Sunlight and tears

This week contained some of the most wonderful and most difficult moments of the past few years.

The  red mountains at the Red Sea 

It started with, after a year, my Yome falling in. I got an email from a community mate at the beginning of last week telling me that the weight of the snow had caused the structure to collapse. I am currently negotiating with the insurance company. This came on top of feelings I have been very homesick. Very homesick and suddenly without a home.

Every resort city needs a giant blue pyramid/IMAX

This morning when I woke up, there was a message from my mother asking where this week’s blog post was. I think she wanted to know because I just spent the weekend in Eilat.

Turtle conference at the aquarium

Eilat should be known as the Jewel of Israel. It is a small city at the northern tip of the Red Sea. It sits just across the water (and border) from Aqaba, Jordan's only port, and is reminiscent of many other coastal resort towns. Palm trees line the streets, the beaches seem to have more chairs than sand, and the resort hotels tower over everything. But the view is out of this world!

In Eilat, you can see four different countries. To the east is Jordan, to the south you can see Saudi Arabia, and to the west is Egypt.  Between it all is the Red Sea. The water of the sea is so clear and so blue, but it reflects the rich red of the mountains around it.

Looking up from the Underwater Observatory.

Two kilometers down the beach from the main city, is the Coral World Underwater Observatory Marine Park. It is a small aquarium with the most amazing feature I have ever been to. A sunken observation deck. From this vantage, I got to experience a coral reef from as close as possible without getting wet. This attraction puts the people in the "tank" and lets the fish swim free, in their - only slightly modified - natural habitat. It was an amazing experience, being inside the tank and watching the water and fish go on seemingly forever. I don’t know when the last time was that I felt so calm or at peace from just being in a place.

There were so many fish that I have never seen before. It was so amazing being in the middle of a coral reef. Everywhere there were shoals of fish, living coral, bright colors, and blue, blue water. The light filtered from the surface turning anything translucent into a rainbow. The jellyfish at the surface reflected the light. Shinning silver was everywhere. I really wish that I had gotten good photographs there, but either the quality of the glass or the quality of the light was not conducive to good pictures.

Sunset in Eilat

Moon over the beach

This is not a busy season in Eilat. The weather is not hot enough to go swimming and a little too windy for most sailing. I stayed at Motel Sunset. It was neither a motel nor had a good view of the sunset, but it was amazingly sweet. It was the kind of place that I wanted to visit in the summer, when it was so hot that all the visitors would sit in the courtyard late at night chatting and playing cards. In February, it was very quiet.

I spent my last night on the beach. I took pictures of the sunset and enjoyed the presence of the troublesome beach-cats while eating mediocre sushi. The cool night air reminded me of sailing with my father of a spring evening (I called him to tell him that). I was ready to go home.

The next morning, I woke up and saw that I had missed my alarm and my bus home.

Night in the open air lobby of the motel

I raced to get dressed and out the door, checking out in a hurry and running to the bus station. Not only had I missed my bus, but the next one was full. I would have to find another way back to Jerusalem in order to get to my apartment  in time to Skype into my grad school class.

After waking the program director here, and my mother in Maine, holding back tears in Eilat's central bus station, I ended up flying from Eilat to Ben Gurion airport (a very inexpensive flight), and I was back in the apartment by 2.   Waiting for me at the apartment was a letter from my Junior year RA from Marlboro. I read as I climbed the four flights of stairs. By the time I got into the apartment, I was crying. Every ounce of emotion from the past week, both good and bad, poured out of me. 

Two days later, as I edit this post, I am still feeling drained.

The view from the sea level observation deck at the Underwater Observatory

Thank you for reading, if you would like to help me on my journey, please go to http://www.gofundme.com/joystar