The Evolution of Jared

In my life I occasionally find moments of perfection, fragments of seconds where everything around me is working out just as it is supposed to be. It's unreasonable to expect these moments 24/7, and in the past I have learned to appreciate them when they come along.

This past weekend was a little less moments, and a little more of...everything worked out. Everything worked out and was so easy and pleasurable that I lost my cell phone, but couldn't care less. (Oh yah, if you have an Israeli cell phone number, I lost it and need it)

Took the 5 hour bus ride from Tel Aviv to Eilat on Thursday to meet my weekend travel group- Torey, Courtney, Faith, Chelsea, and Lauryn. Yah, Jared and 5 girls. Pimp daddy. We spent the day relaxing on the beach, taking in the sun and appreciating the techno music of the seashore. Eilat is like a Mexican Spring break spot, but the guys wear tighter bathing suits than the girls. Not quite the turn-on an American looks for during a beach day, but oh well.

Dan Dan met up with us on the beach, then left after the cell phone debacle. The girls weren't sick of me yet, I wasn't sick of them, so far so good. Went to dinner that night, and in typical me-fashion, I ate all-you-can-eat meat and the girls ate salad. Fine, Faith had some chicken. But still, I asserted my man-ness with that meal.

The next morning we headed for Petra, giving me my first stamp from an Arab country on my passport. Other than the tour guide, I was the only guy, as our group was joined by 4 older women from Israel/Germany. So Ali, our tour guide, gave me a Petra hat and constantly picked on me as if I was the token gay friend who should be outcast for hanging out with girls instead of guys.

Petra was spectacular. The heat wasn't overpowering, and the sights were beautiful. All the hype was worth it, and we all had a pretty good time. Other than watching the donkeys that are used as taxis for people that can't do the 4km hike. There were little kids riding these donkeys treating them like the Jews in "Prince of Egypt," including a 8 year old whose eyes looked like that girl from Heroes with black eyes. He decided that whipping his donkey in the face at all times was a better tactic than giving it some kicks and clicking his teeth or something. It was disturbing. Overall, the hike was awesome, including our pictorial depiction of "Evolution of Man" seen above.

Returned from Petra to find Jules and Shaun, who had come to surprise the girls. Because no kosher restaurants were open, we decided to grill on the beach for dinner. It was the perfect Israel night, as well all drank and ate the most delicious burgers on matzah for hours and hours. Perfect.

The next day was spent on a different beach in Eilat, where we rented snorkels and relaxed for the day. Supposedly the Red Sea has the second best diving and snorkeling to the Great Barrier Reef. So did I have the second best time compared to what I could have had in Australia? No. I capitalized, and enjoyed dem fishies that we were lucky enough to check out.

All was great until Jules and I ventured a bit farther than we probably should've....then BAM, I was in the middle of "Finding Nemo" and I was surrounded by Jelly fish on all sides. Pretty crazy. I escaped with no pain, and instead of getting angry at the jellies, Faith and I befriended one of them. We named her Violet, and carried her around the beach for a bit. That's the three of us below. Me Violet and Faith. Menage-twawesome.



That night we went out to the boardwalk for some good fun, partying on the beach followed by some risk taking, compliments of the Slingshot Ride that shoots two people at a time hundreds of feet in the air, overlooking the whole city. Most of us went, and the experience was complimented by the owner of the ride constantly dedicating songs to me and Torey and our love for each other. It was quite amusing, considering he was dedicating some slow dance songs and some techno beats, none of which we really knew (other than the song we flew in the air during, Lose Yourself by Eminem. hot beat).

Came back to Herzliya yesterday, and now I'm in class for the first time in 26 days. My life is amazing. In the next few weeks I get to see Sean, Shane, Grace, Max, Perlman....the list goes on and on. Should be busy, but I can't wait.