December 26, 2014
Waking up in Eilat once again for another beautiful morning. Everyone was excited and anticipating another day in the water and under the desert sun. We set out along the Eilat coast eager to snorkel and experience life under the Red Sea at Coral Beach, crowded with fish and marine life. It was incredible to see the vibrant life below the water’s surface of quick moving, colourful fish dancing around the ocean floor, so similar to the vivacious atmosphere living above the water too. Girls went first into the ocean accompanied by many cold shrieks and screams, followed by the boys who thought they were ‘too hot’ for shirts, yet had many noticeable goose bumps whilst persevering through the colder than usual water.
Whilst relaxing and waiting for each of the groups to finish their snorkel it was surreal to take a moment, look up and realize the close proximity of our Arab neighbors Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. After a couple of hours working on our Sydney summer tans we started our long journey back towards Jerusalem.
Our first stop was at Kibbutz Yotvata, which is where Shoko was first discovered bah-sa-kit. In one of our many traditions on our journey, it was decided that dessert was best served first, to avoid any kashrut conflict with consuming our meat lunch. Lunch consisted of a massive schnitzel baguette that we all nobly conquered, leaving but a few crumbs. After an hour we continued on our way, edging ever so closely to Jerusalem.
After what seemed like forever, we arrived at our next stop the Vidor Agricultural Centre. We found out that this was dedicated to some of our fellow Moriah College community members the Vidor family of Sydney in recognition of their long-standing support for Israel in general, and for environmental initiatives in the Arava. This created a closer connection for us to relate when we were on our tour around the premises. Here we learnt about the extraordinary research undertaken in the centre, proving the impossible possible. They discover modern agricultural techniques thought up by the farmers of the Arava, in order to sustain the continuous growth of vegetation under the harsh conditions of the Arava.
We got back onto the bus and travelled our final 3 hours, finally arriving back at Ramat Rachel, which feels like our home here on IST. Dinner was awaiting us, as were our rooms and hot showers.
As we sit here writing another blogpost of the most amazing journey of our lives, we come to the sad realization of our last 4 days left here in beautiful Israel. Today showed us the ultimate uniqueness of our special home, and how grateful we are to be here.