November 16, 2013

Today was the second day in Eilat. We woke up early today and had breakfast at the hotel, which was not very good at all. EW! We had to get an early start because had a long day ahead of us of hiking. We drove about twenty minutes out of Eilat and wound up at the Amir mountains. The hike was absolutely beautiful; we saw the columns in the middle of the desert mountains and amazing rock formations. The hike was actually really interesting because we learned about the history of the mountains and settlers coming into Israel and living in the desert for forty years. We also played a lot of silly games along the hike, to keep all of us entertained. The hike was actually very hard. You did not have to be physically strong to do the hike, but there was a lot of physicality. We were hiking alond cliffs, down slopes, walking on unstable rocks, and walking up and down sleep inclines. There were tons of times that I thought I was not going to make it! HAHA. It was very scary walking in these areas. Although we had a long and hard hike, and I didn't exactly love the actual hiking, I felt amazing at the end. Looking back at the pictures I took, it was really rewarding to be able to say and feel that I accomplished and finished the hike ALIVE!

After finishing the hike, we headed back to the hotel to relax and hang out a little bit before yet another GROSS dinner. Once we finished dinner, we walked over to the boardwalk and had free time until midnight. This was really nice and relaxing and fun. The whole time I was hanging out with paige and a new friend, Nate. We walked around the boardwalk and along the water and past the hotel area. It was so pretty and relaxing to hear the waves crashing into the shore and feeling the breeze on our bodies! We then found a cute little ice cream shop and got some dessert. Nate and Paige got ice cream and I got delicious frozen yogurt. Who would have known that Israel has such god frozen yogurt! Once we got our treats, the three of us went and sat on some rocks along the water, dangling our feet above the waves, eating our ice cream. We were sitting there for two hours or so, just talking. These few fours reinforced the love I have for Israel and how sad I am to be going home kinda soon.