Haifa Trip (2) - Baha'i Gardens

We decided Saturday was a good day for a tour at the Baha'i Gardens considering almost everything else is usually closed on Saturdays. We took a taxi up to the top of the gardens, which begin at the top of Mount Carmel. My goodness there is a good view of Haifa from up there, although it was a bit hazy that day so the pictures aren't as clear as they could be on a clear day. The tour was in English and it was odd to be around so many English speakers in one place. It actually sounds weird to me when I hear someone speaking American English, like a little piece of home was transported here.

The gardens were beautiful. They are made up of 19 terraces (our tour was just the first half, but the terraces repeat themselves so that's ok) that are connected by many many steps that make their way down the mountain. According to the Baha'i religion, you can only go down the steps, never up, so when you get to the end of the tour you have to find your own way back to the top. Luckily for us, we didn't want back up so we just kept walking down into town. By the end of the tour though our legs felt like jello and we would have gladly accepted some uphill travel. But alas, it was all down from there.

Here are some pictures from the gardens. I think the most interesting thing about them to me was the grass. Oddly, the grass is not really on the ground, but suspended about a meter above the actual mountain by really strong netting (strong enough to hold the gardeners). Very odd to imagine...actually I still can't quite picture it myself!

After the tour, we headed down to the market and wandered a bit before meeting up with some family friends, Eli, the one who took us to Hummous Said, and his wife Rena. They gave us a tour of Mount Carmel. We saw some of the same places we had already seen earlier in the day, but we also got to go into a church on the top of the mountain. It was very pretty and when we went inside everyone in there was singing. I was looking around for the choir and thought maybe I just couldn't see them...but I was surprised to find out that the booming, beautiful voices I was hearing were coming from the people all around me... it must have been something about the acoustics in the church because there weren't that many people, it was amazing that they could produce such a sound.

We watched the sunset with Eli, Rena, and their daughter and son in law on the beach and then headed back to our hotel. We treated ourselves to some chinese food (missing the variety of the U.S. a bit) and an amazing desert consisting of a waffle, ice cream and whipped cream...oh my! With our full tummies and aching feet we taxied back to the hotel, watched a bit of our favorite channel (national geographic) and went to sleep.

Note: Soon after we left the Haifa area, a huge forest fire broke out. Here is a bit of information, although you can find much more.

Israel: Haifa forest fire extinguished

The fire lasted four days and is considered to be the worst in Israel's history

Continue reading the main story

Related stories

• Foreign fire crews to help Israel
• In pictures: Deadly fire in Israel
• Israel faces flak for forest fire response

A massive wildfire which killed 42 people in northern Israel has now been extinguished, emergency officials say.

The blaze, which broke out in forests close to the city of Haifa on Thursday, had required international firefighters and equipment to stem it.

Israel's highest ranking policewoman, Ahuva Tomer, who was caught in the fire on Thursday, has since died of her injuries, her family said.

A 14-year-old boy has been identified as the "prime suspect" in the blaze.

The police said he admitted to starting the fire accidentally, after he threw some burning coals from the water pipe he had been smoking on Thursday into an open area of the Carmel forest.

The teenager said he panicked, fled the scene and returned to school without telling anyone, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

Interior Minister Eli Yishai, who has faced calls to resign over his handling of the disaster, has ordered a commission of inquiry.

Emergency aid

Rains fell overnight on Sunday, helping firefighters in their final efforts to contain the blaze.

The fire was the worst in Israel's 62-year history, and the government has faced criticism for not being prepared for it.Foreign firefighters were due to leave Israel late on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Firefighters ran out of flame-retardant chemicals shortly after the blaze began, and crews did not possess any firefighting planes, reports said.

A total of 24 aircraft were flown in from abroad to help, while the Palestinian Authority dispatched three fire engines and crew.

Ahuva Tomer, Haifa's deputy police chief, died after being seriously burned when her vehicle was engulfed in flames on Thursday.

She had been driving behind a bus of prison guards sent to evacuate 500 inmates from Damon Prison when both vehicles caught fire. Thirty-six trainee prison officers on board died in the incident.

The fire also killed three police officers, a fireman and a 16-year-old firefighting volunteer.

Officials say the fire has destroyed more than 12,300 acres (5,000 hectares) of land, more than five million trees and 74 buildings.

Mr Netanyahu has pledged to rebuild the damaged area quickly, and has approved an initial $16.5m ($16.57 ()m) special emergency aid package.

Most of those evacuated during the fire will now be allowed to return home, the fire department said on Sunday night.

Paws for a story

I'll get back to our Haifa trip soon, but I can't pass up a chance for a story.....

Ben and I are walking back from the tourist area one evening and are probably still about a half mile from home when we see a golden lab trying to cross the street....a busy street. Ben calls her over, trying to make her go a bit faster because a car is coming. She comes to him and they meet in the middle of the road on the grassy median. He makes sure she is safe and then crosses back over to our side of the road....so does she. We start walking up the hill towards home and the dog is right at our side...and she stays there through three more crosswalks and another block. At this point we figure she may just follow us all the way home if we don't do something. Since she doesn't have a collar and most dogs wander around town a bit, we decide to turn around and go the other way in hopes that she will just keep wandering....but as soon as we have taken five steps in the other direction we hear the pitter patter of paws on the sidewalk and realize she is right on our heels again. Over and over we try to walk away only to hear her behind us again and again. Eventually we figure we should walk her back to where we found her in case that is where her home is. We walk back down the road and she immediately turns into a gated area of an apartment building. Phew....we make a quick u-turn and walk away, hoping that she will stay there and we head home.......pitter patter, pitter patter...oh dear. Up the sidewalk she comes. After another try at the same, we start to think we will never make it home without this dog so we go to the nearest convenience store to ask if anyone knows her, of course, she comes too. Well, no one knows her, but we get lucky because one man starts talking to and calling the dog and distracts her while we make our getaway. The dog stays at the convenience store and we break free. When we haven't heard the pitter patter for what seems a safe amount of time we turn around and notice that the man who saved us did not seem to have the same magnetic effect as we did (actually to be more precise, as BEN did). We safely make our way home, dog free. I'm not sure if that deserves a smile or a frown, I do miss that pitter patter (of course I wish it could be Maybe's).

Pitter patter, pitter patter....go hug your dogs.

Haifa Trip (1)--The ZOO!

(AKKO)

So by now this was actually two weekends ago, but it is certainly worth sharing...I think it was my favorite weekend in Israel so far. We took the midnight bus Thursday night from Eilat to Haifa....that is a 5 and a half hour ride. We didn't want to waste daytime getting up there so we thought this was a good idea. Ultimately it was a good idea, but when I was squirming around trying to get comfortable on the bus I wouldn't have said that. Usually I am amazing and can sleep as soon as I sit down, but this time...no such luck. Well anyway, we made it to Haifa, took another bus to a different station where Ben's family friend Eli picked us up (7:30am). We then traveled by car to Akko, which is the next city north of Haifa (well, maybe not the very next, but it is north), where we proceeded to eat a breakfast of...Hummous. Hummous Said (pronounced who-moose Sigh-eed) is supposedly the very best in Israel, I beg to differ. I didn't even like it that much. Really the whole place had a weird feel to it...all the other hummous places I have been to are small and kind of intimate, but this place was like a diner. Super busy, mass production (they did make everything though, even the pitas), and a quick in and out meal. However, this is not what Ben experienced the first time he went there (although he agreed with me on this visit) so perhaps it was the early morning grogginess of the bus ride or the fact that we were eating it for breakfast. If I make it up to Akko again..I'll give it another try.

Anyhooo, after our breakfast we ran into someone that Eli knew and he gave us a boat tour of the beach at Akko..what a nice surprise. Actually, the surprise was this...don't look too close.

After Akko, we took a sheroot (van/bus/taxi) to our hotel back in Haifa..Hotel Eden. This hotel used to be a hostel and in reality still had the feel of one...I liked it a lot. We had a nice room with a shower and our toilet was in a little room out on the balcony. Coming from our tiny Eilat apartment most rooms we stay in feel rather large, and this one had plenty of windows. It was a pleasant place.

The big adventure for the day was the Haifa Educational Zoo. We went soon after we got to the hotel so that we couldn't get too tired before continuing the day.

Highlights/Comments from the Zoo

1. It was fairly uncrowded because it was Friday afternoon. It was an Arabic holiday so most people that were there were Arab.

2. Most people just disregarded the signs and fed the animals! Ben stopped one man from letting his kids feed the otters Bamba, basically peanut puffs filled with preservatives...it was good of him.

3. Cats can be HUGE!! Their paws are bigger than my face, yikes.

4. The bird area was enclosed but you walk through it..out the open....available...unprotected.... BAIT! Needless to say, I went through that area rather quickly. Actually there were two such areas, one much scarier than the other. The flamingos were alright and got distracted easily, but the vultures (yes again) and eagles, and big, big, (ugly) birds, just kept their eyes on you as you moved from one end of the area to the other...and unfortunately, back again. However, it was in the first area, the one I thought was safer, when we went back through to head out of the zoo, that a huge pinkish pelican swung its head around quickly in our direction and I ran...didn't even stay long enough to find out that soon after it started nipping at the hem of the woman's skirt who had been standing next to me! These things are not small creatures.

5. The lemur exhibit was rather interesting. We made sure to get to the zoo just in time for the opening of the area, when you are allowed to have the animals touch you. Not the other way around though...kind of like stripping I think (not that I would really know):) Unfortunately, the lemurs were rather lazy that day and none of them really wanted anything but the food that they were being given. They were pretty cute though. They grabbed fistfuls of food out of the bowl and then ate it out of their hands. It was very human somehow..kind of creepy and cute at the same time...hmm.

I think the pictures that Ben took can explain the rest...he did a good job and caught some animals in ridiculous positions!

Mom, now would be a good time NOT to look :) I was hesitant at first, but it really wasn't that bad!

The rest of Friday was relaxing. We made our way back to the hotel where we napped for a few hours and then wandered around Haifa for a few hours looking for food, which we finally found in the form of another hummous place (they had other things, we couldn't stand the thought of more hummous at that point, well at least I couldn't). It was a fun evening exploring on a Friday night when most people are not out on the streets.

Part 2 will be coming soon as we explore the Baha'i Gardens!

Hey All

I've been busy the last two weeks and then sick for the last 4 days so I haven't had the chance or the energy to write in a while. Don't lose hope though, I do have a lot of fun things to share from my weekend up in Haifa....it will all make it onto the blog soon.

Hooray, I'm washing dishes!

Ok so every now and then I have a moment of irritation at the fact that I am washing dishes when I just finished getting my Master's degree, but I guess this is where I am supposed to be right now. I keep reminding myself that this is what I am doing because it allows me to be with the person that I love, not because it is what I will be doing for the rest of my life. I got a job at a Hummus restaurant, actually to be more accurate, Ben got it for me. It's a small place so it's just me and the owner working there. The owner is a very nice guy named Dan who is teaching me Hebrew while he practices his English. The great thing is it's about two shops away from Ben's garage so he can visit me for lunch...or as seems to be more common so far, I can bring him the things he forgot from home:)

Today was my second day and I am beat. I don't know how Ben stands on his feet for so long each day, I don't work nearly as long as he does and I am just aching by the end of it (or really in the middle of it)! Generally I work from 10am until 5pm, but sometimes, when it is slow (like today), a bit less. Here is a list of my duties so far, just so you can picture it:) Wash dishes, cut vegetables, wash dishes, clear tables, wash dishes, toast pitas, wash dishes, squeeze lemons, wash dishes, try to remember to smile, and remember not to crack my knuckles (I'm better at that than I thought I would be)! I think as I get used to things he may teach me how to prepare things (but not his secret hummus recipe!).

There is one part about this job that is actually pretty disturbing, the reason I got the job. The only reason there was an opening for this position was because the Sudanese man who was doing the job before was driving away business. Customers were complaining that they did not like him being near/touching their food! It's really appalling to me, but I think there is an image here in Israel that the Sudanese live a dirty lifestyle (I actually don't know much about it), and therefore do not want them near food. So the guy showed up for work the first morning I was there and hadn't been told yet! So there I am only an hour into the job and he comes in to get fired. Basically I got the job instead of him because I am white....yuck. It felt very weird.

Moving on to better things....my friend Hadas is coming to visit! Well, actually she is visiting her Dad who lives on a kibbutz near Haifa (in the North), but I will get to see her too! I think we are planning to meet this weekend in Tel Aviv, and make our way to the kibbutz where her dad lives. Ben has a meeting in Beer Sheva with the army on Monday so we would probably head down to Beer Sheva Sunday night (this all requires taking two days off work, but I already have the o.k. if our plan works). We don't have the details figured out at all, but no matter what I get to see Hadas...so cool!

No new pictures this time...sorry.

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears...well not really, but close!

This weekend Ben and I went to the Hai-Bar Nature Reserve, which is about a 30-minute bus ride north of Eilat. Ben had been there before, but this was my first time. Because we didn’t go in a car we were not able to do the safari ride through the open spaces where the animals are more free, but we were able to see the predator exhibit. This is more like what you think of as a zoo, except that some of them have been rescued and are being rehabilitated, and others are being protected because they are endangered in the area. We saw some pretty crazy animals, and some that just make you laugh.

My favorite animal was the leopard because of its size. What a huge cat! The male cat strutted its stuff around the enclosed area for us and then made a really low grunting noise like it had a massive hairball! The tail was what really amazed me…it was so long and at the base it would take two hands to go all the way around. The female cat was cute (but that’s probably because she was sound asleep). She was lying against the fence with her legs in the air like Cosby and Maybe do when they sleep.

Now for my least favorite animal, and it's not the snake, that's mom's! If you don’t already know, I have an aversion to birds, it’s better when they are in cages usually, but with these birds the cage did nothing to dispel the fear (and actually this time disgust!). I was looking pleasantly at some furry little animals on one side of the path and then turned around to see what was on the other side…birds, big ones….vultures! Oh my goodness. My only experience with vultures until then was in the Lion King when the three vultures are sitting on a branch hopping around saying, “Whatch you wanna do? I don’t know, whatch you wanna do? Now, don’t start that again!” These were different, they were alive for one thing and seemed at least three times the size of the cartoons. One of them took flight across the enclosed (thank goodness) space and its wingspan seemed almost twice the length of my body! When it landed, it kept is wings outstretched and walked stealthily, lifting each massive foot high into the air with each step. To make things worse it traveled in this manner towards the decaying carcass of a calf and proceeded to drag the body in an attempt to rip off some of the skin. Wow, I didn’t like birds before, but this creature was especially unlikable. I made an attempt at impersonating the vultures’ eerie walk, but I have to say mine just looks goofy, whereas his was downright spooky.

Other Updates

Funny Moment: The other night I went to the little market near our house to get something for Ben because his stomach was hurting. The guy who works there knows us because we go there what seems like at least once a day. I was trying to ask him what to get for a stomach-ache but he wasn’t understanding so I put my hands on my stomach like I had a stomach ache. He gave me a pregnancy test!! It was pretty funny, we had a laugh, and I did end up walking away with some Tums. Aw, language.

Ulpan: Well, we did end up deciding that we couldn’t spend 6 hours of our lives each week with the horrible woman that calls herself a teacher, so we quit the class. However, quitting the class doesn’t mean we quit learning Hebrew. We are going to be working with one of Ben’s coworkers (or another private tutor if that doesn’t work out) because we still really want the help, just in a different environment. We feel pretty good about our decision even though it puts a slight hiccup in our learning, it just wasn’t worth the pits in our stomachs each time we went to class; we’d rather not learn Hebrew through fear and force.

Visa: The visa may take a bit longer to get. Unfortunately this time I have put Irina and Serge to work getting me more paperwork for the visa…it just seems to be endless. However, since I don’t know when I will be eligible for work, and even when I am I’m not sure about finding work, I went to the social services office yesterday to ask about being a volunteer. Here’s an example of how small Eilat is, when I told the woman where Ben works she told me her son works their too…Ben only has 3 coworkers! Anyway though, she was very nice and made it a point to tell me they like to place people for volunteer work where it will benefit the volunteers as well. So she is in the process of finding out if they can insure me (not being Israeli) and if so then she says she can most likely find a place for me working a few times a week in the schools with younger kids learning English. I think it could be good for me to have that experience. I have not heard back from her yet but hope to at some point this week.

Library: Last week I found the library. It’s heaven…there is a whole room of English books! I paid enough to take three books/DVDs out at a time and am so excited to have it available. I even looked for some of the authors I have been reading lately and found quite a few books by those authors that I have yet to read…how exciting!

I think this owl looks like Luna....what do you think? Kind of?

Sinai

Last weekend we went to Sinai. Ben had Thursday off from work so we decided to take the opportunity and just go….it was really rather spur of the moment. We left at about 9:30am and were at a Bedouin camp in Egypt by 11:30 am. It’s amazing how close it really is to us!

We planned to go a Bedouin camp called Sawa, and when we got there it looked pretty nice but it turned out a HUGE group was coming in that night and there wasn’t even room for us. Fortunately the whole seashore is lined with Bedouin camps so we easily found another one. It was called Kum Kum 3 (which means Tea Pot 3). We stayed in a little bamboo hut right on the beach. Actually we didn’t stay in it, we slept outside, surrounded by a mosquito net. It was definitely warm enough. We stayed two nights and both mornings the sun woke me up at 7:05 and by 7:15 I was too hot to stay in bed:)

Here are the highlights/noteworthy experiences of the trip:

1. The whole time we were there we did the only thing you do when you go to Sinai..nothing. I read a book and a half.

2. The water was extremely shallow and even 50 meters out it barely came to your hips. The coral was really shallow as well and wasn’t the prettiest I’ve seen, but there were some pretty crazy fish when you made it out far enough to find some reefs. The bottom of the sea was covered with Sea Cucumbers, which I first I have to admit I thought were turds!

3. Two guys who were staying there caught an octopus and cooked it for dinner.

4. As I said, the only thing you are supposed to do in Sinai is relax, but….at any given moment there are at least 5 flies sitting somewhere on your body and 15 more waiting for their turn

5. The food was…interesting. Some of it was really good, but one night the only option we had was fish. I’m not a big fan of fish, but I usually like it enough. However, at home I am used to filets….here, we had three HUGE fish served to us on a large platter…they were whole, with the heads, and amazingly sharp and ferociously teeth! I could even see the red spots on one of the fish and it made me think that perhaps it was one of the pretty fish I had seen snorkeling earlier in the day. I spent about 15 minutes getting rid of the bones and making a pile of meat and then put the plate under the table to get it out of my sight (the tables are like 10 inches off the ground by the way, so this isn’t really weird). I just can’t stand to see the animal that I am eating, I just like to see food:)

6. I’m glad I went, but I had a lot on my mind (Ulpan in particular), and seemed to forget how to relax. I will want to go back again sometime when I have a better mindset and can really enjoy the nothingness. I think if we go back we will try to find a better beach too….one that is known for snorkeling and swimming.

Ben took a lot of pictures and he has chosen his favorites for me to post on the blog. Some of you have already seen them.

As for an update this past week: My work visa is on hold for the moment because of some silly reasons the government gives us, but my tourist visa was extended when I went to Egypt so it’s ok…I found a community center about 3 blocks from our apartment that has line dancing, salsa dancing, pilates, and rock climbing, I think I’m going to join….more soon.