Weekend in Haifa (Shabbat)

Dear Mom,


I'm officially a "brown baby." Don't drop your jaw when you see pictures of me down below.


Love, The Brown Baby





Today did not start out very well. According to my orientation handbook, the gym was supposed to open at 8 AM. I planned to do my long run with a goal of 9 miles. Since it was Shabbat, I figured that the only way to get in the building would be through the main building rather than the other entrance that's much closer. So I walked over there and found the doors locked. I got a little annoyed and realized that I can A) Skip it and just go tomorrow or B) Brave the heat and the hills. I chose B. So I walked past the dorm security and he said that the gym's closed on Shabbat during the summer and open during academic year. UGH! I complained to him that then the school gave me the wrong information!

So I went back to my room, put on my bandana and filled up another water bottle, and then set out. The run eventually got very challenging after 2 1/2 miles went I ran towards the Carmel National Park. I found a jogging/biking trail that I went on that was flat for at least 1/2 mile and generally in the shade. I was happy for a bit. At the end of the seamless path, I had a choice of turning around or aiming to climb the mountain towards the electric tower. I grimced as I searched for more flatter paths but not were to be found. I figured that it couldn't be hilly for that long. But I stopped and walked quite often because the air got so thin for me even though I was pretty much capable of climbing up that mountain road. Finally, I made it to the top and found a flatter part of the road that stayed generally flat for about 1/2 mile. I made several loops because I did not wish to climb the mountain again. I decided that I had enough and I would just go back. I went back down and saw that I ran only just more than 7 miles (in a slow time) when I reached the driveway leading up to the dorms. I went down to the main university gate and then back. I made it out to 8 miles overall in 1:20:00. I deserved a medal for all this- my face was completely covered in body salt. I was definitely grateful for my bandana to keep my head cool. Everything I wore was completely soaked in sweat and water. I'm definitely going to change my long runs to Fridays so I can do it on the dreadmill (ahem, that's runner's lingo for treadmill). As you can imagine, I was sooooo happy to be in a very cold shower!




At 12:30, I met the group and our Madrichims (social leaders), Maa'yan and Or. Much, much to my surprise, Bus 37 actually ran on Shabbat! I kicked myself a little in my head that I could've taken 37 down to Bat Galim beach... Anyway, we all got on and rode it out to French Carmel. I will tell you that Shabbat in Haifa was not quiet as it in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, everything, everything was closed except for very few restaurants. Those particular restaurants were not certified kosher. In order to be certified kosher in Jerusalem (and I think probably in Israel), the business must be closed on Shabbat. No kosher certification in Jerusalem where there's a heavy haredim population meant no business. No haredi will walk in a non-certified restaurant, not even during the week. So anyway, a lot of places seemed to be open if they sold food and drinks. We had about half hour so I walked around a bit and met Mia (from San Diego) and Cristina (from Ecuador, studying in the US) at a coffee shop.




We walked along the Louis promenade which was situated behind Dan Carmel and Nof hotels (where I stayed with Grandma and Zev). The view was gorgeous. It led us right down to the top entrance of the Bahai Gardens. Now, that got a little tricky there. You have to dress very modestly in order to get in. They won't allowed one of the students in because he was wearing a basketball jersey and shorts (I thought "idiot"- just because the rule was generally geared towards women, it wasn't exclusive!). Some girls couldn't get in if their tops showed too much shoulder (like scoop necks) and they had to borrow extra shawls that a couple of others had with them. For me, already having lived in Jerusalem and adopted the ways of it, I was already prepared in my long skirt and white button down half sleeved shirt!
Our tour guide took us down the Gardens. We climbed down sooooo many steps that it was just all crazy! Let's take a moment and walk through what I saw on my way down... actually, the Shrine of the Book and exit was located halfway down the hill.

Pretty cool plants and flowers grew here!

Maayan and me



Looking back up



Towards Bat Galim, German Colony, downtown, Haifa Port

Couldn't quite reach high enough!





As you can see, everything is fairly symmetrical, symbolizing harmony in the Ba'hai religion

After the Gardens, I joined Cristina and Mia on their expedition to explore the rest of north Haifa. We walked down these steps and commented how people who live here must climb up and down, up and down.... eh, who actually wanted to live here?!
We began noticing how the buildings started to look older as we moved towards the sea. So these buildings were probably dated back to the 1950s or earlier. The Templars (a Protestant sect) settled in this area in mid-1850s. They hoped that by moving to Palestine, it would hasten the Second Coming of Christ. Although Christ never came, their achievement made an impact in Haifa. The Ottoman Empire neglected the area so the Templars fixed up with strict urban planning guidelines and brought technology. They also brought modern European agricultural methods. This colony was quite successful and very German in nature given the conditions that Palestine was in. The main street that we walked on, Ben-Gurion, ran from north to south, directly in line with the Ba'hai Gardens. So if you're walking south from the port, you'll be watching the Shrine of the Book the entire way!

Some of these houses are private residences and others are for tourist attractions.


Kind of interesting... old meets new!

When we reached the end of Ben Gurion at Jaffa, we stopped in the City Center mall to cool off a bit. Mia was on the search for a passion fruit popsicle and I wanted something to drink. So I grabbed some ice coffee and we set out towards Bat Galim. It was indeed a very hot walk.

Finally, we made it! Kind of. We were just at Zim Square (Kikar Zim) when I saw the sign for the famed Haifa Port. We walked towards the beach. We found the Quiet Beach (Hof Sekqet). I thought, "Cool! But seriously?" We took a peep in and in the picture to the left proved the reality of just how quiet the beach was. Not. Everybody was in the water and kids were running all over! I stopped to use the bathroom- it was so disgusting. I couldn't figure out if the water on the floor was from the potty or... the sea... I didn't want to think about it (Probably more disgusting than the one in the Arab Quarter of the Old City).


Then, we took a quick cab ride to Bat Galim promenade. I didn't expect to take the cab- it didn't look very far on the map. But Mia already talked to the driver and I think the driver said that it wasn't even all that far. But she just wanted to get there and I wanted to haggle. I had a jealous feeling- I'd rather be the one talking to the cabbie! It's one of my favorite parts of living in Israel after all.... but I decided to let her learn from her own lessons. For one, she'd be taking a risk that this cabbie could take her the long way around, adding money to the meter (which he didn't). Or, the cabbie could offer her an outrageous price, which he didn't as we asked for the meter.

Finally, we made it to the promenade. It was very beautiful as the sun was going down. Oh, and we found the real Bat Galim beach. Let's go for a walk again.

Remember, the pictures are facing Carmel- to the southeast.

Waves really exist in Haifa because of all the winds, no matter where the beach is!

Cristina, Mia, and me

An artist working on his painting. This was before dinner.

We walked down to Yotvata in the Town, a chain restaurant. I realized that Mia was using her Frommers, which I had used when I lived in Israel. I told her that the place's quite good and worth going. I didn't bring my Frommers as I found it a bit too heavy to lug around, especially in a city of Haifa where there wasn't that much to do (as it seemed to suggest...) and I would spend most of my time in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv/Herzliya outside of Haifa. I ordered yogurt soup and a plate of grilled veggies (which they put a slab of cheese that I took as a "take-away"). We shared date and mango juices. I've taken a real liking to mangos- they're my desserts now!

After dinner, we walked back towards Bat Galim bus station. I suggested that either we walk back to Bat Galim bus station to catch the 37 all the way back to the university. Or, we could transfer buses in Hadar. I wanted to use my map to get use back but Mia asked around. The guy at Bat Galim beach gave us directions in Hebrew and I understood what he said. So we set off. The girls decided that they'd rather take a transfer bus. So we got on and I used (now my favorite Hebrew word) "em-shek" (transfer) to get a transfer ticket. My roommate, Lilach, taught me that so I was pretty excited! I taught that word to Mia and Cristina and they were excited to learn this word that might make our lives easier in Haifa. We eventually switched buses and rode back to the university.

What a day... I pretty much just finished up my Hebrew homework and went straight to bed.