Day 9: Beach!

August 1, 2014

By: Shalhevet Gobrin

Today was an absolutely incredible day, as can be expected from this Diller ISS. After breakfast, we departed to the Dead Sea. Personally, I have been to Israel many times before but for some odd reason I was never able to make it to the Dead Sea, so I was especially excited to experience this for the first time! 

Upon arrival, those of us who swim during the nine days of Av wasted no time and didn't hesitate to wade right into the sea. It's an almost magical experience to be enveloped in the Dead Sea. The water feels like oil and it's hard to convince yourself that it's actually a natural pool of water. As you get deeper, your feet loose ground but you can still remain upright and walk right through the sea until the other side! It's almost impossible to describe what it feels like to float in the Dead Sea. 

After about half an hour, those who chose to go see the Kumran Caves did so then. I chose to remain at the beach and I do not regret my choice in the slightest. I remained at the beach examining the salt and the water. I was absolutely infatuated with the beach and the sea and I could have stayed there all day. We also were able to lather ourselves in mud from the Dead Sea and let it dry. Once it hardened, we washed it off and now our skin is smooth. 

Despite the marvel of the Dead Sea, it does have one downfall, and that is the quantity of salt. You see, it is extremely painful to immerse yourself with salt water with open wounds which many of us had. While I personally didn't have any stinging cuts, I somehow managed to get salt water into my eye more than once which is equally, if not more painful. We all required fresh water showers every so often to relieve the burning in our eyes, ears and mouths. 

Eventually, we had to leave the beach to go for lunch near the beach when we met up with the rest of our cohort. There was also a gift shop which we browsed through and explored the Dead Sea products on display. Finally, we returned to our residence and were given free time to swim, nap or hang out. We are going to be ready for a white Shabbat, donned in white outfits by 4:30 when we will have some Diller activities and undoubtedly engage in some insightful conversations, Diller style. I know this Shabbat will be meaningful and inspirational and I can't wait to see what's in store for us tonight (and to finally eat meat again!).