So I have officially been in the Holy Land for six days. Haifa is beautiful! Where to start?
Let's try the beginning.
I left on October 1st from Tampa to the city of Philly where I would catch the second leg of my trip to Tel Aviv. Philly was gloomy but nothing could dim my excitement. As I wandered through the airport searching for the perfect Philly Cheese steak and the gate to my flight, I approached what looked like a security checkpoint. To my surprise, it was a flight gate! Not just any, but mine. Complete with high walls, security, and metal detectors. Israel is what I like to call, "All talk, and all action." The 11 hour flight to Tel Aviv was ironically, a flight to hell. What started out as a perfect seating situation (Nobody next to me, YES!) turned into two people next to me (Mother and child) and a motion sick man in the row right by mine. Praise the Lord for earphones!
Tel Aviv was beautiful (There's a pattern here...) and once I found the sherut (group taxi) all that was left between me and Haifa was two hours of crazy driving and beautiful countryside. Now, by 'crazy driving' I don't mean Gainesville on a game day or downtown Miami or even (to my astonishment), Orlando. I'm talking no speed limit, oneinchfromeachother, horn blaring, lights flashing, swerving turns, leaving-the-seat driving. This was nothing short of insane. I did reach Haifa (alive) and settled in with my 5 other roommates. Four Americans, one German. However, we are visited every day multiple times by a mother cat named "Moo". Named so by her black and white coat. She is so sweet and will even come inside our apartment.
The first night we were invited by our madrichim (social coordinators) to explore the night life of Haifa. We took the bus downtown-ish to a pub. After finding an English menu, and meeting our cute waitress (whose favorite English word is "Appetizers"..as we found out) we ordered a pizza (Yes, my first meal in Israel was pizza) and an Israeli beer. The drinking age here is 18, and for trying beer for the first time in my life it was actually pretty good. It was fun getting to know some of the other students over a meal and to my surprise, the International School here currently represents: Germany, USA, Czech Republic, Ukraine, China, Japan, Cambodia, Romania, Canada, and a few more. So cool!
Day two: Monday: Woke up to orientation alllllll daaaaaayyyyy. Luckily, the weather was AMAZING. No humidity + sun + 70 degrees = heaven?!? Later that day we went on a tour of the city. We visited the Baha'i Gardens (briefly), got food at the shuk (an outdoor market- kinda like the one in Aladdin), ate free homemade falafel, bought like ten pounds of baklava from an Arabic dessert shop, visited an old monastery that is built over a graveyard, saw a dog lying on the roof of a house (yes, a roof), and watched the sunset over Elijah's cave. Literally, the Prophet Elijah stayed in a cave right by where I was standing. I didn't get to see it, but I will.
Day three: Tuesday: AKA the first day of class. So to make a long story short, I can't read Hebrew. The University is in all Hebrew. It is hard to find your class when everything is in Hebrew. Got lost. Way lost. Missed class. Embarrassment. Bad start of the day. However, my roommate and I re-visited the shuk after getting lost on the bus (it's an inconvenient pattern I'm seeing) and got more food for the week. Now, let me clarify something. Food here is like this: Bread, Pita, Hummus (correct pronunciation, America: hoomoos), and Vegetables. I have recently branched out into the realm of cereal, peanut butter and mac n cheese (the brand here is called 'Wacky Mac'-rather humorous). Then in the evening we as an International School, probably about 70 of us, got together and did team building games for fun.
Day four: Wednesday: Class was much easier to find and I began my studies in Hebrew! The classes here are extremely long (2-3 hours). Lame! But at least there is always a great view out of the nearest window. The University of Haifa is pretty much the "cherry on top" of Mt. Carmel. It's high up. After a brief meeting about hiking trips in the afternoon, (I will be hiking from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee next week. Yes! The Sea of Galilee! SO PUMPED) we visited the mall. It's pretty much legit. Three stories of stores and food for pretty decent prices. Too bad I don't have room in my suitcase for new clothes. More updates on the hike to come, if I walk on water...I'll let you know.
Day five: Thursday: Class. Class. Class. Alefbetvetgimeldaletheyvavzayinchettetyodkafkhaflamedmemnunsamechayinpeyfeytzadikkoofreyshshinsintav.
You just learned the Hebrew alef bet. After class and dinner a group of students and I met up and went to an Israeli club named Loft. It was so fun! Israeli clubs are way more fun than American clubs and it was a fun experience being able to sing all the American songs with the Israelis and other international students. The bus ride home however, was a freak show! Picture this: 40 people packed on a bus. One homeless guy violently banging on the bus windows so we will pay his fare. One drunk guy puking all over the floor and it dripping towards the back of the bus. Four guys spitting sunflower seeds all over the bus and screaming at other passengers. The bus driver finally lets the homeless guy in, and then five minutes into the ride, all of the homeless guy's stuff flies everywhere and just adds to the excitement of the ride home. A kind Israeli citizen looks at us and says "Please do not think this represents the country. It is usually not like this. This is a freak show!" Well said my friend. Well said.
Day six: Friday. Today. Sabbath. Shabbat. Etc.
Today I didn't have class and never will on a Friday while I'm here. In Israel, Friday's aren't work days. They are considered a weekend day. However Sunday is not. Sunday is considered a week day and the first day of the week at that. So we as students get to take advantage of the best of both worlds and have three day weekends every week. Today is the beginning of the two day holiday of Yom Kippur. It's a high holy day for the Jewish religion and is a day of asking God for forgiveness of your sins and fasting in order to be nearer to Him. Pretty beautiful, actually. The whole country shuts down after the sun sets. To fill in the little amount of time we had today to utilize the public transportation (it shuts down early on Fridays & especially Yom Kippur) we went to the beach. It's beautiful! The sand is soft and brown and the water is a bright clear blue. The Mediterranean Sea is just gorgeous. Tonight I am joining in on the festivities of Yom Kippur and fasting water and food till tomorrow at sun down. Since the sun has set there has not been one car on the interstate (that was almost 4 hours ago). It's crazy the dedication they have to holidays in this country. Sometimes I wish America was like that.
g'mar chatima tova
May you be sealed in the book of life
Traditional Yom Kippur Salutation
Stefani
Loved reading about your experiences so far! It sounds like you're having an incredible time! I can't wait to read more!
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