Jewish Holidays

To say that we have had 2 full months of school between September and October is definitely an exaggeration. In reality, it's more like half a months in the classroom in total (fine, I speak only for myself here). Starting with Rosh Hashana (9/18-9/10), the year began with sweet apple and honey...


I was quite overtaken by the Israeli generosity and hospitality. !תודה

Yom-Kippur (9/25-9/28)---a day of atonement, no cars, no radio, no television. You return to ancient times and feel the detachment with modern things.
It reminds me of the movie "I am legend" in which you are the only human being left on earth walking around on empty streets in a deserted town. This is also a day when most bike accidents happen. Because when the cats are not around, the mouse come out to play. When the cars are not around, the bikes take over.



Massive fasting followed by massive feasting....

Succoth (10/2-10/9):
One week dedicated to remember the 40 years Jews wandered around the desert and lived in huts. People build "sukkot" (huts) in their garden to gaze the stars at night.

Instead of gazing at the stars, my friends and I spent this week under water gazing at the fish in Dhab, Egypt. a.k.a---arguably one of the best places for diving on earth, where the fishes are so colorful, the corals are so massive, you literally are IN a giant aquarium.


I couldn't keep up with the boys, struggled to take off the mask and open my eyes under the salty red sea. After many many attempts, almost on the verge of giving up, finally my will to swim with the fish prevailed over my instinct to survive (is this really a good thing?). Well, I am glad because otherwise, I wouldn't be able to put "I've touched a seahorse", on my resume now, would I?

Some of the fish makes you wonder how on earth did they come to look THIS way, I mean what happened to you?
Yeh, you look pretty bad-ass too.

here is NEMO!!!
According to Wikianswers, 71% of earth is under water. Because of the unique habitat, the red sea hosts such a rich variety of beautiful creatures. For example: angel fish, butterfly fish, spider fish, are all endogenous here. Even the simplest school of silver fish can take your breath away when they swam right through as I ascended, each sparking in reflection of the glowing sun ray hovering right under the surface water.

Dhab coast.



classmates I grew closer to...As though a full day of diving wasn't great enough already, Dhab really wanted to impress us by toping the cake with a cherry. At the end of the day, you get to sit back, relax with a cup of chilled hibiscus tea, and watch the moon rise over the Saudi Arabia mountains. The moon changed color from dark orange, orange, bright orange, yellow, to pale yellow as the size changed from an extra large pizza at your favorite restaurant to one of those mini ones that you buy from the refrigerated section of the local supermarket.

It's such a paradise out there, you just have to go. =D