The latest adventures part 2

I finally have a chance to sit down and document the rest of my adventures. It started with a day trip to Haifa with my program. I didn't have a great start to the day and from there I knew there would be issues. Issues turn into adventures. It is all in your outlook. Now you ask what went wrong? I get on the bus and just as we are about to leave I realize I forgot my ticket to Eilat. From Haifa I was travelling down to Eilat for four days with my father. So I run back to my apt to get it and while I am there I get my timesheet for my madricha which I had also forgotten in my apt. There I am thinking I am in the clear and have now gotten everything. Well guess what? An hour into the bus ride I realize I left my passport in my apartment and I am supposed to be flying back from Eilat. We were told in order to do so, I needed my passport. So after that start to the day I figured it wasn't going to get better. We arrive in Haifa and go straight to the Bahai Gardens which are actually spectacular! As we are walking around though we start to question why the clouds in the sky are such pretty colours. Hmmm I wonder why? We then find out that there is a fire in a Druze village, but nobody thinks much of it because this does happen sometimes when there has not been a lot of rain. As the day progresses though, we start to realize this is no small fire and this is not something that happens. Of course everyone now knows that fire went on for days and affected so many people. Aside from all the craziness that happened that day, it still was a wonderful trip and I was able to see so much of Haifa and realize what an awesome city it is.

After that it was time to catch a train from Haifa to Tel Aviv and a bus from Tel Aviv to Eilat. The next morning my father and I had scheduled snorkelling with the dolphins. I was so excited since it has been a dream of mine since I was a kid to swim with the dolphins. Turns out, it really was a dream come true. When we got there they gave us an explanation of what would happen. We were told that we were entering the dolphin's habitat and therefore should not expect them to act like show dolphins since they are not. We would be able to see the dolphins doing what they felt like. We were also told that even if the dolphins came up and touched us, we were not allowed to touch them back because they would not be expecting that. If they wanted to be touched they would go to the trainers. We got really luck and the dolphins were really playful that day and came right up to us. Not only do you have these fantabulous creature swimming around you, you also have the natural beautiful coral around you and all the fish that are in the area swimming around you. The rest of the trip was awesome. We saw the underwater observatory and took a 4 hour jeeping tour of Timna Valley and I got to see ancient Egyptian temples and hieroglyphics. It was incredible.

Now you might be wondering what ever happened to not having my passport and getting home. After attempting to express mail my passport to Eilat and being told that they could not guarantee its arrival for when I needed it, I decided to take my chance getting on the plane without it. I had my birth certificate and my license. I was hoping that would be enough. In the end, after 3 levels of interrogation I was allowed to board the plane!

This past week my program did 3 days in the Negev which was amazing. I love the desert! I decided to take it easy since its been a bit hectic lately and didn't hike. Still there were soo many things to do and see and I am kind of obsessed with Nubian Ibexes which get soooo close to you. They are amazing! Instead of one of the hikes those of us who opted out ended up at an awesome park inYeruham with kiddy ziplining and all.





Nubian Ibex



riding the rooster

Love!

I am kind of glad things have calmed down a little. Everyone needs a break from adventure for a little bit :)