Dessert in the Desert

Hey Friends! I hope you didn't miss me *too* much while I was "camping" in the Negev Desert. I also would like to apologize for those of you who were misled by my loose usage of the term camping. We stayed for 3 days and 2 nights in a nice hostel/community (but I'll talk about that later). I haven't decided if I want to make this a super long post or break it up into segments. I think it will be determined by my desire to go to bed. (It's nearly midnight, and we have Ulpan bright and early tomorrow).

So, let's get to it. Thursday morning we boarded our buses and headed south. We met our tour guide and our medic. We did not waste anytime getting to our first hike. We hiked the Makhtesh. (Here's a link if you want to learn more about the Makhtesh) The first part was steep, but the rest was relatively flat. (Actually, the only gripe I had about any of the hikes was that the terrain consists of small rocks and loose sand/dirt...which is different from what I'm used to...) We did hike pretty close to the edge which was unnerving, so obviously now you all know how much of a badass I am. But then again we were passed up by 14 year old girls while we were eating our lunches.

Our tour guide showing us where we were located.

Nina, Ariel, Me, and Miriam looking out over the "crater"... It's not technically a crater, but I got tired of saying Makhtesh.

After our 3 hour tour of the Makhtesh, we were taken to an authentic (illegal) Bedouin settlement. (Authentic - as opposed to the "touristy Bedouins" that Birthright takes us to with the camels etc etc.) They are considered illegal because they are unrecognized by Israel. For further information: click here. Here we enjoyed some delicious tea, and we got to hear about Ali's life, 2 wives, 12 kids, and his experiences as a Bedouin.

Molly and Sarah enjoying some Bedouin tea. I also love the color coordination.

Finally, we arrived at the hostel just in time for us to drop our bags off at our rooms and scurry to the dining hall. I would also like to add that having Molly join us in our room was delightful. I truly enjoyed the extra Miami presence. There was a bonfire after dinner where we attempted to make Israeli s'mores. Let me just say... few things are more American than the s'more. The marshmallows might have had a strawberryish flavoring, the chocolate was not milk (and too thick to melt), and the graham crackers were tea biscuits. Don't get me wrong. We devoured those s'mores like we'd never see food again (ok, we did that at every meal), I just wanted you to know that they weren't your traditional bonfire treat. 

We went to bed early that night because we had a 3 AM wake-up call for our night hike. But that is a story for another day....specifically tomorrow because I am exhausted and am going to bed.