First Few Days, Masada and the Dead Sea

Shabbat Shalom!  Yesterday at sundown was the start of our first Shabbat here- the time of rest in Israel- and will continue until sundown tonight.  Here, the weekend days are Friday and Saturday and our week/school days will be Sunday thru Thursday.

Hebrew Lessons
For all of my friends back in the states, I want to make this blog as interactive as possible SO I am going to start teaching you all Hebrew as I learn :)  Here are the first few words that I have been learning and making a point to practice daily: I decided to start with the basics and since I have been told there is no real way to write the words in English letters, I will write them as they are supposed to be pronounced-
Sorry/ Pardon- "slee-ha"
      I have been notified that this is the probably the least used word/phrase in Israel as they rarely apologize for the minor things that Americans worry about on a daily basis such as bumping in to you in the streets or cutting you in line.
Bathroom- "shay-roo-teem" 
      I know if my mother ever comes to Israel this is the first word she will need...
Water- "may-eem"
Please- "be-vah-kah-sha"
Thank you- "toe-dah"
Monkey- basically pronounced like the English word "cough"
      This is mostly for Sam :)
Awesome/ Cool/ Sounds good- "sa-ba-ba" (my personal favorite so far)
This word is English but a thought it was cool slang-  Shanty- "chill"
      (like when Sarah says "clutch" ;))

Official Day One
Our first official day consisted of a welcoming presentation lead by the faculty in the Ben Gurion School of Health Science.  We had presentations from professors, doctors, were graced by the presence of the President of the University (who was formerly the dean of the School of Health Sciences), and most importantly a sixth year and second year medical student who are our official "social guides" for the next month.  It was wonderful to get to hear more about the school, it's prestige in this country as well as all over the world, and the happenings around campus. 

Prior to this we explored as a group, scavenging for food as none of us had eaten since early the day before and anyone who knows me at all knows that this does not fly with my eating habits!  We walked out of the university campus and further into the city passing the Ben Gurion Medical School and hospital, finally closing in on a cluster of small grocery stores, ice cream shops, and, to my excitement, a falafel stand!  Along with this being our first taste of true Israeli food, it is also our first taste of Israeli hospitality.  The older man who owned the stand was possibly one of the most generous people I've ever encountered, abroad or otherwise.  He reminded me of the old grandparent type that wanted to make sure you were as happy as possible and won't stop feeding you no matter how many times you protest or are filled to the brim!  After ordering and picking our side, Israeli pickles (yum), cucumber slaw, hummus, and much too much tahini sauce on mine, he offered us bowls and said we could keep coming back for as much salad or slaw that we wanted and continued to do so throughout our meal.  All without charging us any extra, even for my second coke!  It was truly hospitable and apparent that he was just as happy to have us as we were to stuff our faces with food for the first time in what felt like days.

Masada
On this day, we awake to two missiles being hurtled towards our humble town of Beer Sheva...  We were told that if there is a real emergency that an alarm will sound twenty to thirty seconds after we hear the boom.  One... Two... Three... Thirty...  Nothing.  We peer out the window to see a shawled, kindly old lady hobbling down the street with her grocery sacks, clearly unfazed by the raucous.  So we carry on living our lives, one day at a time.  We had an 8 am departing time on Friday morning to start our adventures to Masada and the Dead Sea.  Steep considering I've had about eight hours of sleep total in the past seventy-two hours...  We start our drive through the Negev Desert, highly populated with camels, donkeys, sheep, and their Bedouin owners.  The Negev covers 60% of Israel but only 8% of the population.  As we drive, it is quite apparent that this population dispersed over so much land does not get enough resources from the government.  Though they have come a long way over the past few decades, even centuries, there are still masses of tin roof huts and wooden shacks, some probably as small as 10x10, that are currently inhabited by the Bedouins- lots probably what we would compare to trailer parks and such. 
       Historical Side Note (read if you wish)- Our guide for the day, Denis, tells us that there are "recognized" and "unrecognized" Bedouin communities.  Bedouins are an Arabic population dispersed throughout most of southern Israel that have inhabited it for many years, known mostly for their nomadic, desert-dwelling ways and camel-raising.  Once government policies came into place, the Israeli government visited each community asking if they had "paperwork" proving that they owned their land.  Most had none- the "unrecognized"- while others came up with some way to keep what little land they had- the "recognized" communities. This status effects each community immensely as some live in huts such as the aforementioned while some live in very modern houses with satellite dishes for their televisions.
Even though their living conditions were perceived to be less than desirable to us, it seems that most were quite content with their simple way of living- raising sheep, camels, a few dogs, and having multiple wives... But I'll get back to that later after my classes on the Bedouin culture, marriage traditions, and trip to a community.  Also on the drive, I couldn't help but observe that everything in Israel is quite dusty...

Once we finally arrived to Masada, the hour and a half drive was immediately worth the anticipation.  Before us stood a massive mountain range, a "Snake Trail" winding up it's steep side and a mighty fortress topping it.  We entered the main lobby and quickly got tickets for the tour of the museum- an interactive walk thru complete with headset, life-size statues/ re-creations of various scenarios of daily life, and remnants of treasures from thousands of years ago.  We learned of the history of Masada- used as a fortress for the rebel Jews desperately trying to avoid the Romans who were invading their land.  Once the walls were breached, they had to make the ultimate decision: be captured and watch their wives and children become slaves or take their own lives while still free and unoppressed.  If any of you have watched the 1980's TV mini-series aptly named "Masada" starring Peter O'Toole and and Peter Strauss, you know how the story ends.  Tragic, romantic, and noble, the rebels commit a mass suicide in the fortress of Masada; starting a fire, watching thier loved ones go up in flames, freedom still intact. 

After completing the museum tour, we made our way up the REAL Masada!  Opting out of the climb and taking the lift up.  We just didn't have the time in our busy schedules to climb up the 200 meter high mountain... Shame...  While on the lift up the steep, jagged, not-so-soft-to-land-on looking hill, our guide Denis made it a point to tell us that the lift had "only ever fallen twice!"  Grrreat...  What came next is described best in pictures not words.  Pictures I will put up once I figure out the slide show feature on this blog...  Why I decided to blog when I am technologically-challenged?  We will never know.  For a quick preview- we saw the synagogue that many spent time in in their dire last hours, praying and searching for answers, the grand palace, the bath-houses that were more similar to the Roman steam baths than watery baths (why a steam bath is needed in a one hundred plus degree desert is unclear, but to each their own), and the wall that was ultimately breached and broken, ending a civilization.  It is a heartfelt true story that makes many ponder the question: what would you do to keep your loved ones safe?  And when no longer safe, how do you save them from impending doom?  It is quite controversial to many whether the rebel Jews' choices were the right ones, as suicide is a sin in the Jewish faith, but I will let you make your own decisions on that topic. 

Dead Sea
Next stop: the Dead Sea!  Denis also informs us that in every other language except English, it is known as the "Salt Sea".  We arrive at the Ein Ghetti Spa absolutely famished after five hours of intense hiking through ruins and quickly rush to the restaurant; our minds not on the epic sea one hundred meters away from us, but the buffet laid out twenty feet in front of us.  I am starting to see a trend developing and vow to go to the grocery store the second it opens after sundown Saturday.  After sitting in silence while stuffing our faces with schnitzel, hummus, olives, and the Israeli version of pasta, we are satisfied and ready to take on the wonders of the Dead Sea mud and magic waters. We did the mud baths first, no one keeping it on for more than five minutes.  There were little stones in the mud bath and I started to look like a reptile as it dried and hardened on my skin.  A true turtle :)...  Immediately I got salt water in my eyes from the showers, not realizing it was actual sea water coming out of the spouts.  Ouch. 
      Another Educational Side Note- The Dead Sea is two hundred meters above sea level- which is officially the level of the Mediterranean Sea- and 12% more salty! 
The sea itself was an interesting adventure.  Due to the high salinity level, one floats without even trying, almost as if you are a feather drifting on the water.  It was a nice change of pace to simply lay back, relax, and reflect on the past few days and what is yet to come... But DO NOT open your mouth, super salty water burns and is even more uncomfortable than the alkalinic solution they give you in the Anatomy and Physiology urine lab... Sarah Rogers knows what I'm talking about.  Worst.  Taste.  Ever.  The sea itself actually has many therapeutic qualities- helping relive pain of patients with musculo-skeletal problems.  All in all, it was the ultimate spa day: mud pack, sea water, and foot exfoliating in the sea salt on the beach (I also used 75% of the Sea of Spa testers in the gift shop to give my self a facial while waiting for people to buy their gifts).  My skin feels super soft and rejuvenated.  After leaving the Spa, everyone succumbed to the inevitable- after virtually no sleep the past three days we all passed out like rocks, sleeping the entire way back to the university.  Once back I tried to stay up until my body gave in and could not stay awake any more, so as to get the best nights sleep ever (which I did- eight solid hours uninterrupted!).  In the meantime I researched meditation techniques which I plan to start religiously practicing tomorrow. 

This dialogue has panned out to be nothing yet all that I expected so far- a trip into the unknown, a peek into a culture I know nothing about but hope to learn, an adventure of a lifetime. 
Mottos to live by on this trip: "Confidence and you will always succeed" and "Take chances because NOTHING is the end of the world".
 Other take-home messages: "Take this opportunity to focus on the new, not the old, enjoy every moment good and bad.  You will miss your friends everyday, they are the ones who make you smile and lift you up- but you will find some new things that make you happy too" -  words from a wise friend :)

I cannot wait for what tomorrow may bring and am ecstatic to find out, but now it is time for me to (hopefully, knock on wood) get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep for the second night in a row.