Today's news: British Airways returned my bag to me today. And the university cleaned my room!! However, I'm pretty sure the shower still spits out cold water only. I guess I'll find out in the morning.
After our orientation stuff today, my friends and I went to the Grand Canyon mall, which is the main mall in Haifa. However for us, it was an adventure. To get to the mall on the bus, you ride the bus down Mount Carmel (Haifa U is at the top) and you are supposed to get off at a side street and walk to the mall. We missed the stop and continued on down the highway. Once we were two stops passed the mall, we got off the bus and decided to walk back up to the mall, dodging traffic from the shoulder of the road. It was dangerous and I'm pretty sure we cheated death several times.
The mall itself is an interesting sight. It is a massive building with every type of store imaginable. However the most significant aspect of the mall is that it clearly demonstrates that coexistence between Arabs and Israelis is possible. It was refreshing to see both Arab and Israeli families shopping beside each other and their children playing with each other. Maybe the solution to the Middle East crisis is to turn the region into a giant mall, give everyone a disposable income, and watch as the ethnic and religious differences take a back seat to commercialism and the pursuit of the perfect item to fill the empty spaces in their hearts and minds. I'm not sure if I want to admit this, but maybe globalization and commercialism are indeed good things because they united people under the shadow of the almighty dollar instead of dividing them over their definitions of the Almighty.
That's enough of me being provocative and cynical. I'm really tried and smell like the campfire and cookout that the International School had tonight. Thankfully I have my new sheets and pillow to sleep with tonight.
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