Day 14 - "The North" is a big place, right?

Today was an adventure, as predicted. We were supposed to leave at 9 am, but luckily I received a call around 8 notifying me that just in case I hadn't received the text message alert (which I hadn't; I don't think I can get texts), we were leaving at 10 am instead. So I slept a bit more.

A bit of back story. On Friday when I was in Jerusalem, I had planned on staying the night in a hostel by the Damascus gate (between the Christian and Arab Quarters), but towards the early afternoon I received a call inviting me to go hiking in the North of Israel. I decided to go back to Rehovot that afternoon with Stephen at that point.

So I woke up at 9:30, put a backpack together, and met some of the others at the front gate. We had rented two cars, and there were 6 of us who lived at or around Weizmann. The other three we were to pick up along the way. So we set off, Daniel (from Mexico, and in my program) driving the other car with Michael, whom I had met playing soccer and who had invited me, and Nick (from Germany) driving the car which contained me, Ari, and Joel. We first picked up Lily (who works at Weizmann but will start her masters soon in Canada), which turned out to be an epic adventure including multiple u-turns, not all of which were legal, and, as Joel put it, more driving in reverse than he had ever seen in his life. To sum up, those in the car we were following had no idea where she lived. Luckily we eventually located her. She took over driving the other car, which was a very positive thing.

From there she drove, and we followed, to pick up the next two people, each of whom we located with few u-turns and no backtracking (!). They both lived close to Tel Aviv. We continued north for one or two ours, stopping for lunch at a Burger King (how ironic; I consumed my first ever Whopper in Israel) until we reached the park. We grabebd water and set off on the shortest hike, which was the only one still open because we only reached the park rather late in the day.

The hike began with a flat, rather rocky but wide trail which led us past and thorugh some ruins among which cows were grazing and lazing about. Past this area we walked along the top of a huge gorge which reminded me strongly of the scene in the Princess Bride just before they enter the Fire Swamp. There were purple bulbous clusters of small flowers on tall stalks everywhere, as well as dry grass and thistle-like plants. Soon the descent began, and rocks prevailed over dirt along the trail. The going was narrower but stair-like, and at certain points the bottom of the trail, a pool at the foot of a waterfall, came into view through the trees and bushes.

By the time we made it down we were very hot, so most of us stripped down to our bathing suits and got into the water. I took a few rocky steps, then just plunged in once it was deep enough, but most worked their way in a bit slower. The water was deliciously cool but not hypothermia-inducing, and while it wasn't clear, it wasn't dirty or slimy. Small and slightly larger fish darted in and out of the rocks in the shallows, but the center of the pool was deep (at least 10 to 15 feet at places). We swam closer to the waterfall and were able to stand directly under it. To the right was a dry, flat collection of rocks which jutted out into the pool, providing an excellent natural platform for us to show off our diving skills (or lack thereof). There was also a point, directly to the left of the falls, which was trickier to reach (Ari commented that I must be using my climbing "route-finding" skills) but provided a higher jumping point.

Within a half hour or so, however, a park ranger told us we had to head back, to leave before the park closed. We emerged, dried off a bit, and began the hike back, which was much steeper but for some reason we chose to attempt at the same pace as the descent. I dipped into my water supply for the first time during the ascent. We had some insightful conversations about how to compliment girls, and being the only female in our half of the group, I was the only one present to confirm that saying "You have nice front teeth" or "You are so beautiful; your ears are perfectly centered" might not go over perfectly well. Other conversation topics included the Colbert Report, a favorite of Michael's (see below for "Colbert pictures). Michael's plan is as follows: save someone from a disaster, like drowning or a burning building. When interviewed by local press, say that his heroic inspiration came from Stephen Colbert. Get onto the Colbert Report as a guest, and after befriending Stephen, have him introduce Michael to any number of hot famous girls. I, for one, think this is a sound idea. The only possibility for failure might be if Michael sets the building on fire in the first place, which as I pointed out might result in a much bigger scandal and prevent Rachel Bilson or the like from being truly interested.

Once we reached the flat portion again, we noticed an army helicopter hovering near the cows. We didn't ever discover what was going on, but it was fascinating to see the blades whip ripples into the grass, which must have been ready to seed because vast, billowing gusts of golden particles soon surrounded the craft as it slowly surfed just above the ground choosing a place to land. We stood, some of us transfixed, some of us just wondering how far behind the rest of the group had become, until we headed back to the car.

Many of us then grabbed ice creams, discussing the merits of the flavors and what a person's favorite might say about his or her personality, before leaving. We stopped in Tiberias for dinner; many went to McDonalds but the Americans (me, Ari and Joel) chose not to consume food from two American fast food chains in one day, and chose instead to eat Italian food at a British pub called "Big Ben" (I'd like to say for the record that I had schnitzel). What a way to explore the setting of Jesus' magnificent bread-multiplying episode.

We met up with the other car before parting; they would drop off the others again, and our car would go directly to Weizmann, where we all lived. On the road again, we periodically checked the map we found in the glove box as we made the long journey home. Nick and Joel work for the same professor, doing computational biology and neurology, respectively, and Ari also studies math, so as they discussed algebraic topology, Michael and I talked a bit about astrophysics, his field. When conversation included the whole car, it was more philosophical: we attempted to enumerate the many definitions of "cute," which turned out to be a much more fruitful topic than expected.

Finally, around 10:30 pm, we made it back. I had no energy to blog; I crashed almost immediately. Many pictures were taken; I will show you a few now, but later this week, during the more boring work days, more may follow.

The ruins and the cows

"You can die too, for all I care..."

"Aaaaaaaas yooouuuuuuuuu wiiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssshhhh!"

Purple flowers

Michael and me in the waterfall

All of us who swam. Left to right:

Nick, Michael, Ari, Me, Joel

Me making the Colbert face with Michael

The poisonous flowers by the pool

The Sea of Galilee (view from Tiberias)