City atop a Mountain

Borrowed from the Children's Encyclopedia Britannica Link

Welcome to Haifa

To begin, I'll be frank: this is my first time writing a blog. However, I owe it to everyone back home--family, friends,  professors--who have made it possible for me to have this incredible experience to share as much as I can. I've been in Haifa a little over three weeks now, and in Israel over a month. In this first entry I'll tell you about the city, the next will be about my journey here and Mount Carmel National Park, and following that, the trip my Ulpan class took to Nazareth. These first three will be posted daily, from there on I'll keep current with my experiences writing once a week. I love you all, and I'm sorry this took so long!

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An Israeli friend once described Israel's three major cities: Jerusalem prays, Tel Aviv parties, and Haifa works. But there's far more to this young Northern city than simple work ethic.

When I told people I was studying abroad in Haifa, I was usually met with confusion. Haifa (spelled حيفا חיפה ‎Ḥayfā) is the third largest city in Israel (next to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv) with a population of 268,000; but despite this it's relatively unknown outside the region. 

After being asked where I was going, the next question was usually 'why?'. 

Why Israel? To begin with, being the birthplace of my faith and its' Abrahamic brothers, there are many important holy sites I intend to visit.

It's also a place where my majors, history and philosophy, have a great deal of contemporary relevance. In the sixty year conflict, understanding the unfolding of events and the philosophies which motivated those involved is absolutely imperative to reaching a solution. 

But what's most often overlooked is that Israel is also at the heart of a meeting of a variety of cultures. Israel is the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe and the different cultures of each continent have all left their own thread within the society, weaving an intricate cultural tapestry found in few other places. 

Why Haifa? What makes Haifa unique is the fact that, since it's earliest days, it has hosted the three major religions and is a holy city to the Jews, Christians, and the Baha'i. For people of the Baha'i faith, the tomb of one of their greatest prophets is located at the city's center. Compared to the rest of the country there's been relatively little violence, and there's a sizable Arab-Israeli population. Haifa is also believed to be where the prophet Elijah confronted the priests of Baal. In short, Haifa is a very diverse and peaceful city with an interesting history.

The city itself is built in layers, literally wrapped around Mount Carmel. Legend has it that wandering Carmelite monks had a vision of a great cathedral atop the mountain and built their monastery there. Their monastery has since functioned as a hospital and mosque.(The building has recently been restored and is now in the custody of the Carmelite order.) The University of Haifa, where I'm studying, is located directly at the top of the mountain and isn't far from a national park.

View from the 45th floor of the Eshkol Tower

The picture above is a view from Eshkol Tower, one of the campus' earliest academic buildings. It's literally a 47 floor tower filled with classrooms, offices...and an Israeli Army Intelligence Base on the top two floors (which are inaccessible to civilian personnel 0.  (I apologize for the sideways view, after rotating the images off my phone the blog rotated them back following my upload.)

Dorms

I'm staying in the Tallia Dorms, towers three to four stories tall built in layers descending from the summit of the campus. Each tower has three or four stories (the top two layers have a fourth story) with a courtyard in the center (the walled sections in front of each building) with a tree in it. Each floor has five rooms (one of which doubles as a bomb-shelter) around a kitchen/lounge. Each room is a single with it's own attached bathroom.

A fellow Beloiter introduced me to the expression 'Nature Emergency' which indicates a time when one is so struck by the beauty of the natural world around them that they must stop what they are doing and stare for a moment. Living atop Mt. Carmel induces these with great frequency.

View on the walk to class

View from dorm window

View from the quad--I can see Lebanon from my house!

In the next entry, tomorrow, I'll tell the story of my arrival and first days in Israel as well as post pictures from Mount Carmel National Park. Hope to hear from all of you soon!