The Dead Sea, residual

That's the thing, or one of them. After you swim in the Dead Sea, you want and need to get the scummy feeling off of your skin.

Hard to do. Two showers didn't quite.

Then, there are the swim clothes you wore, including water shoes, which for me were my Keen sandals. Maybe it's the salt, but the clothes never really dried. I ended up putting them in a plastic bag and using them for padding in my suitcase to keep the olive oil secure, the olive oil I bought from Mahmoud. When I got home, that was the first thing I did--get those clothes into the washer with some good old Tide.

In Amman I washed my shoes and carried them wet into Israel. Finally, after three days and nights, they felt dry enough to wear again.

These are things you'll need to remember when you go to Israel and swim in the Dead Sea.

You are going. Right?