Tough Life, Elaborated, Part 2

Where did I leave off? Monday morning we awoke late, ate our stomachs full from the impressive Israeli buffet breakfast including eggs, shakshuka (a traditional Israeli dish of eggs and tomato sauce), a dozen salads, fresh bread, fruit, cereal, hot coffee and chocolate babka. We also practiced being Jewish mothers by filling a few plastic baggies with vegetables, cereal and cheese sandwiches for lunch.

We sat on the beach for a few hours sticking to a strict schedule of reading, playing in the ocean, listening to our respective iPods and eating ice cream. We also toasted our divine life with Pina Colatas and Strawberry daiquiris.

We left the sun during the hottest hours of the day and went to check out one of Eilat's premiere malls. I bought some new school clothes from Zara, one of my favorite non-USA stores. Rena convinced me to buy a pair of cargo-ish pants which are quickly becoming my new favorite capris. I also bought some school supplies from the Office Depot down the street including a microphone that will allow me to G-Talk with friends all over the world. For those who are Gmail users, Gtalk is a great way to speak through the internet and it's FREE!

On our way to dinner we came across a strange sign. Take a look:

We soon figured out that we had accidentally left Israel proper and were on our way into Egypt. Oooopps again. We made a quick U-turn and were soon back in Israel. We ate good fish in a mediocre fish restaurant that could have been anywhere in the states and got to sleep in our beautiful, expensive suites before Midnight.

Tuesday morning we woke up early and hit the buffet before getting back in the car. We drove a few minutes south to the Southern Beach, home of the EILAT DOLPHIN REEF. Rena had arranged for us to snorkel and swim with real, live DOLPHINS while we were on vacation. Unfortunately I don't have any digital pics of our adventure, but as with most great things, the best pictures are in my mind and memory.

We met with our instructor, got our wetsuits, snorkles, flippers and made our way to the water where we snorkeled for a half hour seeing schools of fish, a dozen dolphins, coral and the beautiful blue crystal water. The last time I snorkeled was when I was 16, so it took me a few minutes to remember how to breathe through my mouth while swimming. It was fantastic and the half hour went by so fast, I couldn't even believe it was time to get out of the water. We didn't get to touch or play with the dolphins perse, but they did swim right by us which was just amazing.

After our little wetsuit adventure, we spent the afternoon on the beach doing what we did the day before, just on a different beach. We got back to the hotel in the afternoon, took the required post-beach nap and got dressed for dinner. For our last dinner in Eilat we ate at giraffe, an Asian restaurant suggested by Alon, my roommate Lauren's boyfriend. The food was excellent and actually tasted like Asian food in the states. I had a salmon and pasta dish that was fantastic AND not hummus or falafel.

After dinner we walked around the downtown area of Eilat and finally found an outdoor cabana area/bar and spent the last of our shekels on mixed drinks and frozen daiquiris. Several drinks later we returned to the hotel to enjoy our last night of chofshi b'eilat (Vacation in Eilat).

Wednesday morning we checked out of the hotel, loaded the car and began our trip back to Jerusalem, which after four days away, actually felt like home. It's nice to feel like you're coming home after being away, even for a few days.

That was vacation. Today was the second day of classes. Eilat couldn't feel farther away. But I have a great tan, beautiful pictures and unbelievable stories- three things that still remind me of my *fabulous* chofshi kayitz in Eilat.

Jen, Rachel, Rena- I can't imagine any other people I would have wanted to spend 10 hours in a car with. Thanks for a great vacation- lets road trip it to LA when we're back in NY. That'll be fun.

That's all folks. Karen Perolman, vacation extrodinaire, signing off for now. More vacation pics to come soon, I promise- Love to all who are totally envious of my vacation.