Fun in the sun, as the saying goes

The last piece of advice that my ninth-grade biology teacher gave us was "don't be a sun worshipper!" Apparently, his wife was what he referred to as a "sun worshipper" (a term that I had never heard of prior to that day) and he, as a biologist, could not sanction a practice that could eventually be harmful to one's health.

I have a confession to make: I am a sun worshipper, against my biology teacher's advice. Last week, a friend and I traveled to Eilat, on Israel's southern borders with Egypt, Jordan, and the Red Sea. It was the final fun-trip that we wanted to take prior to the start of our last semester (theoretically, anyway) as graduate students, even if it only lasted about 24 hours. Most of Israel was covered in clouds and rain at the time; when we left Tel Aviv, it was gray, cold, windy, and wet. Six hours or so later, when we arrived in Eilat, we found nothing but warm sunshine. However, it was already mid-afternoon, so there wasn't much sunshine left in the day by that point.

The next morning when we woke up, we found an even more beautiful day. The hours between 10 AM and 2 PM or so were spent sitting outside enjoying the weather and enjoying the incredible aquamarine color of the Red Sea, even in February. As you may have guessed by now, these are the high hours of the day, in which the sun reaches its zenith. As a sun-worshipper, I am at a concrete disadvantage: I never remember to wear sunscreen! I never feel like I'm getting sunburned as it is happening. However, later that afternoon at one of the rest stops on the long bus trip north, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and my chest and arms were bright red. I couldn't believe it - it hadn't felt that bad until that very moment.

Nonetheless, the thrill of sitting out in the sun in a tank top in February was amazing. I wished that I could call my friends in Virginia to brag about it. I might have, except for the 7-hour time difference.