Jaffa Beach

Sabbath noon I went down to the beach which is only ten minutes walk from the hostel. I walked up and down the beach trying to figure out why lots of people were swimming in the sea when there were signs all along the beach saying Swimming is Prohibited.

So I joined the many sunbathers on the brownish, white sand and studied my Hebrew cards for a while. My pack for today even included the Hebrew word for sand by coincidence.

One thing different I noticed was the number of pairs of people playing with bat and ball on the firmer wet sand. The bats were like table tennis bats but bigger and heavier with no rubber or anything on the wood so they were quite noisy when they hit the ball which looked very much like a squash ball although I don't know what it felt like.

After warming up sufficiently, I decided to join the brave ones ignoring the signs and have a swim in the Mediterranean Ocean. I didn't stay in for long, but feeling the strong rip at the bottom I guessed the reason for the signs. A couple that went in just ahead of me went out a bit further and someone came and blew a whistle at them. When I went home after drying out, I took a different exit from the beach and saw a sign: There are no lifeguards here so swimming is prohibited. So I guess you take your life into your own hands if you ignore the warnings. But at least I can now say: I've swum in the Mediterranean!