Taking in the Scenery...

I have this constant mindset when traveling around Jerusalem that I'm always into finding a good view. I'm not sure if it's just because I'm not used to living in a city, but there's something incredibly beautiful about seeing Jerusalem sprawled out in front of you. It's not unusual if I'm out somewhere to walk well out of my way just because I think there may be a great view from a certain spot. And once I find a spot I like.... there's nothing quite like lingering and taking in the scenic view. I am studying abroad in a once in a lifetime city after all.

Anyways, the pictures add up and I don't necessarily want to flood Facebook or Instagram with a bunch of random landscape pictures. So here are some of the best I've collected in my wanderings along the way:

A view of the old temple wall and the Dome of the Rock from a vantage point off the highway on Mount Scopus.

Just off to the side of a building in Jerusalem giving a nice view of the center of the city on the hill on the right and the surrounding area.

A different angle of the religious epicenter of Bethlehem. I loved the way the clouds were descending in relation to the minaret.

The not so unusual phenomenon of me trailblazing along the way to some new vantage point. Here I had just climbed over the guard rails along the edge of a street near my apartment complex to check out the view over Jerusalem.

The view of Tel Aviv in the distance from a roof I was standing on in Jaffa.

Another roof top, another view.

Jerusalem at night from behind the Israel Museum.

I wanted to attach this photo because it's scenic in its own way. Cause, you know, um, the ocean...

An awesome view from a rooftop cafe I recently found in the Old City.

Another view from the cafe.

If you look from one side of our campus you can see the Jordanian desert sprawling in the distance.

And my academic building offers this lovely view every time I walk past.

Looking out over Jerusalem from my apartment building. There's no place like home.

Weekend Trip to Tel Aviv

I apologize for being so scarce in updating my blog lately. When I'm not busy I'm usually trying to use my few blocks of free time for some more adventuring out and about in Israel, but I keep forgetting to save time to actually share updates on them! This past weekend I finally got around to exploring Tel Aviv. Thursday a bunch of my fellow Arabic classmates, Noah, and I all headed back to Jaffa. We decided to take advantage of the 84 degree weather in December.

A pretty view of Jaffa beach and the city.

Noah and I in Jaffa. (Photo credits to Kati.)

We spent the day leisurely enjoying the markets and cafes around Jaffa before heading to the beach. We really hadn't intended on swimming, but the weather was amazing so we found ourselves spending our afternoon in the Mediterranean.

A rare sighting of Arabic students enjoying free time.

(L to R: Simon [Australia], Theresa [Germany], Kati [England], myself, and Lisa [Netherlands])

At the end of the day most of the group headed back to Jerusalem but Noah and I had booked accommodations to spend the rest of the weekend in Tel Aviv. We met up with Noah's friend Roi who showed us around the city. Including the best place for ice cream ever.

Roi and I take our ice cream very seriously.

Although we hadn't actually met Roi until that weekend we became fast friends. Without his help we would have been horribly lost and missed out on so much of Tel Aviv. Plus we got to enjoy Shabbat dinner even away from our usual Shabbat at the student village.

Saturday we lazily made our way to brunch before enjoying a little more time on the beach. We took our last day in Tel Aviv as leasurely as possible filling our day with louging seaside and sampling some more restaurants before finally heading back to Jerusalem.

Another beautiful beach in Israel.

I can't believe this is what I'm doing with my "winter".

A beautiful sunset on our last evening in Tel Aviv.

A little sun and a lot of good company is definitely a great way to end the week.

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.

عين جدي

Friday morning Noah and I woke up with a mission. We were off to visit the Dead Sea. A few hours, a bus ride, and a pomegranate later, we managed to arrive at En Gedi, a beach literally in the middle of the desert.

The sign for the beach along the desert highway.

It was absolutely gorgeous. With mountainous desert in one direction and the sea in the other, the view couldn't be beat. Except, maybe by the experience itself. We quickly hurried down to the shore, ditched our backpacks, and headed straight for the water. 

Noah on the beach before we got in.

At the Dead Sea!

The sensation of being in the Dead Sea was like something I had never experienced before. There's this feeling of weightlessness, I heard one tourist describe it as feeling like an astronaut. The buoyancy truly is incredible. Effortlessly, my body floated well above the water. There's an entirely new point of balance that's different from any other time swimming prior so it's a little freaky, but at the same time I imagine it'd be nearly impossible to drown. But then the water itself is different too. The water is insanely salty. My lips would burn and reactively licking it would just cause my mouth to taste like it was full of tablespoons of salt for minutes after. It felt cool on our skin though. Noah described it as taking a bath purely in essential oils, which is completely accurate. If you rub essential oil on your arm it would be nearly the exact feeling of your skin while in the Dead Sea.

This is a picture Noah took of me floating in the Dead Sea. I'm literally just sitting on top of the water.

Hanging out at En Gedi.

It was such an awesome experience and the perfect way to spend my first weekend is Israel. Nothing like a little sun, a lot of salt, and good company!

Friendship Camp

Every July Santisuk English School holds an "English Friendship Camp". Students, volunteers, and staff board busses and travel south to the beach for three days of games, songs, worship and more. It just so happened, that my stay in Thailand overlapped Friendship Camp. So, two days into my stay in Latkrabang I got whisked away to Rayong where I would be participating in Friendship Camp until my return to Indonesia.

On the bus to Rayong. From right to left is Dou, myself, and my two new roommates for the weekend.

The beach from our hotel.

Charissa and I enjoying the beach.

I expected to spend most of my time with Latkrabang people, but true to the name of the camp, it's hard not to make new friends during the event. We were seperated into different groups for different activities and I ended up making a whole new group of friends who are students from the Lad Prao school. 

Adding to my Santisuk family.

At lunch enjoying the delicious seafood that was served to us beachside all three days.

It was an awesome weekend and a great way to spend my short time in Thailand. I can't believe I'm leaving this family, but it's nice knowing I'll get to see my own immediate family in just a few days. Until then, a brief stay in Jakarta...

Toes in the Water, Santisuk in the Sand

Carol and Dundun once again spoiled us rotten. Today they drove us to Pattaya, a beach a little more than an hour drive from Bangkok. It's pretty self explanatory, so I'll let the pictures tell the story...

Some of the Santisuk team and students.

The view from our little piece of paradise.

I swam to that island.

A beachside temple. 

The beach we were on is in the background.

My students decided to bury me in the sand.

I ended up as a mermaid...

All in all a very enjoyable day at the beach.

So that's Pattaya. :)