Today was a field trip day—except that it only included me, Marilyn, Cindy, and Jane. We left early for the Central Bus Station—humored on the way by a young gal sliding around the bus on account of its abrupt stops, and her large “tik” (backpack).We then boarded a bus, after shoving and pushing, which took us to Ein Gedi and its beautiful nature reserves. The ride down was a fright in itself. I don’t think the bus driver drove under 80 mph. We became quite bus sick. Especially, I’m sure, the lady whose bag we had watched earlier—she assured us it wasn’t a bomb. We found great humor in that comment.
Outside of our changing facilities (i.e., that is to say, the bathroom), some men were slaying some turkeys. It was a grotesque sight…and smell. Not to mention the comment as Janet and I walked out; “Beautiful.” I’m tired of that word. Signs outside the reserve warned us of panthers and leopards and gave directions on how to drive them away—we found great comfort in the suggestions. The hike was beautiful and quite the altitude climb. The waterfall was a grand sight. We were especially humored by the “Emergency Exit in Case of Fire” sign off the side of the trail. Hmmm, the first one I’ve seen outdoors. After a grueling hike on account of our very stuffed, heavy bags we reached some springs, if they could be called that. There were some spots to sit and study, so we did.
May I please recite some signs we encountered? One read “You are endangering human life! You have been warned!” We assumed they were referring to the person reading the sign. Another read “No rolling stones, there are people below.” Thank you for informing us. Our favorite, however, was “You are now in a nature reserve—do not harm the flora and fauna!” Excuse me, what flora and fauna? A humorous day.
We did hike to a natural pool above the waterfall. It was an experience. The climb down was challenging, the water was warm, and it was overcast and cool, so we swam. Cindy didn’t, however; she played photographer. She also fetched our towels. What a pal!
It was an enjoyable day, very relaxing. Why we even got some studying done! We waited at a bus stop in the middle of nowhere to catch our bus back to Jerusalem. The bus did finally come. Jerusalem was freezing! It was raining. We were not dressed for it. Some lady at the bus stop asked where we had been, allowing us to dress so skimpily. No, we are not always idiots, we do dress warm at times!
This journal entry was written and contributed by Amy Graff Baldwin who was a student in the winter semester of 1998.
Photos also courtesy of Amy Graff Baldwin
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