Getting Settled in Haifa

Shalom from Haifa! There you have it – the one Hebrew word that I know (other than some prayers and blessings). Anyway, after a long, but uneventful day of flying on Air Canada through Toronto, we arrived at the impressive Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. From there we took the train to Haifa and a quick cab ride took us up into the heights of Mount Carmel to our home exchange.

Above you can see the view from the flat – it faces southwest. Here are some other Haifa views as well as a view of us travelers...

We are on the top floor of a 3-flat building. The buildings are built in to the hillside so MANY stairs. Fortunately, the occupants of this building at some point added an elevator. A very tiny elevator that barely held us and our luggage on the journey to the top. Without, it is a good workout – a combo of outdoor steps from street level to entry, then the three flights up to the unit. The flat is very nice and surprisingly spacious. While we had photos in advance from the sabbatical home exchange web site, it is hard to gauge what it will truly be like. So here are some views of the flat, just to give you an idea of where we are.

In an effort to stay awake and get on Israeli time, after unpacking and showering off the travel grime, we contacted our “neighbor” from California (mentioned in previous post) Laurie Kaplan Rubin. We had no hesitation in accepting her gracious offer to come over for a visit and dinner. In a pleasant coincidence, my cousin Rhonda’s son Jeremy and his friend Erin were finishing a two-day visit with them. They had led a Birthright tour followed by traveling on their own. Great food and conversation kept us going and they all had great advice for how we should spend the 2.5 weeks here in Haifa. The good news is we were able to stay awake until about 9 p.m. The bad news is I was too punchy to take any pictures of our gathering as well as the equally fabulous view from their flat – we sat and ate out on their terrace for a beautiful sunset.

As you can see, the money here is very colorful. This is what we set aside on Monday morning for an unexpected sightseeing adventure.

We woke up to our first full day in Israel, and Jim’s eyes oozing (Kevin and Alex – it was just like our December visit to you a few years ago). So it was clear that in planning day one, we would need to get him to a doctor. Laurie was fabulous in giving us the name of their English speaking family doctor, so we were able to get an appointment for 5:45 pm. For uninsured, cash only. Not sure what that would be in U.S., but surprisingly the equivalent of only $72.00. Also different from US was that Jim was not her last appointment of the day.

Prior to the appointment, we spent the day getting oriented to our surroundings. With map in hand and many warnings from Laurie, husband Miles, Jeremy and Erin about the aggressive Israeli drivers, we ventured out in our exchange car with Jim driving and me navigating. I quickly wished that I had been Bat Mitzvahed and could read Hebrew because street signs are few and far between and when they do have English, it is very small. But with only a few wrong turns we found our way to the Baha’i Shrine and Gardens – the newest of religions and shrines in this Holy Land - Haifa’s most striking landmark. It is the headquarters of the Baha’i Faith and the shrine houses the tomb of the Bab, the spiritual leader of the faith. The Baha’i believe that no religion has a monopoly on the truth and aim to reconcile the teachings of all holy men.

How these lawns are mowed given how steep they are is hard to imagine.

We were able to take an English tour of the gardens which are terraced down the side of Mount Carmel, with the shrine being at the mid-way point. To describe these gardens as “manicured” would be an understatement.

We navigated the many steps down (you can see the water cascading along side them – which lead to fountains at each terrace level)

enjoying the different colors and sweeping views.

From where we were parked (at the midway point by the shrine) we walked down many more steps to take us to the German Colony area where we had lunch. This is the view of where we had just been taken from the restaurant. You can't even see the area of terraces above the shrine.

Back up those many steps we were back at the car and another driving adventure that took us along the coast to a shopping area. In spite of a map with the grocery store marked for us, we drove in circles a bit, doubted ourselves and drove around a bit more only to realize we had been in the right place at the start. The reason being? We are still getting used to the security here (and, of course, not being able to read the Hebrew signage on buildings and parking entrances). So whereas in the U.S., if we see guards we assume we have arrived somewhere we should not be going (like in to the Lawrence Livermore Lab) we turn around and head out, here it means you are probably welcome, but we need to check you out first. We had been at the right place, but the parking lot entrance had a security guard so we had turned around. Grocery shopping was a bit of a challenge, but with the help of photos on labels we found the basics we needed.

We unloaded groceries then off to meet Dr. Sharon Schwartz. Her office was here in the Mt. Carmel shopping area. We drove past it and had to walk back to find it nestled in what looked to be an apartment complex. With eye-drop prescription in hand we walked to the pharmacy (indoor mall, security at entrance) and then had dinner at a great Tapas restaurant other than a very cinnamon infused Sangria, the food was wonderful.

Weather has been consistent (in the high 80s during the day; “dropping” to the 70s at night) and not as miserably hot as we expected. And breezy enough that we haven’t used the central air conditioning, just using the efficient room air conditioner in the master bedroom at night. This place must have been built with cross-ventilation in mind.

Today, maybe the beach? Or will the jelly fish we've heard about have beat us there? Stay tuned...