Dead Sea (Annie)

For years and years in the back of my mind I had this vague notion that if I were ever to go to the Dead Sea it would be fun to see if one actually floated in it. I never quite believed that they were serious when they said you floated effortlessly.

Today, my friends, my hazy dreams of floating in the Dead Sea have been realized. And I will tell you one thing: they weren't kidding.

 You actually do float.

 The Dead Sea blows my mind! I guess I never completely believed the textbooks when they said you can't sink in the Dead Sea. You don't need to paddle or tread water or anything. All you need to do is keep your arms out for balance and you're set. I tried to swim a few different strokes. My legs wouldn't sink in far enough to actually do anything. It was like swimming on top of jelly.

As time progressed and I got over the initial shock of seemingly physics-defying properties of the water, I started photo-bombing everybody else's pictures, as has become a recent habit for me. The Dead Sea provided a great opportunity to do so, as I could swim behind random people and stick my legs and arms in the air and do all sorts of crazy poses that I never in a million years would be able to do in regular water. 

Then I floated on my tummy with a few friends and took pictures with our hands propping our chins up and our ankles crossed in the air. I also laid flat on the water and floated for a minute, enjoying the sensation of being weightless. I was careful not to duck my head under--the water STINGS when it gets into your nose or eyes. Not only that, but as I have a cold right now my nose, eyes and mouth are already more sensitive so it would be even worse if I got salt in them. As it was I got a fine layer of salt on my face. And a thick layer of salt everywhere else.

 After our lovely Dead Sea experience we went to En Gedi, which is a series of waterfalls and pools where I washed all the salt off. It felt heavenly. We also went to Masada , which is located on the top of a small mountain-like structure that is surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs. It is here that thousands of Jews committed suicide after the Romans conquered the city. It's hard for me to imagine anyone living in Masada. It is located in the middle of the desert and there are no plants to speak of. But the view from the top is breathtaking.

Our last site of the day was Qumran, near where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. We were able to see Cave 4, one of the 11 caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Then we headed back to Jerusalem and sang "Viva La Vida," by Coldplay, which my professor has adopted as his bus theme song. It's the last time we'll be singing it, as today is our last fieldtrip on a bus. It was a very sad moment. I'm really sad to see this experience winding down. It will be hard to leave Jerusalem when the time comes.