Haifa

By the way, Pesach is treated like Shabbat in Israel. It's a national holiday so all public transportation and stores were closed. We couldn't go anywhere- Zev didn't want to go anywhere anyway. Grandma and I shrugged and went off to see the Israel Museum in the afternoon. See my later entry for more.

We made an early start on Wednesday to drive up to Haifa. It was supposed to take us about 2 hours but ended up nearly 4 because we had to make a road stop and then we got lost around Haifa, trying to figure out how to get up on Mount Carmel, where the Center was! I joked as we got out of the car to our hotel, Hotel Nof, that we could've just driven to Eilat for that amount of time that we spent driving! So it was a good thing that we left around 9. We ate some lunch and then called some cousins of Zev's. These cousins were related by marriage.

The cousins, Hadar and her daughter, Mor, came to pick us up for a driving tour around Haifa. I loved them within minutes of talking to them in the car. Hadar's family immigrated to Israel from Iraq in the 1960's and they spoke Arabic. It was exciting getting to know Middle Eastern Jews like them. Anyway, they drove us to see the Ba'hai Gardens which was just gorgeous. The Ba'hai Gardens and the religion believed in peace and co-existence of all religions so it's the major reason why the garden is just beautiful. We have to see the beauty in ourselves and others- ultimately, we all want peace. Since the shrine was closed, Hadar drove us down so we could see the gardens along the slope of the hill- it was an incredible sight. Mom would've loved it. Afterwards, we drove over to Haifa University. I was so surprised to see how isolated the university was from everything else, including the beaches! It's located right atop Mt. Carmel with a beautiful valley behind it with views of Druz villages. The hills and the campus' isolated location reminded me of being at Colgate, especially when I looked out to all the gentle rolling hills. When Grandma asked what the villages were when we observed the scenary and Hadar said that they were Druz villages and Grandma asked if we had time. Hadar drove us over.

The Druz people are not Arabs or Jews but they have their own secretive religion. Nevertheless, their mother tongue is Arabic. Like the Bedouins, they have excellent tracking skills that make them very useful to the Army.

We arrived in middle of their shuk. Hadar let all of us out so we could walk around and see the objects they were selling. I found a nice green skirt and a purple shawl to hang on my wall at one shop for 85 sheklim (okay, I bargained down from 100). Now, the other shop I went into was much more interesting in terms of interacting with the shopkeeper, especially that I didn't have any cash left after my first purchases.

Me: (glancing at a IDF sweatshirt, wonders how much it was, and looks for a price tag)
Seller: (comes up to me) Do you like this? (with a smile)
Me: (raises eyebrow, gives a little shrug) Yes but how much is this?
Seller: (matter-of-fact) I'll give you 65 shekls for this.
Me: (shaking head) Sorry, I don't have 65 shekls. (begins to move away)
Seller: No, no, how much do you want to pay for this?
Me: Oh, it looks, maybe, 30 to me.
Seller: (proceeds to take the sweatshirt off the hanging hanger, motions for me to follow him in the store, puts the sweatshirt in a bag and ties it up) I'll give you 50 shekls. Here. (throws it in my hands)
Me: (pushes it back) No thank you.
Seller: (pushes it back to me) 45 shekls.
Me: (starts walking away with the bag, unpaid)
Seller: No, no, I want 45 shekls.
Me: I really don't have 45 shekls. I'm sorry, I have no money, I need to go to a cash machine.
Seller: 43 shekls.
Then Grandma comes up and asks if I wanted something.
Seller: (approaches Grandma and coaxes her by pointing to her purse) You could get her something....
Me: (pushes Grandma away) Go away, go away, let me deal with this on my own. (She goes away). I don't have 43 shekls... how about 40?
Seller: Okay, okay, 40 shekls. 40. 40 it is.
Me: Let me see... I'll be right back. (I go over to Grandma, Mor, and Zev and ask for 40 shekls, I get 50 from Zev). Alright, I'll get that thing from you.
Seller: Okay, 45 shekls.
Me: You said 43 shekls!
Seller: (looks slightly sheepish and takes my bill and gives me the right change)

I explained to Mor how exciting it was for me to get a cheap sweatshirt because they're so expensive in the United States. She's going to a camp in PA over the summer so we told her that she should bring all the sweatshirts she wants from Israel! On our way back, we stopped at some place that Zev wanted to see if he could find his Druz friend from 1973. Of course, some random people knew this Druz guy's name and got his number. Then we drove over to his house where Zev and Hadar went in to find the guy. In the meantime, Mor and I talked a lot about summer camps, some American culture, English, and some other things.

We drove back to their house to meet the rest of the family. Mor had two sisters- absolutely lovely. The younger one had just recently visited the States to participate in some kind of peace conference with Palestinians, Americans, and Israelis in Maine. She loved it there. The father was there too. We talked for a while and ate some snacks. Afterwards, Mor and Hadar took us to this some unusual musuem where there were artifacts from the Roman times and had a exhibit with multiple diaromas of Jewish history including the Masada, the Holocaust, Moses, Maccabees, etc, etc. It was pretty cute.

Then we said good-bye and thanked the women for their time. They invited me to come back to Haifa to visit and for Shabbat. I told them that I would try hard before I leave. I really wanted to see them again. For dinner, we just ate at the hotel since it was Passover and all that. The Chinese restaurant was actually good and tasty... of course, we couldn't get rice or egg rolls! No dishes with soy sauce either!

I liked Haifa very much. It reminded me a lot of San Francisco with all the hills but after living in Jerusalem and at Colgate, I think I'd like to live in a flat area for a while after graduation. Just to take a break from all the uneveness. It was also small in terms of places to explore/to visit... maybe it's just the Center on the mountain and there's probably more down on the waterfront?

Now I can say I've been to Haifa!