Arad, Israel

On my first journey to the Holy Land I never even realized we had passed through Arad on our way to the Dead Sea. I was on a Taglit trip to visit and explore Israel through my Jewish roots. During the trip We passed by this small town where they explained What and who the Bedouins were in Israel. That's what I remember from my short encounter with Arad. Then of course for most of those passing through we were headed to the Dead sea.

After spending some quality time with this little town I would love to call it home.

I spent a weekend enjoying the things that Arad and their people have to offer

The first night was in this boutique hotel name Yehalim. The owner was there to greet us at our evening arrival. His name is Gili and was also our tour guide for the hike the next morning. the room was beautiful. I shared the room with 3 of my cohorts for our adventure. with two connecting rooms we were in the family suit.

As we sat there waiting for sleep to find us we relaxed on the balcony and watch the bunny running around and the place next door. Our first thought was why are there bunnies running around in the desert.

As we sat and chatted we enjoyed the view from the balcony, a valley in the desert. The next Morning we were preparing for the long hike ahead of us. Gali there head of the kitchen was an amazing cook. Very friendly and lively. Their homemade pesto and olive spread were so good. the morning meal was something unforgettable.

Our hiking guide Gili was taking us to the Kina River. As we started there was this set of ruins at the top of a ridge. and we started down toward the river. During the hike he stopped to show us makeshift wells that people use throughout the desert. When the rainfall comes the wells fill and the desert dwelling people or visitors can use the water for themselves or their animals.

The Hike was a lot of fun. Lasted about 7 hours. We climbed over ridges and stopped in the shadows of the canyons for tea. Our tour guide Gili was always excited to see the plants growing through the rocks. Along the way we were climbing up one side of a mountain and saw a herd of camel just grazing the hillsides.  

Once we got don with the hike we headed of to Michal’s guest house Desert Bird. she greeted us at the door and chatted about our hike.. but our exhaustion lead us all to a shower and naps. sleeping outside in the yard is where I found myself while my friend was in the hammock. while we were there a group from Nepal showed up. But it being Shabbat we had dinner plans.

Shabbat dinner was spent at Muza. Then back to Desert Bird for sleep. The next morning was probably my favorite part I stepped outside to have a smoke and some coffee. The air was crisp and the yard with its big tree hid me from the rising sun. The other guests came out slowly one by one. we chatted and had our coffee while we talked about life and Arad. After breakfast we were met by Giora the jeep tour guide. A friendly man with a big smile. The jeep tour brought us around the desert we drove through a bedouin village. The tour was nice. We ended up on the plateau the gave us a view to the Dead Sea and the Jordan border. The view was incredible. The jeep tour was bumpy and fun and his company was great.

Overall Arad though it’s a quaint little town carries so much personality. The people you walk by and stop to talk to are so friendly and always have so many questions for the visitors. If you are confused they're always someone who is willing to help. The city is small and full of life.

True Love

      Two people that I know that have been in a relationship that has lasted years is my house parents Bob and Debbie. They have been together for thirty-six and a half years. Debbie and Bob differ in many ways, their personalities are practically opposites. Debbie is more laid back while Bob is more of a strict father. In their relationship Bob is the rock of the relationship and Debbie is the spontaneous child. Although, they have differences in opinion their love continues to show through everyday they spend together. They both work on their relationship everyday. Their best quality as a couple would be their communication, they may get mad but they talk through their issues.
     To have a strong relationship communication is key. My house parents have great communication as well as trust. These are qualities that make a relationship last. I believe that these will help any relationship. With out theses key qualities one could fall apart before anyone really knows whats happening.

"Sonnet 292"

The eyes I spoke of once in words that burn,


the arms and hands and feet and lovely face

that took me from myself for such a space

of time and marked me out from other men;


the waving hair of unmixed gold that shone,

the smile that flashed with the angelic rays

that used to make this earth a paradise,

are now a little dust, all feeling gone;


and yet I live, grief and disdain to me,

left where the light I cherished never shows,

in fragile bark on the tempestuous sea.


Here let my loving song come to a close;

the vein of my accustomed art is dry,

and this, my lyre, turned at last to tears

Francesco Petrarch

Summary

So the author speaks of a women who is very beautiful.  he explains what he finds beautiful, and talks of grief he has over the loss of her. she seems to have bveen his everything, and he loves her supposedly. I am not sure how he lost her but he gireves her absence. He says he sings this song for her and cries for this woman.

Music link
http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#swim%20(music%20box)/all/1

Sonnet 130 Translation

Her eyes do not sparkle


Her lips are pale red

Tan skin is what she has, she is not fair

Black hair is what she has

I have seen beautiful pink roses

But her cheeks are far from that color

Some perfumes smell awesome

But her breath does not smell like them

I have never seen perfection walk

She does have a normal walk

   But I love her which is rare

   She is not exaggerated, she is just real

extended interpretations: Sonnets

I believe that everyday incidents can be poetic, if expressed with the right words. If someone would take a step back and watch others interact with one another, stare off into space, or just are by themselves, there is a beauty to a human being that sometimes words may not be able to express. Poetry isn’t always about love; it can be about anger, wonder and many other emotions that may play out on people’s faces. People yelling at each other or wrestling can be a work of art, its just the right person has to be able to see it that way and be able to express it with words that make it more beautiful that grunts and cursing. Being able to make something beautiful while others see it as normal behavior is a gift in itself that a poet has mastered. Everyday incidents can be looked at as poetry through the right eyes and if written down that perception is being shared. An example would be sports, such as basketball, when our coach makes us do suicides all you can hears is the squeak of shoes, hard breathing, and grunts of exhaustion. That all combined could be poetic; it gets in touch with the senses and has a clear image. Another example is when softball players warm up, you hear the thwack of the ball hitting the glove, the ball whizzing through the air, and see all the players move to the path of the ball.  These are things that happen everyday and can be seen as poetic.

Integrity : Quote of the Day 10-7-10

   Having integrity without knowledge is weal and useless, because without integrity no one will truly believe what you are saying is the honest truth as well as it lacking evidence, it is similar to being ignorant.  Having knowledge without Integrity can be dangerous because then you do not have strong morals or principals in life. Having not morals or principals makes your knowledge have the ability to be used for cruel ways.
   An example of this in my life is that I have integrity, but sometimes i do knot have all the knowledge I need for the subject at hand. Like Ms. Ramirez would say it would be called a "weak sauce" argument or "talking out the side of your neck". When this happens i don't have true integrity because i don not have all the facts so my argument is useless and weak to the opposing side because they may have more knowledge about the subject.

Thinking: Quote of the Day 10-07-10

   When we know how to think and understand the flow of our thoughts writing will come naturally. When you can follow your though process it makes writing flow, and become understandable by an audience.
   An example of this n my life is in my English class. Ms. Ramirez always tells us to think, and once we know how to think writing will be easier. Being able to think on our own will help develop our thought process. In our English class we have to processes we go through when writing to organize our thoughts. Being able to "jot down" our thoughts helps me be able to organize them and put them in order of sense. When I "Barf" on paper my papers are always choppy and don't make so much sense. So thinking and organizing my thoughts before I start writing helps me establish my ideas in a way that makes sense to me and others.