First Days in Israel

After settling in and a campus tour, we were taken down to the city for our first “night out”. Two busloads of international students meandered our way to the lower bus stop on campus and rode the buses down, down, down the mountain to the city. I had not realized that in my mind I had been anticipating this experience to be similar to the one I had last summer when I took the LIS intensive course in Siena. Certainly not. Anyway, the university is up on Mt. Carmel, and the city is spread out in patches in the foothills below. The idea of walking there or biking is seen as somewhat absurd by the locals, although hiking to the beach was mentioned as a fun outing for a day. Shrug.

Here's a pic of my campus from an aerial view (no, I didn't get to fly--it's on one of the walls on campus.) My dorm is in the foreground on the right, the tower is at the edge of the mountain, and then you can see part of Haifa down below next to the Mediterranean.

The bus took us to one of the main roads, where we unloaded and went across the street to a local bar. I was thrilled to sit with some other students who are a little older than others I had met so far—all four in their twenties from Japan, Poland, and the Czech Republic. How great to have Hebrew as our common language! Admittedly, when my Hebrew failed, they were all able to meet me with English while I could not reciprocate in their own language (except for my sprinkled “sumimasen” and some Spanish speaking just for fun), but nevertheless I was thrilled to spend the meal talking mostly in “Evreet”, and listening to theirs that sometimes flew over my head, and other times was just within my comprehension’s reach. I have been pleasantly surprised by how much I can catch! Although it seems to come and go, which is odd. Classes start tomorrow. ☺

Even though I had looked at Haifa on Google Earth, I am still a bit overwhelmed by how big it is. I wonder if it will seem smaller to me once I get to know it. Siena is tiny and beautiful, DC is larger, but still feels small with its focused center and familiar layout, LA is widespread, but one only focuses on the part at hand, so it is mentally managable. Here, I am on the mountain and can see a variety of buildings on each side—some looking residential, others industrial, in other places some agricultural land and structures add shape to the scene. And then of course to one side is the sea and the other is the valley—yesterday and today I can’t make it out because of the fog, or mist, or…is it smog? I’m not sure. But I’ll have to wait for a clear day to take some pictures for you.

This morning I had my Hebrew Placement Interview. I thought it was more humorous than anything else as I stumbled along. Then we did some other administrative steps (making sure we’ve all paid, have our Israeli cell phones, have completed all the required forms, etc.) and have a break until tonight’s official start of Orientation at 17:30. After Orientation they’re hosting a party for us with Israeli food, dancing, etc. ☺

So far, I don’t think I have any roommates. ☹ I have been in and out of the suite for the past day and a half and have not seen any signs of life currently dwelling here besides myself. There is some food in the kitchen, but none of it has moved, so I think it may have been left by a former resident. I am hoping someone will join me. If not for the Ulpan, then I’m hoping when the university proper starts up in October that someone will come. In the meantime I seem to have attracted a feline friend. I haven’t named her yet, but if she sticks around I’ll think one up. I am not feeding or petting her, but she seems content just to sit nearby so far. We’ll see.

Unrelated, I am wondering why at the juncture between the hall and my room, and between my room and bathroom there are two doors. One that opens in and one that opens out in both cases. A mystery.