Into the Sea

As soon as I woke up in the morning I noticed I had gathered a few mosquito bites. Not that this was anything new though, because I am always having to be out the look out for them back at my apartment anyways and feel like I am in a perpetual state of camping without bug spray. I climbed out of bed and threw my book (Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn) towel and headphones in my backpack and my sandals and board shorts on for a trip to the beach for some snorkeling around the reef. I opened my door and was literally blinded by the sun. Probably not the bed idea to go from near complete darkness to opening an eastward door in the middle of the desert first thing in the morning. I ducked back in and traded my normal specs for some sunglasses and grabbed some complimentary breakfast from the Camp kitchen (fruit, rolls and yogurt) and met the folks staying in the cabin next to me, A nice German lady was staying for five weeks with her son for the some time together since she was teaching at a university in Cairo and he was going to school in the UK. Throughout my three and a half days there I realized that this kind of vacation Dahab was the norm, anything less than a month and you were just kind of passing through.

I rented a set of snorkel gear from a shop I passed for about 2 dollars and grabbed a bed at the beach from a restaurant and sprawled out for an hour or so just reading and listening to some music. I'll warn you now that I'm about to make a stereotype or two: Next to me were a few russians and I can say that over the course of the weekend I met a few more. These are the least friendly people you'll ever meet on a vacation. They are rude to the wait the wait staff and everyone else they encounter and are just kind of a cold people in general from what I observed both here and in Israel. I snapped a few pictures of the beach and the water while I was out there and the mountains you may be able to see in the distance are Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea

I got after some tea and reading and decided to head into the water where I was seeing some other people gather at just a hundred yards away. As soon as I threw on my snorkel gear and ducked under water I realized I was just a few feet away from the coral reef. I don't have the words to express how beautiful the reef was, from the giant urchins to the various kinds of coral and the fish that were a rainbow of neon colors, it was truly a unique experience to just be a few feet from shore and surrounded by such a magnificent jungle of life compared to the arid desert surrounding the Red Sea. Sadly I didn't have a digital camera, but Jeri once told me that sometimes its best to put the camera away and just live in the moment. I spent a total of four hours in the water that day and each time saw new species of fish and explored farther and deeper reaches of the reef. I came to Palestine for a life-changing experience and I have gotten one every day, but this was it's own special treat- to find this beautiful wildlife in such a harsh landscape.

Once again thats it for tonight. I'll do my best to cover the rest of the trip tomorrow night. On Friday it's off to Bethlehem for the holiday and back the next day for Christmas dinner!