A week ago, a friend and I went down to Eilat for my birthday and spent the two days completely submerged in water - either in the beautiful pools by the hotel or in the Yam Ha'suf. However, we emerged just long enough to visit Ice Space - an hour long experience for Israelis to see what life is like in 32 degree weather. Coming from Wisconsin and studying in Minnesota, I thought the concept was absurd. However, I obliged and put on a down coat, snowpants, gloves, boots and a hat and 'braced myself' for what was to come. I spent the first portion (the info session and the 'informative' video) trying to suppress my laughter. Here I was, surrounded by a group of Israelis who were anxiously pulling their hats down farther and trying to burrow their necks further in their coats.
We were warned: NOT to touch the ice, for it could give you severe burns, how to safely exit the room in case of extreme cold and what animal life we might find in the ice space. With this in mind, we walked in. At this point, I completely lost it and just started laughing uncontrollably and snorting at the same time. My fellow group members stood in awe, staring at the ice as if it was some precious stone. They would touch the ice, look at each other and just freak out. Keep in mind that it was about 107 degrees outside, so I was previously sweating profususly. I had kept my jacket unbuttoned to cool off as well as pocketing my gloves. I ran my bare hands over the ice, but before I could even begin to enjoy the coldness a million people start yelling at me, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING! You can get burned!" Trying to be polite, I tried telling them that I will be fine, that in fact I live in an environment like this for a good half the year. Of course, they didn't believe me.
We only lasted thirty minutes.
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