The Serenity of Eilat

September 03, 2007

This morning at 6:40 AM I stumbled through my dorm and somehow managed to take a shower and drag myself to class after a sleepless night on Egged bus #394 out of Eilat. After a tiring but amazing weekend I wasn't ready to get back to reality. Eilat is like paradise and it's not a good idea to visit paradise for a weekend when you live in hell and have to return to it. That's like eating a bite of the best chocolate cake you've ever had and then putting it inside a glass box with no door. But, nonetheless, it was refreshing.

Allow me to start at the beginning. I left the dorms Thursday afternoon and took a cab with a few others from the school to the bus station where I purchased my ticket and met up with Michael's friend Natalie who was also going to visit him for the weekend from "the center." Natalie and I hit it off right from the start. She's such an amazing person! She has that personality that just draws you in and wraps you in genuine warmth and kindness. So the whole 5 hours we spent chatting and getting to know each other. Let me tell you, by the time we got off the bus people watching us would have thought we'd known each other since we were young. Actually, a few people we met in Eilat did think so. One guy asked, "So where did you two meet?" and when we told him we met on the bus from Tel Aviv his eyes bulged and he said something like, "and you're already that close?"

Michael met us at the station. Let me remind you that I've known him for the greater part of two years and this was the first time I've ever actually seen him. I've met friends I made on the internet before but I honestly never thought I'd ever meet Michael because, let's face it, he lives in Israel and I never thought I'd be back for this long of a time. So! Everyone hugged and Michael and I commented on how weird it was to actually see each other and then we left to get ourselves familiar with the miracle that is Eilat.

That night I slept like a baby. I closed my eyes and they didn't open until my phone's alarm clock began it's insistant ringing. A new day was beginning! We headed over to the Shelter, which is a Christian Youth Hostel, and hung out there for a little while before we headed to Michael's apartment to watch a movie and chill out. Now, I must explain something about the Shelter. If you don't have at least a little idea of what this place is like you won't fully understand my fascination with Eilat.

The Shelter was founded by a Dutch evangelist named "John". An amazing guy with a strong desire to persue G-d. The primary reason is to shelter people who are traveling through Israel but on the side the hostel provides help for whoever G-d sends to them. Currently they're working with the Sudanese refugees from Egypt and the surrounding countries. They have a worship service on Friday nights and on Saturdays during the church service they watch the kids for free. The kids, oh man. These kids are so amazing! They were such a blessing to me! They just randomly come to the Shelter to hang out and have fun. Anyway, back to the Shelter. So, there's such a welcoming atmosphere there. You go and you immediately feel at home. G-d is definitely working in that place.

So, that's the Shelter. An amazing place full of wonderful people doing wonderful things for G-d. Now, on Saturday we had so much fun. Some of the volunteers from the Shelter took the Sudanese kids to the beach for some fun in the sun. And it was just that. So much fun! I think I'm 3 shades darker now, which I never thought was possible. Me tanning, go figure. That day we did so much I can't even think of it all. I know we had Shawarma and ice cream because three of the Shelter volunteers were leaving the next day. That was sad 'cause one of them was this awesome guy named Anthony from England. He has an amazing testimony that he's just finished writing down. He's a really great guy! I wish I had had more time to talk with him.

So Sunday I basically spent at the beach and the shelter. Around 8 o'clock was when life got REALLY interesting. Tel Aviv was already sneaking up on me, even though I wasn't even near it yet.

I wasn't planning on getting back so late but the Israeli system is so wack and they randomly changed the bus schedules a few days ago. My plan was to leave at 8 and get back to Tel Aviv by 1 AM, get some rest, and go to class. Well, we arrived at the station at a quarter til and... it was empty. Michael and I looked at each other and he says, "what day is it?" and I just looked at him with this scared deer-in-headlights look. "No, it's Sunday. Where are the buses?" So we asked the ticket guy and he informed us that the buses will now be coming every four hours instead of every other hour and the next one wasn't until 1 AM. As soon as the words were out of his mouth I began calculating the hours in my head. The bus would arrive in Tel Aviv at 6 AM and I would get home a little before 7 (The time I'm usually waking up to get to class). I figured it was G-d telling me it wasn't time to leave yet and purchased my middle-of-the-night ticket to Tel Aviv. I wasn't about to argue with G-d and who could complain?

It turned out to be good 'cause we went back to the Shelter and I swung back and forth in the hammock chatting with Mom and enjoying the last few hours of serenity before I returned to the hecktic schedule that comes with Tel Aviv. Everything goes by faster here. Even time! My weekends fly by in Tel Aviv but my weekend in Eilat was so nice and slow moving. Usually time flies when I have fun but G-d blessed me and it was a nice 3 days.

Anyway, I honestly did not mean for this post to end up so long, so if you made it to the end thank you for enduring the post. I have more pics on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=746201994