Beginning of Classes
Once the semester began, the University of Haifa began to feel much more like a campus (while we had been in Ulpan, the Israeli students had been in their finals period, which meant that not a lot were living in the dorms and if they were, they were studying in their rooms). With the first week of classes also came a bout of really nice weather, so it truly felt like spring was coming. To welcome everyone back for the semester, the Agudat Ha-Studentim (something like the Student Union) sponsored a mini-carnival two days in a row between classes, complete with bands (I hadn’t heard of them but they were apparently well-known), merchants, and free food! All you had to do was show your student card (and wait in really long lines) for free popcorn, cotton candy, beer, or mini Belgian waffles! It was a really great atmosphere and there were lots of people around as well:
In terms of classes, I am enjoying them so far. I have decided to keep all of the classes I had originally mentioned. My Hebrew level is still very difficult, but I am hoping that it will help me more than the easier class I tried out one day this week, so I’ve decided to keep it. “Israeli Collective Memory” has really interesting readings so far. I love analyzing popular culture—things such as film, newspaper, ads, etc. “Contemporary Israel” looks to be very comprehensive, and we get a few field trips throughout the semester. I can’t wait to learn about something in class and then go experience it in real life.
My internship also began this past week. I am working at a shelter for battered women in Haifa. My job, although it’s very fluid, is to work with the children there. The past two times I’ve went, I’ve been placed in the preschool, which is nice, considering they’re more at my speaking level! As the semester goes on, I think I’ll also be helping the older kids with their English homework as well as facilitating programs for them.
Haifa’s Cinemall
From what I understand, a few years ago in Haifa, most of the bigger movie theaters were shut down in order to create this giant movie complex down by the shore. They then build a mall around the theater, now known as the Cinemall (clever, right?). I went last week with two of my roommates for a girls' night to see “Valentine’s Day” (with Hebrew subtitles, of course) and it really is a giant mall! I especially enjoyed seeing the balloon sculptures in between levels—I think they were scenes from the movie “The Princess and the Frog,” but you can decide for yourself:
Purim in Jerusalem!
I decided I wanted to experience Purim, the holiday commemorating the Book of Esther, in Jerusalem. Because Jerusalem was an ancient walled city, residents there also celebrate Shushan Purim, which is basically Purim a day later. However, since most of modern-day Jerusalem lies outside the walls of the Old City, some people there celebrate both days (I’m not exactly sure that the Halakhic issues are). In any case, I stayed at the Kfar HaStudentim (dorms, or "Student Village") for Hebrew University and got to spend the weekend with friends, which was really nice.
For Shabbat on Friday night, I was invited to a dinner that reminded me so much of the ones we had at Brandeis earlier this year—it was nice to be a little nostalgic. On Saturday we traveled to Abu Ghosh, a neighboring Israeli Arab town which is well-known for its hummus. In fact, they just recently (January 8, 2010) set the Guinness world record for hummus! I think it has something to do with the largest plate of hummus or something, but here’s the poster we saw next to the road:
Abu Gosh also has a few very old Churches, which we hiked up the mountain to see. The first, the The Church of Notre Dame de l'Arche de l'Alliance (Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant), was built in the early 1900s but is said to be on the site where the Ark of the Covenant was held for 20 years during the reign of King David, as well as where a 5th-century Byzantine church was built. It even had some ancient mosaic tiling inside the sanctuary:
The view from the outside the church was breathtaking, even with all the fog:
We then went to the Crusader Church there, which is apparently one of the best-preserved Crusader remains in the area and was built around 1142. Though it wasn’t in use as a church for very long, it was likely used as many things, including a stable, until its return to being a place of worship. Today, French Benedictine monks live there and are responsible for its upkeep. Here is a pipe organ that is very likely NOT from the Crusader times but I had to take a picture of it because it was so beautiful:
It also appears that the faces on the wall frescoes were wiped out, perhaps denoting the fact that the building was used by Muslims at one time:
I also took a picture with the doors to emphasize just how tall they were.
All in all, Abu Gosh was a beautiful town—even electrical units were painted. I particularly loved this one in the center of a traffic circle:
Saturday night we went to Ben Yehuda Street (one of the the main thoroughfares in Jerusalem for tourists) and there were tons of people out in costume. It was also great for people-watching!
Sunday, I went with a friend to a megillah reading at an Orthodox synagogue nearby the dorms. It was the first time I had ever heard Ashkenazic Hebrew being read like this, and it was truly fascinating. It was hard to follow along at first, but I eventually got the hang of it. The next morning when we went the reader used Sefardic Hebrew but it was much faster!
Later Sunday night we went to a giant party cosponsored by Hebrew University and Betzalel—an art school in Jerusalem. It was a circus theme, held at the Jerusalem theater, and had two competing DJ’s and dance floors: one in the main lobby and the other on the stage in the theater itself—very cool! I ran into some Haifa friends as well as the Hebrew University ones I came with, and had a fun time. Here’s a picture of the downstairs area:
I particularly found this amusing: people dressed as an Arab and a Chassidic Jew hugging and taking pictures together. Only in Israel!
Sunday morning Hannah invited me to a seudah (festive meal). It was so cute and there was fantastic food there as well as good company. It was a nice send-off right before I took the bus back to Haifa.
Sorry this post is so long! I didn’t want to leave anything out!
Last photo of the trees outside of the Church of Notre Dame de l'Arche de l'Alliance, near the monastery:
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