December 6, 2013

Today was yet again another great day. I went to Sachne with Paige, Nate, Nate's friend Max, and Nate's cousin Daniel (who lives in Jerusalem). We left early in the morning and Daniel drove us up the coast and to Sachne. Sachne is a natural hot springs on the border of the West Bank, up north. We drove for about two hours or so and got there around 1pm, and the park/ hot springs closed at 3pm.

On our way up to Sachne, the five of us were squished into Daniel's little car. The car had two seats in the front (of course) and only two seats in the back, but we fit three of us. Nate sat in the middle seat, on top of a pillow! Other than the ride being a little tight, we made great timing and had a lot of fun. There was no traffic, so we got there fast. The views were pretty when we were driving along the coast. Once we got further inland, we were driving on the border of the West Bank. It was interesting to see the Israeli Arab villages and settlements compared to the Arab West Bank villages. The Israeli side's houses were much nicer and larger and the land was more taken care of. The West Bank's side looked much more run-down and gross and dirty. We all stepped for lunch at Cafe-Cafe in an Arab village on the Israel side. This was a definite experience! We were the only ones in the restaurant and didn't know any Arabic. The three guys were basically all fluent in Hebrew but Paige and I barely know any. The waiter at the Cafe-Cafe definitely did not know any English and only knew a little Hebrew. It was hard to order, but it ended up working out! As we were in the restaurant, the Arab waiters just kept staring at all of us and it was a little uncomfortable. We were in culture shock. We left the restaurant and headed towards Sachne. Once we got there, we realized that it closed an hour and a half after we got there. At first we thought we would be rushed but after a little while in the water, we were ready to leave. The hot springs were so nice. The water was so clear and fresh and warm. Although the air was FREEZING outside, in the water we were pretty warm. There was a hot springs pool/ pond that we swam around in and took pictures in for a while and then there was also an all natural, fresh, clean waterfall. This was for sure my, and I think everyones favorite part of the day. It was a harsh waterfall but we all sat under it anyway. It felt INCREDIBLE! The warm water was flowing down the rocks and pelting our backs, massaging us. We sat there for a while and took pictures with Paige's underwater camera of us playing in the water and posing and making funny faces. It was so much fun and so relaxing. After a little bit, probably like half an hour, of sitting under the waterfall, we started to get really really cold, so we got out of the water and dried off and changed. The park was closing and it was time for us to head back to Tel Aviv. There was no traffic on the way back and it was a nice and relaxing car ride. The three boys are all from Atlanta, Georgia, so there was a lot of country music, MY FAVORITE!!! I had a great day and it is so sad that we are leaving so soon and we don't have too much time left.