Haifa Haifa Haifa

We explored the city on foot today. BAD IDEA. It was so hot and humid we were literally drenched in sweat the minute we headed down the street. Interesting though, none of the locals seem to be sweating as much as we are. We headed west on Abas street, and then continued west on the Stella Maris, going up, up and up to the top of Mt. Carmel. Near the top, we were eyeballing one of the beaches down the hill and followed a nature trail to the main highway that ran along the coast. The only problem is we were on the wrong side of the highway :( We had to walk a bit to find a pedestrian bridge, which we used to cross over toward the beach. We finally made it and were a bit surprised by how many older folks were crowding the beach haha. Also, Israelis don't have a problem with struttin' their junk in tight speedos, no matter how old. Weirdness aside, we took a dip in the Mediterranean, and the topic of conversation came to sharks haha. We concluded that Great Whites would probably not hang out here because there are no cold currents, but that the likelihood of losing an arm or leg to a nurse shark or tiger shark was much higher.

After a quick swim, we headed toward downtown and ended up in the German Colony, a ritzy street with nice buildings, shops and restaurants leading up to the Baha'i Gardens, so we knew we were close to the apartment. We ate a massive meal at Fattoush, all for about $35.

Jordan got some sort of sandwhich and I got a giant flatbread with tons of chicken and onion on it. After that we got ice cream across the street and headed up the street toward the Baha'i Gardens. We saw some people going inside, so we asked and they let us in hehe. They had to check our backpacks first though in case we wanted to blow the place up. The hedges are speckless. I would really hate being the guy who has to trip and mow the garden. yikes! So much work.

Baha'i Gardens

After returning back to the apartment, literally drenched in sweat, we cooled off on the balcony, which is shaded in the afternoon. Man, this place knows no cool weather! I actually fell asleep on the balcony and then came in and napped again on the floor. Jordan wanted to head out for the afternoon, so we showered and headed down to the German colony again. There weren't really any people there, so we headed toward downtown and then up the hill, following the signs toward Carmel Center. After endless walking and endless stairs, we were drenched AGAIN! But we made it!
We grabbed a few refreshments and cooled down at Zesty's, which serves these massive, mouth watering burgers (if there's anything you need to know about Israel, it's that they don't believe in small portions.) Soon after we heard chanting, and Jordan being the thrill seeker that he is, sprung up and we headed toward it. We came right up to the mob, all waiving flags and signs, chanting and clapping all along. A lady came right up to us and pulled us in haha. She tried handing Jordan and I a sign to hold but we were cautious enough to not take it! It turned out this was an "occupy" march. It was definitely a very fun turn of events!

Shabbat Shalom

June 29 - Friday

We got to sleep in today! We woke up around 11 am (normally we have been waking up at 6) and Jason came by to pick us up for lunch. We went to a place close to downtown and had some Shewarma. People here really take their shewarma seriously. Once you become loyal to a Shewarma shop, people will go there their entire life. Jason gave us an orientation to the city and introduced us to a couple of people. Haifa is an interesting place. It is unique in Israel in that the Arab population is predominantly of Christian background. That being said, being Christian to them, is a cultural thing, much like other Arabs are culturally Muslim. They would not be able to tell you what the trinity is or how the redemption of mankind was completed at the cross with Christ. The Jews here, as well as the Jews in all of Israel are very secular. They value the Torah and the Tenak (interpretations of the text) and they memorize the Torah in school, but they find the value only in knowing about their heritage. Most Jews do not believe in God, and they take the Torah much like one would take the Ramayana and other creation stories of near-east civilizations. They find believers to be ignorant and stupid for believing in the supernatural. It's a very disheartening thing to look at.

There are believers here, however! Jason said there are about 400 believers among 4 churches in this city of 600,000. He took us to Bet Eliahu (Bet=House Eliahu = Elijah= YHWH is God). This is a Messianic Congregation. Most of the Jews here are Jews who came to live here from Russia and other European countries during the Zionist Movement (after the holocaust, when the State of Israel was established in 1949). Most of them were already Christian believers in their countries of origin, who happened to be of Jewish descent (remember the Jews were dispersed throughout the Europe, Asia and Africa by the Roman Empire in 70 AD). Converting others to a different religion is strictly forbidden in Israel, and converting Jews to any other religion is also seen as a loss of culture and can get you kicked out of the country here.

During the time when Jews were dispersed, some went to Europe and eventually mixed with Europeans. Others went to other Arab regions and mixed with the Arabs (Ronan's father came from Baghdad when the state of Israel was established.) Still others went to Africa and mixed with the natives. So you have Jews who are very white, Jews who look Arab, and Jews who are black. There is tension and racism among these groups. There are terms for each of these groups, but I forget them now.

The congregation at Bet Eliahu is made up of Jews who came from Europe. They sung worship songs in Hebrew and had a sermon also in Hebrew. We then had a Shabbat Dinner of Lamb with Tahina Sauce, and bread.

I hope you're not as confused as I am with all the different groups here lol. Sunday we will go to a church of Arab believers.

A beginning and an End

June 28th

This morning was the last day with the GTI tour group. This tour has been so amazing, I was sad for it to be over. Today was also the beginning of a whole new adventure. Jordan and I would meet up with a worker in Haifa and help with some construction projects they have there. Everyone was definitely looking forward to being back home. Today, however, we visited a couple of different sites. Most of them in the old city. We started off at St. Anne's Cathedral, which is located above where the Pools of Bethesda were. The cathedral has amazing acoustic sounds. Ronan was able to get us into the church and be able to go on the stage to sing a few hymns! We pretty much looked like we were some kind of big-shot choir (except we were all wearing hiking clothes and probably smelled pretty ripe! haha.) We continued through the Muslim Quarter of the City and went on to the Christian part of the city. There we went and prayed for the peace of Jerusalem as we walked on the ramparts of the old city walls (which is the area on the top of the wall where archers would stand and shoot at the enemy.)

We came down in the Jewish quarter, where we walked outside the old city to a park where Meyer had lunch for us. It was a giant bagel with all kinds of dips to choose from lol. He had goat cheese, humus, date syrup, goat cheese WITH date syrup and chocolate spread :))) Oddly enough, my favorite was the goat cheese and date syrup mix haha. Weird combination but surprisingly good.

We then drove to the new part of Jerusalem, the modern city, and visited Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust Museum. The name means, "a monument and a name," which is derived from Isaiah 56:5

Afterwards, we headed to the Olive Tree Hotel to freshen up and pack up to leave! Everyone else was packing for the flight home, Jordan and I were packing to head to Haifa, and since we would now be on our own, we packed all the toilet paper we could lol. We left the hotel around 6 pm and had one last meal at Abu Gosh. The meal started off with pita and dips, then moved on to pita and shish-kebobs (lamb and chicken.) The food was amazing and we laughed and gave our final goodbye to Ronan.

Meyer drove us to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv-Yafo and that's where the anxiety started creeping in! We split from the group, and as they were headed into the airport, Jordan and I headed down two levels to catch a train to Haifa! We were definitely nervous and anxious! We bought our tickets, and since we don't know any Hebrew (DUH) had to ask around to find out what gate and train we were supposed to board and what time that train would arrive lol. Anyway, our ticket was supposed to be a one-stop trip. The train was late about 40 minutes, and we were sitting at the station waiting. It was so hot and humid, and everyone around us seemed to be smoking like a chimney. We boarded the train finally when it arrived, but the train was stopping at every stop along the way (grrr). To make sure we were on the right train, we asked a couple of girls, and it turned out that they were going to the same place. We basically stuck with them until we reached the station at Haifa - Hof HaCarmel (HaCarmel beach, at the foot of Mount Carmel, where Elijah had the showdown against the prophets of Ba'al!).

View of Haifa from the Stella Maris, close to the apartment

When we arrived, we called Jason, and he picked us up and brought us to an apartment on Abbas street close to the intersection with Bishop Hajar. The apartment is in the Arabic Neighborhood of Haifa and has a balcony that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Haifa. We are literally two blocks away from the Baha'i Gardens (look it up to get an idea!) We can see the dome of their temple from our balcony. We have a everything we could have ever asked for and more. Jason provided us with groceries, fresh fruit and coffee. We also have free wifi here, washer and drier (thank the Lord, our packs were full of dirty stinky clothes hahaha.)

God definitely provides! He is the giver of all things. Thank you LORD for your provision and your loving kindness.