Haifa Part II: Same City, Different View

One of my goals for the time I'm in Israel is to go to Haifa about once a month. It's such an amazing city and I've really enjoying hanging out with Guy, Ariel, Dani, Tom, Tal, and their friends! I've definitely gotten a taste of the Haifa life, and I love it. The city has a small town feeling even though it's not that small and there's lots to do.

View from Ariel and Dani's Parents' House

Last Thursday, I went to Haifa with a co-worker to play soccer with a bunch of his friends at Haifa University. We played indoor soccer- their gym is a basketball court and has soccer nets, as do most basketball courts in Israel. We played for a while, and then it was time to see Guy and Ariel (who was finally back from Africa)!  I met up with Guy near his house, and we went back to his bachelor pad for a bit until Tom came and picked us up to go to Ariel and Dani's apartment. They live on the top floor and their apartment has a roof where they often hang out and they have a pong table! It was pretty late by the time we went to bed.

Mukhraka Monastery

On Friday, we slept in and I woke up to Dani and his brother making us shakshuka (tomatoes and veggies sauteed and covered with eggs)! It was a little spicy and very delicious. After brunch, Ariel, Guy, and I went on a mini road trip to see some of the local area around Haifa. We went to the Druze village Dalyat and walked through their shook (market). The Druze are a religious community with lots of villages scattered throughout Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. Their religious beliefs are actually a secret! The only people that know the secret are those that commit to a religious life when they turn 18- they commit before they learn anything about the religion. All we know is that one of their values is loyalty to their country. So, those that live in Israel can serve in the army and are at peace with their neighbors.
In the market, they had lots of colorful bags and scarfs, Judaica, and hand-crafted souvenirs. They also have really good Druze pita with labneh and other delectable desserts. But, we were full from shakshuka so we resisted temptation.

View of Israel Valley (other side this time)

After the shook, we drove back through the village, to the Mukhraka, a Carmelite monastery with a great view of Haifa and the surrounding areas. The Mukhraka is the site where, according to tradition, Elijah fought against the prophets of Baal. We went through the gardens and then out to see the view- it was incredible! There was a map on the ground of the observation deck that showed all the places you could see and which direction to look. Almost all of the people at the monastery were American tourists, and they were definitely from the south. Guy, Ariel, and I made fun of them a bit, especially when we asked two different people to take a picture of us and neither of them managed to succeed. Definitely made me miss good 'ole US of A. Finally, we got a picture of us and headed to our next destination. We drove through the Carmel Mountain a bunch, checking out the view of the coast whenever it popped out from behind the trees.
We dropped Guy off before making two last stops on our road trip. We went to yet another view point to see Elijah's cave. But, just as we got out of the car, it started to rain! It was cold rain, and we had a 10 minute walk to the cave, so we decided to come back to the cave another time. Next, we went to a view point that showed the port of Haifa and the navy bases. Ariel showed me where he worked and where Dani worked when they served in the navy.
After a busy day, we went back to Ariel's to relax and get ready for Shabbat dinner. Ariel, Dani, their two brothers, sister, and I went to their parents' house for Shabbat dinner. As always, the food was delicious and the family is very nice! His mom is originally from England, so we had a lovely chat in English. Their house has a balcony with a great view of the coast!

View of the Coast near Elijah's Cave

Friday night, we went to Cafe Neto with the Haifa boys- Ariel, Guy, Gal, Ben, Ran, Nemo, his girlfriend, and Yotom! Yes, Ben, I will write about it in my blog :) We sat outside and had a drink, and then it started raining again! It rained more on Friday than it did the entire two months I've been here! That is, it rained twice for about 15 minutes each time. So, we headed back to Nemo's to watch a movie. It was a very strange Michael Cerra movie called Scott Pilgrim against the World. We didn't make it through the movie, since it was getting late and we weren't that interested.

The Map...

Saturday was a nice, relaxing Shabbat. If the weather wasn't bad, we would have gotten to go sailing! We watched movies at Ariel's and then went to his friend's and watched another weird movie- this time an Israeli one. After the movie, we went to Ariel's parents' for hamburgers, mmm good. We didn't have much time, though, because we had to play soccer at 4. Soccer was really fun this time, and we played for over two hours! It was another outdoor basketball court with soccer goals, which I'm starting to get used to. After soccer, we had dinner at Ariel and Dani's with some of their friends- homemade burekas and pizza... yum. Finally, I had to catch the train back to Tel Aviv. I hate saying goodbye to Haifa and the boys, but I know I'll be back soon.