katie went gargling in the red sea.

I feel like such a slacker. I haven't blogged since who knows when. We were gone on vacation most of the week (talk about a crazy trip!) and in the two days since we've been back I've either been tired, busy, or the internet wasn't working. So this is the post that I told my dad would come on Thursday.

Day the First:
We planned on leaving shortly after lunch on Sunday. One thing turned into another, and we didn't end up leaving until 6:30 0r 7:00, and we got there at 11:30 at night. We were staying at an experimental Eco House. The air conditioning was run by water, and of course, it didn't work. The first night was miserable. The rooms were hot and stuffy, which made it really difficult to go to sleep.

Day the Second:
We got up in the morning ready to go to the beach. Our plans changed when Boy #2 started throwing up. Boy #4 threw up once. The air conditioning still wasn't working, everyone was hot and upset, children were sick, and it seemed like the trip was going to be terrible. After a consultation with Jenny, one of the people we went with, we decided that everyone was healthy enough to go to the aquarium. The fish (and turtles) were beautiful. After the aquarium we went to two different malls looking for a food court before we finally found a Burger King. When we were through eating we went back to the Eco House, rotated through showers, and everyone took a nap. That night we decided that it was too hot to stay there, so after Lori, my summer mom, fed the baby, we drove over to the place Jenny was staying to spend the night.


Day the Third:
Finally, we went to the beach. We spent all day in the pool, and then in the late afternoon, some of us went "gargling" in the Red Sea. We really went snorkeling. One of my friends Facebooked me to tell me that my little sister ran up to my other sister and her and said "Katie went gargling in the Red Sea!" Even now thinking about it I'm laughing idiotically at my computer screen. Snorkeling was beautiful. The coral at the beach was so close to shore. The whole time we were out I was terrified that I was going to kick some coral. I never even really got close, but then on the way back to the shore I turned around, and, bang, I kicked some. It was the big soft round kind, so it didn't hurt me. I just hope that I didn't hurt it. There were four or five nuns at the beach. They just sat there and talked with a bunch of college students. It was odd. That night we went out for Arabic food. I love Arabic food so much.

Day the Fourth:
More kids were throwing up, so we stayed at the Eco House all day. For dinner we went to some of their friends' house. The friends knew a "fish guy" who caught our dinner in the bay, grilled it, and cut it up and prepared a platter for us. They walked in with an 8 kilo king fish cut up on the tray. It was really good, and the rice that was with it was amazing. I don't eat fish; I don't eat mushrooms. Since I've been here I've eaten mushrooms multiple times and fish once. Strangely, the mushrooms didn't bother me, and I actually liked the fish.

Day the Fifth:
We left to go back home. Everyone was ready to get away from the bad air conditioning and back to the cool ground floor apartment. Back home in Indiana, we used to count horses or cows whenever we visited our grandparents. Here, we counted camels. We saw 56 during the whole drive. There were numerous camel crossing signs, but I didn't get a picture of one. I kept putting it off, then missed the last few signs. On the way back we took a different way than the way we came. This time, we drove past the Dead Sea. In between two hotels we stopped in a big empty parking lot and ran down to the beach. We went into the water for about five minutes. I was convinced to taste a little bit of the water. I cautiously dipped the tip of my index finger in and lightly touched my tongue. It's hard to believe how salty that water is. I wish that we had had more time so that we could actually have swam. Maybe someday.

Boy #3, Boy #2, me, and Boy #4

For the most part, the trip was really fun. I got to see the desert where the Isrealites wandered for 40 years, and a little bit of Egypt. It was really cool. I'm glad that we're back...it's so much cooler here!

Have a great weekend! :)