Dead Sea Shore

Today, I went to a beach resort. With a pool bar. And no rules against showing skin. Was I in Mexico? Maybe Jamaica? Hell no, I was in Jordan. That's right. I sat at a bar, in a pool, in my skimpy bikini and gazed across the sea at Palestine. Yes, I may have failed at adhering to cultural norms today, but whatever, it was the best mini vacation I've ever taken. I wanted to stay there forever.

If you never learned about the Dead Sea in science class, here are a couple of facts: The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth. According to Wikipedia, it's 1,388 feet below sea level. Cool right? It's also super salty; so salty it burns. Apparently 8.6 times saltier than the ocean. You could feel the salt on your skin when you got out, and it was not something you wanted to stick your face in. Also, life is obviously not sustainable in the Dead Sea. So while you're out there floating away, you don't have to worry about a fish coming up and biting your bum. Mumtaz.


Here's a pic of me floating away, doing my best "Bam-ZaH" pose. Which apparently was too silly for my friend Sean, because he made me take a "normal" picture after that. I prefer this one.

And here I am covered in the exfoliating, magic mud of the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea was the hardest water I've ever had to maneuver (it just took me an embarrassing amount of time to spell that word) in. If you tried to swim on your stomach, your legs would just flip up in the air. Or sometimes you would just randomly flip over against your will. Getting in was hilarious; I felt like a canoe or something. The rocks on the bottom were so heavily crystalized that they too painful to walk on, and you can't really walk in the water anyway, so I would just kind of sit down a boulder, and push off from there. Super awkward. But cool too. Floating is awesome. Except that the salt burned certain private parts of the female variety that made long periods in the water an impossibility . . . Hence, we spent most of our time in the pool.

We got there bright and early, before it opened in fact, but they let us in, and we had the whole place to ourselves for awhile. It never got too busy though. I think tourism is definitely hurting because of the situation in surrounding countries. Which is a shame, because Jordan is far safer than most places, including the United States.

All in all, one of the best experiences in my life. Despite the fact that I spoke no Arabic and felt guilty about wearing a swimsuit. Oh well, sorry for partying. And I didn't burn too badly! I have a tendency of not being very good at applying sunscreen, burning myself to a crisp, and yet never learning (Erik, remember Cali last year? ha). That's not to say I'm not burnt. But it's not one of those things where I won't be able to sleep because it hurts so bad. Alhamdililah.