunch, we stopped at the best pizza place in Israel. And although that's not saying much. I will go as far to compare it to New York pizza. It was so good. The best pizza (even though it was the second time) I've had in Israel...now for that burger that I've been craving for three months We then walked to the Kotel for one last looksee and then went back to the shuk to complete our mission. We walked through the Jewish quarter looking for the cardo and we got a little lost, but I found our way. We bought the necessary scarves for the appropriate people and started to head back. This time it took longer because we got lost. And that's not our fault. I mean we did head up the wrong street at first, but we were turning around on Jaffa Street looking at map, (Read: looking touristy), this guy asked us where we wanted to go and we told him Hebrew University. Basically his directions were to continue on Jaffa street go down some other streets, pass the Central Bus Station, and we'll be there. It didn't sound right to me because those weren't the street names that we had passed, but maybe it was a short-cut that he knew. Anyway, we were walking for a good 20 minutes and let's just say the more we walked, the more black we could see. Finally at one point, these two girls asked us where we were going and we said Hebrew University and both of them automatically said "Which one?" Well, we were baffled. There are two Hebrew Universities? They redirected us and told us not to walk into Me'ah Shearim. (A REALLY Orthodox community) We were very close as it was. Anyway, we made it back a little before dark, snacked, showered, and went out to dinner. Afterwards, we wandered Ben Yehuda street and I met up with my friend from Umass. She took me to this very cute quaint coffee shop and talked for a few hours. She couldn't believe that I'm leaving so soon and that we only got to see each other twice. She showed me which bus to take back and I got back safely. Although not without questioning my age. See, I bought a Cartisia Noar which is a child's ticket (which I recommend to all my friend's coming to Israel. Just make sure you wear pigtails). Or until the age of 17. Anyway, the bus driver, with good reason, asked my age. So I said "16...I mean 17". I figure my sister is 17 and everyone thinks she's older than me so why not. Besides, I think I can pass for 17 when I'm not dressed up and smile cutely. Neither of which I was so I actually looked my age. I got back to the university and went to bed.
    Sunday morning, we woke up early for college students and packed up our stuff. We took the bus to the old city and continued to walk to the Cardo so that my friend could get a necklace from Haddaya. I was so proud of myself. This whole weekend, I mangaed to navigate through the Old City. I actually kind of know my way around which I think is cool. I managed to get us from the university to the Old City and Back...and to the City again and then we took a side road towards the Jewish Quarter. We had perfect timing with the bus back. We got through security and everything by 11:58 and the bus left at 12 (which is 12:15 Israeli time).
    Once in Haifa and back in my dorm, I worked on my psych project and talked to my parents before going to the Hannukkah party. There were latkes and soufganiot (Jelly Doughnuts) which are way better here than they are in the US. Although the thing they sour cream is kind of gross. Because I don't think it's actually sour cream. We played a few games, sang some songs, decoreated cookies, made candles, and then I left to go to my friend's apartment to light Hanukkah candles. I had missed the lighting before because I was late to the party.
    Today was the second to last day of volunteering and since it was Hanukkah, we had a party. We sang the usual songs and blessings over the candels. We sang a few new Hebrew songs. (ie ones that I have never heard before) and the directors of the community center said a few words. The Elders (remember tha this is an Ethiopian community) blessed us, as per ritual, and thanked us profusely for tutoring. That was the only organized part about the whole party. The kids, whose parents came, ran all over the place. It was loud and noisy and basically unorganized. Here's a picture of everyone. Volunteers and Kids. You can't really see me, but I'm the third person in from the left in the second-ish row. As I said, it was so unorganized.

Random Weekend

 Random, but necessary stuff to say:
    - My psych of conflict class is a three hour "we can talk about whatever you want in class" In a three hour class, the teacher will give us a break after the halfway point. My teacher takes a break every half hour...and it's not because we look bored, but because he has to go to the bathroom. And every time he gets up to leave, we all have to hold in our giggling until he leaves the room. This wasn't a one time thing. It's been happening for a few weeks and each time it just gets funnier. I think we had like three breaks plus the big 15,20,30 minute break. It depends on the day how long it is.
    - We were filling out course evaluations for out teacher and this Ukrainian girl (who is the bluntest person I have ever met) just kept asking questions about the class for next semester and the lady who gave us the forms was just like "I don't know. You'll have to come to the International School Office"
    On a related note, we were filling out the evals for Rabbinic Lit. and the teacher stayed there!! Besides the fact that I was in front row and that he could probably read what I was writing, I hate filling out evaluations when teachers are right there!
    -There is a vending machine for hot drinks, which you might think is kind of gross. But it's not. It's 1.20 shekels. That's 25 cents for a small (really small) hot drink, usually hot chocolate. A cup drops down and your drink vends and you have a hot drink.
    So, we finally got a microwave in our apartment a few weeks ago, but the timer was broken so my roommate went to go get it fixed. Anyway, I was helping her carry it from her trunk to our room and we started talking about Chanukkah and I mentioned how I forgot to bring a Chanukiah (it's not a "Menorah" in Israel) and the next day, I see a present on the table for me. I open it up and it's a menorah, I mean Chanukiah. From the box/the bottom of the Chanukiah, she probably got it for free or had it lying around her house. Either way, it was the thought that counts and it is very pretty.
    This weekend was not as exciting at last week's trip to Jordan (I have more pictures, but it's too many to put into one album), but fun just the same. Thursday day just slipped through my hands. By the time I looked at my clock, it was 4:30 and I was like "WAIT it can't be. I haven't eaten lunch yet" At which point, my friend cam to borrow a laundry token from me and we ended up talking for an hour so by the time I lunch, it was actually an earlier dinner. Thursday night a bunch of us decided to go out for dinner because two friends of one of my friends came to visit (they are studying in Jordan and will be in Israel next semester). We went to Mercaz HaCarmel for dinner and I exactly knew where to get off the bus. It was exciting. Usually I have to wait until we pass the stop to realize that I was supposed to get off. We went to a Thai place called The Giraffe and it is run Israeli style. Before I get into that though, I want to mention something else. In the US, the waiters and cooks in Asian restaurants are all Asian. I think that the Head Cook was the only Asian and all the rest of the staff were Israeli. It's not just this restaurant either. I went to a sushi place at the beginning of the semester and the same type of staff was there too. It's just an interesting observation. Anyway, so the food in the restaurant is served whenever it's done. Which is good, except that some of us got our meals waaaay before others and the appetizer that we ordered came last. The other funny thing about being there was that a) my roommate was there with her parents and b) another big group (we were nine, them eleven) from the University came in literally two seconds after us. After eating dinner, we went ran into some other people from the university and went to for drinks with them. We were still nine people though because two others went home and it was only two that joined us.
    Friday, I worked on my Rabbinic Lit paper, which is comparing the two creation stories. It is really interesting to read the rabbinic commentary because half the things they comment on have nothing to do with the actual verse. And they comment on every single word. In the book I got out from the library (which I can kind of navigate now!!), has 200 pages on just the first two chapters of Genesis. Friday night, it was someone's birthday (he's like 30 or something, actually 25, but that's 30 here) so there was a Red and Black party here. Those are the colors of Georgia State where he goes/went. It was fun, but I didn't get to sleep until late or early depending on how you look at it.
    Saturday was a lazy day and Sunday was Food Shopping Day! So now I have food in my fridge, but yet there are still dishes in the sink...and there will be tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, and the after that, and the day after that...
   

Eilat of Fun in Jordan

    Thursday morning, I woke up a few extra minutes early to finish packing for the weekend. What I don't understand is that no matter what time I get up, it still takes me until the hour (8 or 10 depending on the day) to get dressed. So I had to stuff last minute food and toiletries into my suitcase. I carried my suitcase to class, actually some nice Israeli did, I put in a locker, and went to class. I have no idea what we talked about because the whole class I was like "I'm going to Jordan...wait I need to pay attention...But I'm going to Jordan". Nevertheless, I made it through class and left 15 minutes early to catch the bus down to Hof HaCarmel. We weren't doing anything important anyway, unless you count two lies and a truth necessary to the learning process. Leaving at noon on a Thursday is just not a good idea. It's when everyone goes home for the weekend so we stopped at pretty much every stop. Luckily, we had a few minutes to spare before we took our first bus to Tel Aviv and so gathered some pastries at the pastry shop at the bus station. The ride to Tel Aviv was one full of giggles. This should not be surprising as we were six girls. There has to be giggling. It was only an hour and a half ride there and we had an hour before our next bus to Eilat so we bought tickets and ate lunch. I had falafel. It was seven shekels for a take-as-much-as-you-want buffet. That's different than an all-you-can-eat. I "stole" extra falafel and fries for everyone. We then hurried to the bus for a six hour ride South. Past Jerusalem. Past Masada. Past Ramon Crater. Past the Negev. We literally went from tip to tip in a day.
    Once in Eilat, we had to find our hostel, so creatively named, Eilat Youth Hostel. Not knowing where we were, we asked our safe person (aka random guy with a kippah) for directions and he told us where to go. We eventually got to the hostel, unpacked, and went to sleep...after talking for an two hours. Friday morning the four of us (two went diving with dolphins at an earlier time) got up at 830 went to a delicious breakfast of eggs, bread, tuna, veggies, and random other food. In Israel, no one eats fruit in the morning. It's just an odd concept. Instead they have peppers and carrots and cucumbers. To me, that's a salad, which I like to have in the afternoon. After breakfast, we packed up for the day and walked around North Beach for the morning. If you want to call it a beach with the amount of sand there is. It was like being on a Tropical Island, though. There are stands that line the beach. Funky music playing. Men in bathing suits that should never be worn. The only difference is that Eilat is one of the cheapest places to buy almost anything. After lunch a lunch of PB and Pita (and buying a skirt), we caught up with the other girls and went on a glass-bottomed boat tour. It was a preview of what we were going to see the next day. We saw the borders of Egypt and Jordan and corals and dolphins. There were a few, um, interesting people on board and I don't think the bar was to blame.
    Anyway, by the time we got back on land, the sun was setting, ie Shabbat was starting, but we had to make one more stop before out hotel. Ice Cream. One of my friends is worse than my mom when it comes to ice cream. And that's saying something. At the hostel, we napped, showered, dressed, and went to the Red Sea Star restaurant. We had reservations at 7. That was a joke. There were ten people there. We were six of them. The restaurant itself was under water, which was cool, but there were very few fish. And no I didn't have fish for dinner. It was the experience that counted. And it was definitely an experience. When paying the bill, we had too much money. This phenomenon always happens. Everyone pays the bill maybe a few shekels (or dollars) over but despite that, there is always a big tip left. As compromise, we took the extra money and bought cookies with it for dessert.
    After talking and giggling for an hour, we set the alarm for 6:15 and went to sleep only to wake up to "Holy Crap! It's 6:30!" We sat up from bed, rushed with getting dressed and packing, grabbed breakfast from the fridge and waited outside in front of the hostel for the next ten minutes. Because we had time to spare, I started eating my yogurt, which a) I stole from breakfast the previous day and b) wasn't actually yogurt. It was Levan which is a cheese type yogurt. But basically it tasted gross and as I was saying how bad it was it slipped out of my hand and fell to the ground. Right side up. This was just the beginning of things to come and it was only 7am. The jeep eventually came and the six of us climbed in. There were two other people in the Jeep. One of which everyone somehow knew. She knew two of the kids on our program and I "knew" her because of Hebrew School. I didn't actually remember her, but we figured out that we both went to Prozdor. It was a seven minute ride to the border and by the time we got there, our hair which we had so neatly combed earlier was now a mess. It was a windowless jeep. We got to the border and waited for an hour for it to open (at 8am) and once it did we made our way to Jordan.
    Not without troubles, of course. I never got my Student Visa so they yelled at me to get one. They asked me why I didn't have one and there's no good reason but they kept asking me and I was just like "I don't know". Anway, it was a big ordeal. We eventually made it onto the tour bus with Ali (pronounced with stress on the A), our tour guide. We got a short tour of Aqaba, which was like 10 seconds from the border. It is physically a big town, but the concentrated area is only a few square miles and I swear that we were in the middle of nowhere until we got to Petra. Once in Petra, we walked towards the treasury learning about the rock formations and the Nabateans. When we got the the treasury, there were little kids asking us if we wanted to by postcards (1 for 1 dinar, about $1.50) or if we wanted a camel/donkey/horse ride. "It's either me or my camel...or both." "No women, you cry. No camel, you die. Which is it?" After trying to avoid the heckling, we made it to the end of one of the ancient town and ate lunch. It was included in the price of the tour so it was almost like it was free. And it was a GOOD lunch of real hummus (aka not the cheap stuff that is still good, but not as good) and pita and rice and israeli-style salads. But they had gross desserts. The tour guide let us walk back by ourselves so we booked it back up the mountain so that we could have time to shop. Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. At the Indiana Jones Shop (It's not actually random. One of the scenes from The Last Crusade was filmed in Petra) One of my friends bought sand art that had camels on it. It was pretty cool and just as she and another girl were talking about getting it back to America, it slipped out of her hand and she dropped it. My reaction "At least when I drop things, they're not valuable" the owner of the stand was very nice though and gave her another one. No sooner after we had bough some magnets (3 for 5 dinars), another one of my friends dropped her magnet and it broke. It's expected to be cheap because, well, Jordan is a poor country, but we hadn't even left the stand. Again, the owner was very nice and let her take another magnet. He'll remember us as the those American girls who broke everything. Before destroying anymore property, we got onto the bus for our ride back with a short stop for the best baklava I have ever had. We got back to Israel around 730 and went through security and routine questioning and a hard time about my student visa. I was given exactly one month to get it. Perfect. I leave in exactly a month from the stamped date.

pictures will be up next post. I have real work for the rest of the semester. I actually have to write two papers...the first two of the semester. Here's a picture of the six of us, as a preview.