Scuba and Eilat

I got an email from my mom this morning (Israel time) reminding me to try not to be alone in Israel and to stop talking to strangers. I'll do my best as I realize that's how people like me get duped into dangerous situations. It's just that ever since I was little, while people watching I always imagined human beings surrounded by these little bubbles I called "realities." And we spend our entire lives living in our own realities (along with those of our close friends and families), but for a split second, our realities can intersect with a that of a complete stranger. We can let the realities meet quietly and walk away, or we can allow something to happen during the time those realities meet.

For example, this morning over an Israeli breakfast we met a Russian woman named Marsha who grew up in China but now lives in Australia. We conversed mostly in English, although from time to time she would slip into a little Mandarin just to brush up on her intonations. Marsha has a son who has been in a coma for 7 months, and she showed us picture after picture of her beautiful grandchildren. Before this morning, I never knew Marsha existed and after this morning I'll probably never see her again. But because we conversed this morning, just for a split second, the reality of this woman collided with mine, and I would like to think that we were able to affect each other in just a small way. 

But I digress.

The receptionist at my hotel, Loay, had been more than gracious in allowing me a lot of time on the hotel phone yesterday to track down my luggage. It is now safe with me, but for some reason it took the taxi driver 3 hours to deliver my luggage to our hotel after he arrived in Jerusalem. Loay reminded me that in Jerusalem, 5 minutes can mean anything from 5 minutes to 50 minutes. I remarked that even so, 5 minutes rarely means 3 hours anywhere in the world! Loay thought about it and nodded quietly in agreement.

While we were waiting for my luggage to arrive from the airport, I told Loay my plans of scuba-diving in Eilat. Eilat is the southernmost tip of Israel, and boasts of beautiful coral beaches bordering the Red Sea. East across the sea you are able to see Jordan, and about 5 kilometers to the West lies Egypt. Loay got really excited about my trip and it turns out that working the front desk at our hotel is only one of his many jobs. He is also a computer technician, and  moonlights as an underwater photographer. 

The story goes like this: Back in 2004, Loay was engaged to be married to his current wife. A little apprehensive about being "tied down," he decided he wanted one last hurrah before the wedding. He either wanted to learn to play the guitar, become a certified sky-diver, or become a certified scuba-diver. Guitar he decided he can learn when he's old. Out of the latter two, scuba diving was cheaper. So, he spent 10 days working on his certification. Before those 10 days, he had spent every day with his then fiancee. During those 10 days, he was away from her and he missed her so much that his affection for her grew (to which I interjected "absence makes the heart grow fonder!") Their wedding was scheduled for the spring, but when Loay returned, he moved the wedding up to the fall. He credits scuba for growing his love for his wife.

Years later, his wife would always worry about him when he would leave to visit the underwater world. He would always share with her what he saw, but she could not fully comprehend. "Why not bring me back pictures of what you see?" she suggested. And that's how Loay the Underwater Photographer began. In 2008 he had his first photography exhibit in Jerusalem. And he's had one every year since. 

I asked him if it was okay for me to post his website on my blog. Do fish live underwater? Here is the link to Loay's beautiful photos: http://www.palgallery.com/index.php.

I credit Loay for making our Eilat trip possible. He mapped out a route, gave us tips on how not to get a traffic ticket, recommended a scuba diving company, and even froze our bottles of waters for us for the morning (it was supposedly almost 120 degrees today) and arranged breakfast to be served early so we can leave with a full stomach. Yusef, the other receptionist, graciously walked up to our room and knocked on our door for the wakeup call. We were on our way by 6:45AM to the beach for some tanning/scuba/snorkeling.

On our way back to Jerusalem, we stopped by a McDonald because some of my Israeli yoga students had told me I had to try it in Israel. Apparently the vegetables are really fresh (I MUST try the salad!) and the meat is also grilled fresh. I'm not going to lie - it was pretty darn good food for fastfood. Of course the employees were making fun of us the whole time. I don't blame them. American tourists eating McDonalds abroad? It is pretty cliche.