The End of Week One

---

I can't believe that it was one week ago that I left my humble abode in Chicago--this week has gone by so quickly! The weekend in Israel is Friday afternoon through Saturday, but since classes are yet to have started, our weekend this week really began on Thursday. Friday morning we woke up at 3:30 am to hike into the Carmel National Forests right behind campus up to a great look out spot for watching the sunrise. We were guided by an old man who has always lived on and around the mountain and feels as though he is a part of it. He was fascinating. We walked back to the dorms at about 7am at which point I went back to sleep for another four hours. Friday evening we went to a Shabbat service and potluck dinner at our adoptive progressive synagogue, Ohel Avraham (The Tent of Abraham). The service was lovely and the potluck was tasty. My roommate and I made kougel, which went surprisingly well!

This morning after sleeping in, our group decided to go to the beach. The University of Haifa campus is about 15 minutes from the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The beach was beautiful. The waves were enormous!

Today is someone in our group's birthday and he loves sushi, so tonight we're all going to head out to one of the sushi restaurants in Haifa--I'll see how it compares to Chicago's Japanese cuisine!

---