Machtesh Ramon

My roommates and I attempting a jumping picture.

    This past friday morning my roommates and I were awoken by our alarms that went off much too early. By 5:30 A.M. we were already on a bus on our way down south. We left a chilly Holon and were all awoken around 10 A.M. to find ourselves driving on dirt paths, the ONLY ones of the road, and in hot sunny weather. When we got out of the bus i looked around my, did a 360 degree turn and all i could see was the ramon crater. The Ramon crater is in the Negev, or the desert of Israel and is one of the largest craters in the World. The crater was created by erosion and is not an impact crater.

    We decided to take the first day easy so we did some nice scenic hikes- or walks- all around the crater. The Israeli scouts on our program (israelis our age who take a year off to volunteer before the army and do so through my program) organized the trip. It was about 30 of us in all that decided to go. At one point we all decided to stop and one of the scouts told us all to find our own place to sit away from everyone else but so that we could still hear him. I found myself sitting on a rock while he told us to try and look around and take in the image in front of us. I listened to him but it was so peaceful out there that all i could hear was the wind in my ears. I am a fan of pictures, and i love them, but i always say, no picture can truly capture an image. There really is no way i could show a picture or describe exactly what i was seeing or feeling at that moment. The image in front of me though is forever in my mind. It was absolutely beautiful.

   Around 5 P.M. after a long day of walking and taking in the sites, we settled into our home for the night. A nice Bedouin tent. All 30 of us got into one of them and set up. That night we cooked dinner, sat around and ate it. We looked at the stars so clear, the kind that most people don't normally get to see. Then headed off to our own sleeping bags for a veryyy cold desert night.

   The following morning we were up very early. As i said we took it easy the first day, the second day we did just the opposite. The Ramon Crater is shaped like a heart. If you were to cut a heart in half, vertically, the part where it meets at the top, like the middle of a 3, there is a big cliff that if you get to the top of it, you can see nearly the entire crater. Well, we climbed to the top of the cliff, and it was not easy. When we reached the top we were all panting, red, and ready to binge drink water. I looked around and the view was breathtaking, literally and figuratively. For a while i sat there at the edge of the cliff, listening to, hearing, nothing but the wind in my ears. I saw nothing but the crater and desert in front of me. I felt like the only person on earth, like there were no problems in the world. It was truly one of the most peaceful feelings I've ever had in my life. 

  One of the scouts had an idea. We all stood around the edge of the cliff and he talked to us about how beautiful and peaceful it was up there. He then said, I too feel like we are the only people in the world right now, and since there is no one around i thought of a really great type of therapy. He explained that like everyone- he has certain emotions of anger and sadness in them and that for one minute he was going to channel them. Then he walked to the edge of the cliff- we all held our breath, 'uhhh what the hell is he doing'. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" he screamed from the edge of the cliff. Then turned around and let our a sigh of relief. "Who's next?"

   We all took our turns looking ridiculous, walking to the edge and just screaming bloody mary. When it came my turn I thought of all the things that make me angry, of the things i can't even control and just screamed. I have to say, it is a much more satisfying feeling than one would thing. I felt relieved, refreshed. While everyone was taking their turns I looked around. In our small group of 30 we had people from all over the U.S., people from Sweden, people from England, a boy from Mexico, a girl from Nigeria, 8 people from all over Israel. All of us such different people, and yet i never felt so unified up there on that cliff. 

   After a long day of hard hiking this time we got on a bus and headed home to Holon. As we drove out of the Machtesh- the crater- i kept the window shade open even though all the others were closed, my eyes were glued to the outside of the window. My friend who i was sitting with at the time was Israeli and he asked me what i was looking at. I said the crater, and he said you've seen it for the last 48 hours, take a nap like everyone else. I then explained and realized myself why i couldn't just close the shade, I told him how I don't know the next time I'm going to be there, and how i don't know the next time that I'll get that feeling of such serenity of peacefulness again, so i want to hold on to it. Even though his response was 'what is serenity' he then followed with 'good point.' and decided to look out the window with me.