Chan Hashayarot Mizpe Ramon

... thick with the masses of people shifting foot to foot, waiting, and the sound of singing drifted up. Fifteen minutes later, we had rounded the bend in the short staircase and could see perhaps the holiest place in Christianity. A small room was packed with a spanish group who burst into Silent Night as we reached the bottom of the stairs. All were turned to face a gold altar, at the base of which was a gold eight-pointed star with a hole in the middle. There, beneath ...

... endlessly long, incredibly high valley's edge. Lunch outside with a view that can't be beat, then a visit to the center, an educational film, an more views: one from the center's roof and one from another spot not far away, which literally hangs over the edge of the ridge. According to the displays, we can see as far as 42 km (26 miles) away. Simply stunning. I'm so glad we took the detour off the straight-shot road from Eilat ...

... actually becomes more interesteing. There are a lot of hills and craggy cliffs in this desert--it's not the sand desert that you may be picturing.
Next, you need to know that Israeli Defense Forces use some of the Negev for maneuvers (aka blasting ranges) and the occasional military jet will buzz your car. Or you'll come to a fork in the road, one route has a roadblock and soldiers, one does not. So you go down the one that does not, and then you re ...

... need someone to stay close to in case we do have to get off the plane in *****ia. I figure, if I'm with a group of people, the police won't steal my passport. I hope. Wish me luck! Oh, and if I don't write in a couple of weeks, then hopefully it's just because I don't have int**net access anywh**e near me. I don't know wh**e my friend Sulley lives, and I think I'm staying with him for the first couple of weeks, so I might end up in a village. I'll let you know!

... to send the mom along when mom shoves another set of papers for another child in her face. at this point, the doc starts screaming "LO! LO!" (no, no) and gesticulating wildly for the mom to get out of the room. the mom of the kid who's actually in the room is physically nudging the interloping mother out the door while she is still busy waving the papers around. i've never seen anything quite like it. the bedouin have also been intermarrying ...

... and chatted. Most of the conversation involved Boaz's and Yoav's obsessions with hamburgers in Los Angeles. We already made all the dinner plans for when they come to LA at the end of this year, lol. So here's the nest night ever part. My cousin, Elior, took me out. First, we went to Mike's Place in Tel Aviv.  It was a super cool bar that all the tourists go to. I know, I know, I know. I should experience the culture and go to all the underground spots ...

... Sunday morning I repacked my suitcases and took my last American shower. =-( We had lunch, then it was time to head to the airport at noon. Our flight wasn't until 6pm, but with a group, those in charge wanted to leave room for error and make sure there was plenty of time to make the flights. Alan's flight also wasn't til 6pm, so he was able to meet and hang out with some of my new coworkers. I'm glad of that. So, around 5pm, Alan and I said good bye again and parted ways. During the ...

... how fast this happens and how much the temperature drops! Feeling it is sure different from reading the figures... There are millions of stars visible, since there is no source of light anywhere, beautiful! And the silence! You hear absolutely nothing, I never thought of how relaxing this could be. Even in a quiet place in Europe, it is still noise compared to the desert at night! I think I just fell in love with the desert, I'll have to spend more time here...

Kleine Video warum man Israel nicht mehr bei google Earth findet http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/20 07/oct/25/google.israel Ich lade heute abend mein neues Video hoch hab leider gestern nicht so die Zeit dafür gehabt dafür für ein paar schöne Fotos von der Gegend und dem Campus.

Day 7 - Makhtesh Ramon Desert anybody? Yes, it's our fourth day in the desert. Being the early risers we have come to be, we swam the Reef bye-bye and checked out of our cosy Red Sea Reef Hotel. Of course I still had time to sneak a couple of my dearly beloved fish'N'cheese sandwiches out of the breakfast room to strengthen me on the way. Plan was to steadily work our way north through the Negev to a dimension-defyingly huge megacrater called Makhtesh ...