Snorkeling in the Red Sea

How many people can say that they’ve been snorkeling in the Red Sea? At least 80 BYU Jerusalem students can, that’s for sure. On Sunday (October 14^th) we drove 4 hours to the southern tip of Israel to the Gulf of Aqaba—the Red Sea! From Eilat we could see Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Crazy!

Our favorite sign :) Dangerous curves!

 To entertain ourselves for the long drive we brought our notes for the Ancient Near Eastern Studies midterm…but the studying didn’t last long. I was sitting in the very front of the bus and got to talk to our awesome bus driver, Atta. Turns out he is a big deal—he reads the Koran at the al-Aqsa Mosque! He’s like the head honcho of Koran readers and he trains all the other guys around Jerusalem. Here’s the proof:

He recited part of the Koran to us and it was incredibly. For anyone who hasn’t heard it, it’s an interesting mix of signing and talking…I can’t really describe it but you have to train for years and years to be able to do it right. Atta is so talented! He is also very friendly and kept calling us his children. He has driven buses for the BYUJC for a few decades and absolutely adores the students, and we love him just as much :)

Me, Erin, Sarah, Kate

So I’ve never been snorkeling before…and the ocean scares me a little bit… and I’m not the biggest fan of inhaling salt water…but I did it! I snorkeled in the Red Sea. It was so fun to swim with the little fishies, chase after the big ones, and play in the bubbles of the scuba divers! There were giant clams and weird looking eels. I was thinking that I was getting super good work out from treading water for an hour until I realized that I basically floated if I stopped moving…I had good intentions, I promise. 

Aliseea, Bradley, me, McKenzi

Annie, Katherine, Laurann, me, Abi, Ellen

Me and Abi at our awesome cow-themed restaurant

All in all: a good day to be a BYUJC student!