Continuing the Journey

6/19/12

            Hey everyone! So much has happened over the past few days, so ill just recap on a few of my favorite moments! We went to visit Yael, Asher, and Yonatan on Wednesday. We got to see Yonatan’s Gann (like a preschool), and it was so cute seeing all the little kids running around! Yoni has gotten even cuter over the year (which I didn’t think was possible!). After visiting with Yael for a little while, I finally got to ditch my bags at her house, and Shaul and I headed over to Guy’s house to spend the next two nights there. We helped Guy and his friends film their final project for their film class, and then went to see the dictator. Although I had already seen it, it still proved to be really entertaining (if you haven’t seen it yet—go see it!). The next morning, Shaul and I got up early and went to the nearby Druze village of Daliat Ha’Carmel, where we explored the different shops and finally got to haggle with shop owners! We went back to Guy’s house, played basketball for a while (yes, I played basketball with the guys!) and then went to hang out with some of Guy’s friends. Saturday morning we got up, and decided that it would be a good idea to go to Baha’i Gardens to Hof Ha’Carmel, the beach at Haifa. For those of you who don’t know Haifa’s geography, this walk from the gardens to the beach involved climbing diagonally down a huge mountain, which ultimately took about an hour and a half in the blazing sun. If you’re wondering why we didn’t use any other type of means of transportation, its because on Shabbat, none of the buses run until around 4 in the afternoon.

            After hanging out at the beach, and swimming in the Mediterranean (it was my first time!), we took a bus to head back to Guy’s house. We hung out there for a little, and then sadly said goodbye to Guy and his family as we were next off the visit and sleep over Yael’s! While we were there, Yonatan entertained and impressed us with his energy and enthusiasm. We went to get really good pizza, and I finally got to have some of the pizza spice that I have been craving for so long (it’s so good—you should all try it if you get the chance!). Shaul and I just chilled and had an early night.

            The next morning we headed over to Acco to visit with Moshe, one of our Dad’s really close friends. I found the dynamic in Acco really interesting, as the population is almost split between Jews and Arabs. Moshe took us to restaurant known for its hummus, and let me tell you, it was really good and totally worth the walk! After, Shaul and I decided to go to the nearby town of Nahariya, and walked around the beach for a while. We went back to Acco, had dinner, and then walked down to the Promenade and had a really deep talk about life’s meaning. Yesterday we decided to spend a day in Haifa on our own, and stayed at a really really nice hostel. He walked around a lot, and headed over to the cable car at Stella Maris, and took the ride up to the top of the mountain (Facebook pictures coming soon!). We walked around up there, and then headed down a path to Elijah’s cave, a place where it is thought that Elijah rested before going to his encounter with the priests of Ba’al. If you don’t know the story, look it up because its really interesting! We walked back down to the bus stop, and headed back to the hostel. We tried to make plans with some of my friends from the Alliance school, but it didn’t work out so we went across the street to a pub and listened to the jam session going on. Today, neither Shaul nor I felt really good, so we took it easy, hung out at the hostel and then went over to the mall for alittle. Tonight we are visiting family friends, the parents of Shaul’s best friend when we lived in Israel. It will be really cool meeting them (again) and seeing if we remember anything!

            Tomorrow I go to Kibbutz Yagur, and the second part of my journey begins! I’m sad to have to say goodbye to Shaul, but excited to meet everyone at Yagur. This past week and a half has gone so quickly, yet we have done so much!