Picturesque Beaching

"It's not the occasional class that I'm going to look back on and remember fondly once my study abroad semester is over... I'm going to remember all the adventures I had," is what I said to pretty much anyone who would listen this past Saturday to try and rationalize my decision. My schedule on Sunday consists of Arabic classes, but I wasn't planning on attending those classes this week. Instead, hours before I'd even have to be up for class, I boarded a bus headed to the beach.

Noah is an art student at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and this past Sunday his photography professor had set up a class trip to go spend eight hours photographing a small local fisherman's beach north of Tel Aviv which I was invited to attend. It was a tough decision... Arabic class or a free beach trip with my friend. أستاذة آسف (sorry professor), but I tagged along with my little Sony point-and-shoot camera to go hangout with Noah and his photography class for the day.

Our location for the day.

It was a small local beach which was rather removed from civilization.

Hanging out beachside for the day.

It was a really nice day. My favorite summary of the trip is actually a list from a follow-up Email from Noah's professor Yosaif. He describes the contents of the day as:

"Consider this wishlist for a foto excursion at the beach in the chilly end of November:

Powerful clouds that have personality and offer soft light

waves and strong motion to make the ocean exciting

a beach where a warm cozy bus is always a ready refuge

sunny highlights on a grey ocean

a fisherman's tent (including fishermen) for Minna with tea, atmosphere and a cozy place out of the rain

a totally private beach and shoreline

high hills and cliffs nearby to look down at the ocean

a good early morning rain to wipe out all the footprints

arriving to the beach the second the rain stops

a warm sunny day for relaxation

warm weather for swimming

safe water without strong currents

water warm enough to enjoy a good swim

enough visual stimuli to make everybody happy

the color of the sunset over the variety of sand and water formations on the shoreline

coming home safely with the same number of people who left.

We did pretty good."

We had everything from overcast skies, to sun, to a light drizzle, to a full blown thunderstorm. A whole season of weather within our short collection of hours onsite. We got to swim, sunbath, take shelter from the ocassional rain cloud, and take pictures through it all.

A picture Noah took of me in front of the Mediteranian.

One of my favorite photos I took during the trip.

A picture Noah captured of one of the fisherman's huts.

When on a mostly deserted beach for an extended number of hours, people tend to get acquainted. During the first intense patch of weather as we counted our numbers while attempting to stay dry in the bus we realized we "lost" someone. Noah's professor alluded to the end of the story in his Email... once the weather cleared we learned that rather than taking shelter with our class in the bus, the missing girl had ended up sitting with the fisherman in their tent over a cup of tea!

People became more comfortable embracing the sparse locals on the beach and even more stories pouring in. While standing in a group I got pulled into converation from a local man who had been a sailor when he was younger. He recalled stories of accompaning shipments everywhere from Panama, to the United States, to the Soviet Union. He could tell me the history of every single location around the beach from Biblical times to explicit details regarding what had progressed in his lifetime. He described one point in his life when he remembered coins from the DDR (East Germany) washing up all over that local beach. He warned me in urgent whispers of the power of wealth while just a little further down the beach a few students were tucked into a shack with some of the fisherman distilling whiskey with them.

Noah happened to capture a picture of the man I described talking to while he was walking along the beach.

All in all it was a great trip. I may not have had a Thanksgiving break this week, but I did get to enjoy a long and fun day at the beach even at the end of November. Sababa.