PARKOUR!

Parkour: a method of movement focused on moving around obstacles with speed and efficiency.

!שלומ

I'm still chuggin along trying to get this thing updated.

On December 2-3 I joined a group of the international students on a hike through Ein Gedi (aka the Judean Desert). It took us about  three or four hours to get there from Haifa. We were dropped off in the middle of the desert and as the bus faded into the dusty abyss, I felt like I was either on Lost  or in an action film gone terribly wrong. Funny enough, my and me other two friends, Haley and Chandler, wore the exact same colors (blue and black-COMPLETELY unplanned). Thus began our own episode of The Amazing Race. From here on out it was a competition of strength and the will to win and to live. Okay, so maybe not that intense but we did get two days jam packed with the hardest, most intricate parkour moves ever witnessed by man. 

Chandler kicked a rock, once.

I laughed for like an hour.

Anyway, with our  voices howling "PARKOUR" and our feet slipping on every rock in the desert we began our journey. Deserts may seem pretty lame but it was beautiful. It was the same desert Moses came through from Egypt. I can only imagine the crap he got when they realized the giant body of water located in the middle of the desert is the saltiest on earth. You win some, you lose some.

The first day we spent walking on tall plateaus overlooking the Dead Sea, or in Hebrew, ימ המלח   (Yam haMelach). The Dead Sea is gorgeous. It is a bright torqouise-green color that reminds you of the Caribbean. On the Israeli side (versus the Jordan side) you can see five star resorts along the coast , each with their own spa building. Apparently the Dead Sea helps aid people with rare skin disorders and people come from all over the world to get treatment. Pretty cool.  

After lunch we made our way down  (wayyyy down) to the lowest point on earth, The Dead Sea. Of course the first thing we did was get in the water. It was probably the weirdest thing I have ever experienced. You literally float completely above water. Like laying on your stomach is almost impossible due to the fact that your feet almost flip over you. It's impossible to touch the sea floor too. You can bounce and try and get momentum but right before you touch, you bounce back up. It was so surreal. After a series of funny pictures we got out and grabbed some food before heading on the bus to our next site.

We spent the night in a Bedouin tent. It wasn't a currently functioning tent but more of a model of what it would be like to be a Bedouin. It was pretty cool. We slept on little matresses on top of woven mats. It was unbelievably warm as well. We cooked out and then had a short shabbat dinner. Then we star-gazed. It was so cool to see every star in the sky. After a suprisingly comfortable sleep, I woke up early to watch the sun rise over the desert mountains. It was probably one of my favorite moments yet. That sun rise was stunning. God is so cool that he can make things that simple, yet so incredibly beautiful.

The next day of the hike was a sharp climb up a mountain. It was one of the most physically demanding hikes I've ever done but when we got to the top it was so worth it. The view was awesome! We then made our way down and around the moutain to a rift valley. Here, flash floods had cut through the mountain range and formed a cool smooth rocky canyon below. The rock was so smooth that at points we could literally slide down it. It was so much fun and it allowed us to really get going on our parkour moves.

Once we climbed out of the valley we made our way down to a tropical oasis. It was fed by a natural spring and was like walking into a completely different country. There was waterfall after waterfall and the smell was so fresh and clean. We saw rock badgers (they look like gophers) and Ibex's (mountain goats with massive horns). I'm thinking that's where they get shofar's from. After our relaxing afternoon we got back on the bus and headed to Haifa. It was an epic weekend full of unique experiences, and probably one of my favorite things I've done in Israel yet. 

Oh, I forgot to mention I had my first Israeli McDonald's meal. I got chicken selects and it was actually pretty darn amazing. The McFlurry wasn't too shabby either.

When we got back to the University we watched the SEC championship game. I love rallying for football here. It's funny being asked to explain football to an Israeli. I realize that a guy pushing other guys over to run into a giant rectangle is kinda dumb. But we love it anyway.

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