Finally in Israel

After two very long flights, I am finally in Israel. I flew overnight from San Francisco to London Heathrow and stayed there for 8 hours. It wasn't too bad, except I ended up spending at least $30 just on food (a pizza, a sandwich, and 2 cups of drip coffee). I also bought myself a pack of Montecristo mini cigars, just to emphasize that I was not on American soil and could purchase Cubans. Ironically, they were cheaper than my dinner. At least I got free cocktails and Irish whisky at the duty free stores.

From London, I flew to Tel Aviv. The flight was by far the worst one I have ever taken, not because of the airline or the staff, but because of all the Haredim (ultra-orthodox Jews) on the flight. There were six families, each with 8 or so children, the majority of them infants and babies. Needless to say, the flight was noisy and I got not sleep because of all the screaming children. Where were the fathers during this time? They were praying. Loudly. Where were the mothers? Trying to juggle their children.

Upon arriving in Tel Aviv, I found out that British Airways lost one of my bags. I was and still am pissed. You'd think that the most secure airport in the world would be able to keep track of one duffel bag. But apparently not. From the airport, I took the train to Hof HaCarmel train station in Haifa. It's supposed to be a straight shot, however I got on 3 different commuter trains that cut out before reaching Haifa. At least the scenery was beautiful. I have to say that I experienced a very extreme case of culture shock because of how the people I was next to were carrying M16 assault rifles. And they were younger than me. I hope that soon, those younger than me will never have to do that.

Haifa University is a secluded campus up on top of a mountain. It has a great view of Haifa and the city is very easy to get to on the bus. Unfortunately, my dorm is a Hell hole. There are ants in the bathroom, the shower is moldy and hairy, my dresser is broken, the kitchen is greasy and sticky, our closet was full of empty beer bottles and newspapers when I arrived, and my mattress is falling apart. The people living in here before us left all sorts of pots and pans and food in the refrigerator. It's not a pretty sight. I feel like I'm living in a Salvation Army store. I'm going to meet with the housing people tomorrow and see if they can remedy most of the things wrong with the room. At least the previous tenants left 2 hookahs, coffee, and some vodka.

My roommate though is really cool. He's a fellow ska kid and rude boy, so unlike with previous roommates, there will be no conflict when it comes to music. AND HE'S NOT A SLOB, like my previous roommate.

I went shopping yesterday afternoon and bought the essentials. Toilet paper, hummus, bread, beer, and shaving cream. Too bad I can't shave in my bathroom because I can't stop the drain. And even if I could, the sinks are right underneath the cabinets, which means that I'm not near a mirror. Maybe I'll just go bearded. Who knows. I'll probably crack soon and shave.

Shabbat last night was pretty good. The service was somewhat of a failure because we were only able to get six of ten men. We did have a minyan of women sitting behind us, but unfortunately it's Israel and therefore they can't participate like in everywhere else.

After dinner I played scrabble with a bunch of people from all over the world and then fell asleep around 10pm because I was completely dead. I fell asleep thinking that I would wake up in the middle of the night covered in roaches, but thankfully it did not happen. Today we're going to visit the Bahaii gardens and the Arab market. Hopefully I can find an ATM and get some money. I didn't get a chance to change my dollars, so I'm operating off of cards right now. The bank will be open tomorrow, so I'm going to go change my dollars for shekels and probably pay a ridiculous commission charge.

I've met a lot of great people here and I'm really glad that I'll be here for a year. As much as my room sucks, so does everyone else's, so we all have similar complaints. I'm hesitant to take some pictures because my battery charger is in the bag that's missing. Once I get my charger, I'll start taking pictures and loading them on here because my camera sucks up batteries really quickly. I'll definitely take some later at the Bahaii gardens.