When I left Jerusalem, I thought to myself, "Here goes nothing. Three and half weeks of intense Hebrew, not just in the classroom but outside too." I think visiting Jerusalem beforehand changed my attitude a bit that I wasn't particularly looking forward. Well, I haven't exactly been- I wanted to go back to my comfort zone. But if I'm going to make aliyah in the future, I must give other Israeli cities a chance and I owed it to my brother to show up for his graduation. So Haifa it is and its dates worked out better than Hebrew U's. It's going to be tough to keep an open mind but I have to stay focused on the end goal- to finish Bet. That's what I'm paying to get out of Haifa.
I arrived around 12:30 or so, after 2 hours on the bus. I had planned to take the train but apparently, as I later learned today, there's really no direct train from the university. I just somehow got the message that there was. So I was stuck either wait 30 minutes for the next local bus to the university or buck up and take the cab. I took the latter and the cost wasn't too bad- 40 shekelim and the driver didn't rip me off by taking "detours" as Jerusalem drivers do. There's really basically one main road that leads all the way up to the university- Haneviem.
One of the maharichm met me at the gate and he helped me get into my dorm room. I signed up to live in a double given that I really don't need my own bathroom and bedroom as in the other dorm. I would only be here for 3 1/2 weeks and I could make do. I lived with 16 different roommates in the last 4 years and have seen different kind of personalities.
Typically, during the year, Haifa overseas students share an apartment with Israeli students- no more than two overseas students per apartment. So everyone could really try living with the Israelis and pick up their Hebrew. But in the summer when the Israeli students are done, the ulpan students live with each other.
That was NOT the case this time. There had been a massive faculty strike that went for 90 days and resutled in a very extended academic year. So I'm actually living with 5 other Israelis- Bat El, Silivia, Einut, Lilah, and one other I forgot her name. The apartment is tiny- there's no common room. There's room only for a table with 4 chairs in that space that's supposed to be shared, and a little kitchen with two stove tops. And a fridge barely big enough to hold all the food for 6 individuals. But the room sizes were pretty generous given that two people sleep in there. We share one bathroom. So I'll say that for $240... I was asking to live in a hostel compared to $450 (now $680) at Hebrew U's comparably spacious apartments. And, yes, it stinks a little even though the apartment's pretty clean.
After I unpacked my things, I went exploring the university. I found my solace- the bookstore. I managed to find the gym. Haifa Unviersity is actually pretty small but since it's built along the hill, the buildings are actually towers with lots of floors (I guess they were thinking of building UP, not out). So that meant everything I needed- classrooms, cafeterias, bus stop, gym, and international student office- was all less than 5-10 minutes walk. That's so much better compared to my 20-25 minute walk at Hebrew U (where you really had to think hard if you needed to walk ALL the way back to the main campus...).
After that, I took the 37 bus down to Carmel Center. I walked around a little but I had already been there a year ago with Grandma and Zev. I searched for a supermarket and I found SuperSol. Phew. So I shopped for absolute necessities. The produce wasn't that great but it is Sunday after all.... and I needed to find the shuk within the next few days.
I came back pretty late- after 7:30. The rush hour in Haifa is extremely maddening- I had never, ever seen anything like this. Again, this was a main road so everyone pretty much drove on this. When I got back, I caught a little bit of the Israeli film that the program was showing. But the 1970s movie was just soooo horrible (Like The Policeman kind of horrible movie) and I was a litlte too tired to follow the whole thing in subtitles.
When I returned to the apartment, nearly all of my roommates were there. So Bat El, Lilach (my roommate), and Silivia sat down with me to get to know each other a little and gave me the ins and outs of the apartment. Apparently, everyone goes home for Shabbat except for Einut so yay, I'll have my peace and quiet for 48 hours each weekend! The Israelis begged me to let them take care of the cleaning chores and they would let me know if I needed to chip in for anything. They were just extremely nice and curious. I could tell that this apartment arrangement would work out. Thankfully and I felt less of being a stranger.
The following morning, I went for a run. My sloooowwwwesstttt run ever- only for 45 minutes (4.25 miles) because of the hills near the university. Also the scenery was just so pretty that I couldn't help but look around and that slowed my pace quite a bit too. I was definitely a bit hot but I think after a week, I'll adjust.
First, I went to my Hebrew oral exam. I was very nervous and wondered what kind of questions that would ask. Then someone who went came over to pick up her stuff and said that they talked about her essay. Yay, I talked about my family in my essay so I spent a little time reviewing relevant verbs and vocabulary in my head. I also talked with two girls behind me. One of them was studying to be a cantor at Gratz and another was videoconferencing with Hebrew College while living in Jerusalem. It was fun talking to her a bit about Jerusalem and speaking Hebrew there. Everyone around me said that they took about 2 years of Hebrew and I began wondering where the heck I would be placed... it seemed like forever before the teachers wuold call my name.
During the exam, it turned out that they wanted to know more about my Hebrew background. It took me a few minutes to pick up Hebrew even though the teachers were speaking slowly and clearly. Afterwards, I wanted to kick myself for not talking more- it would have earned me more points even if I made pronounciation mistakes. I went over to the office and asked about placement given that my reading comprehension is higher than my oral skills. The woman said that I could switch classes if I wasn't in the right place after the teachers assign me for Tuesday's first day of classes.
I finished up the orientation stations and took a campus tour to meet people along the way. The tour guide took us around the university. We went up this huge tower of the main building to the 33rd floor. There, it's like Israel's version of New York City's World Trade Center. Haifa could be seen from 360 view when you walk around the floor. The view was just so beautiful and I could see all the roads, including the ones in the Carmel National Park that I ran on for a bit. After the tour ended, I joined up with a couple of girls and a guy for lunch.
Around 3, we had our orientation presentation. The speaker spoke sofastthatitwouldhavebeenimpossiblefornon-nativeenglishspeakerstofollow. He talked about Israel, Haifa, and the program. I was glad that he described Jerusalem as a place where there's a lot to see and do because of its history. He described Israel as a "utopia." The Israeli society, according to him, could be good or bad, depending how you wanted to look at it. He believed that Haifa was quite special in the sense that people fighting to get along everyday given that Israelis of different backgroudns- Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Druze all live together. This wasn't Jerusalem where religious were clearly drawn. That would be a big change for me to see- being able to go all over and use my own instinct (not like I almost pretty much do in Jerusalem with the Arab quarter and certain streets in East Jerusalem). He also brought up the challenges of planning this year's ulpan because of the extended academic year and the classrooms still being in use. I remember that Tel Aviv canceled their July Yiddish program this year when I googled up for Yiddish programs for dates for summer 2009. Hebrew U was definitely at an advantage with its own international school building. Then again, as the Haifa program said, it's essential for its students to integrate with the Israelis and that meant sharing the classrooms with the mainstream. Not to mention that Haifa U is the most diverse university in Israel. It's true- I saw a lot more Arab women and soldiers than at Hebrew U.
I learned that drugs and alochol are forbidden in the dorms and we should be sensible about going out to the bars. Mmmm wow. That's strict. Maybe I'll drink to some vodka when I'm in Eilat to celebrate. Israelis were definitely serious about their studies- they hate it when international students congregate outside and the windows are open.... = lots of noise. It's a bit of paradox to me- on one hand, they're serious about their studies, but on the other hand, they'd rather not talk about serious current event topics. American students, especially at my schools, thrived on both sides!
I went on a ltitle tour of Haifa. We made a quick stop in Merkaz Carmel and I just bought a postcard for Lauren, just to see how long the mail is from Israel to Argentina (where she is working for the summer). Everyone met up and we went on the Carmelit, Haifa's "subway." I don't even know how to describe but I will post pictures very soon! The train runs on a cable and it's not... flat. Pictures to come!!!
When we went down to Herzl Street, I asked for the shuk's location. I walked up Herzl and the street got sketchier and sketchier but it wasn't as nice or well-kept. I also realized that I forgot a lot of my Russian and ended up reading more Hebrew than Russian. This was a very Russian neighborhood. I will tell you right now, from this point on until I made it back to the university, I spoke only Hebrew. Unconciously, I actually understood what others said. I made it to the shuk.
The shuk was a serious disappointment compared to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. No wonder why some Israelis looked at me a little weird as to...why I wuold I want to go all the way there. Nevertheless for the quality of produce that SuperSol had in store for me from the day before, the produce was great. I ended up only buying mangos but will be back next week for produce-only shopping. I say that the shuk is a disappointment in a way that it's not quite huge and only has 1 bakery/bread stand, and 1 or 2 "crap" stuff (random things like shampoo, oil, juice, toliet paper), and at least 7 produce stalls and few meat/fish counters. Tsk tsk. I guess I won't have to worry about spending a lot of money on food and wondering where my 50 shekel bill disappeared to.
Coming back was a ltitle bit of adventure. I quickly stopped at a bread/bakery place to pick up some cheap pitas, rolls, and chocolate crossiants. Then I realized that the bus that I would take coming down to Herzl from the university came down on a one-way street. So I had to do a bit of hunting and asking around looking for the bus lines back to the university. Eventually, I spotted two buses going up one street and using my sense of direction, I figured that this had to have my bus route. Otherwise, I could just take the Carmelit back. Yay- the bus came!!!
I'm still trying to figure out how to make of this whole experience of living in Haifa. I think Professor Monk, my CORE Israel professor at Colgate, was wrong in his opinion of Israeli universities to study at in terms of quality of life. Haifa felt more isolated- you have to change buses to get down to the beach and it was a 35-40 minute ride to the shuk/back from the shuk. Hebrew U could be isolating but that's in the sense of living in a divisive, pious neighborhood. Yeah, we'll see how the next few weeks bring. I also can't wait for classes to begin so I can bond with some people for companionship.
Keep it in your head, Sara, "Eilat, Eilat, Eilat.. that's the reward for studying hard this month."
1 comment:
Who is Professor Monk?
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