Busy Busy

Greetings from the Middle East! Life is busy busy here as I try and “make the most” of every day here before I leave. Just one month to go and it’s so sad! Some highlights of late are traveling more around the Galilee region and hiking in the Golan (the most northeastern part of Israel) with friends. I have hiked twice in the last week and had some wonderful memories made. One excursion was with some medical students staying at the hospital from the States. We had planned to hike a very long and arduous trail only to find it closed due to mud.  We thought this was a very silly reason to close a nature trail and it didn’t stop us from still going as far as we could and getting a little lost in the effort. To make up for the shortened hike we stopped off at a local winery and brewery on our way home and bought some delicious brew to take to the Sea of Galilee shores to enjoy with our shwarama dinner. I know I’ve said this before, but this is absolutely the most beautiful time of year here with all the hills a bright bright green and the wild flowers blooming everywhere. It’s ideal for day hikes. It also makes leading tours outside so much nicer not having to run groups through the rain as we get more and more sunny/warm days.

I continue to make new friends and spend a lot of time with my flat mates from the UK. I am already brainstorming a trip to Scotland in the future to visit my flat mate Monte as she has convinced me that all Scotts are as friendly and even more hilarious than she is. Not to mention that Scotland happens to be one of the most beautiful countries. The hospital has turned out to be a great social environment with medical students and doctors coming through every couple of weeks. We have lots of communal dinners and surprisingly enough, I’m getting a little more confident in the kitchen because of this! I am also learning some authentic Arab dishes to cook when I come back home. You should look forward to this =)

Tours are still fantastic. We recently had a baby lamb born and I was able to bottle feed it just a day after it was born. So precious! Today I led a very friendly tour of about 50 Canadians and I happened to meet one whose parents were from Estonia! My family will understand how exciting this is because so many people don’t even know where Estonia is from. Her name was Tiina and I was happy to say “teta teta” to her and talk about similar stories of escape during WW2. It’s such a treat to meet so many friendly people on the tours. I have yet to have a grumpy audience (knock on wood!).

This Friday I am off to the Sea of Galilee again and I plan on getting a boat ride with friends out on the lake. With this great weather we’ve been having lately, it will be a perfect time to go. Maybe I’ll catch some fish! ;) I plan to relax around Nazareth with friends this weekend or perhaps a day trip to nearby Haifa. You have to be creative with transportation on Shabbat because transport is almost nonexistent. Next week I’m headed down south again and really looking forward to a long trip. I may stop off in Jerusalem for another day of sightseeing before heading back to Be’er Sheva, then Eilat (the most southern city in Israel) and then off to Petra in Jordan! It should be an adventure!! Please pray for safe travels and I’ll write more soon!!