Blogs from Haifa District, Israel, Middle East - page 2

Today was the day we left The Angel Hotel in Bethlehem to go to the northern part of Israel to Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea. This was one of Herod's biggest projects, but its importance in Christianity is that it was where the first Gentile, Cornelius, was baptized by Peter. This is considered the start of Christianity. Paul also spent time there and was imprisoned there for two years. It is interesting to look along the shore there because fragments of pottery come in with the tide along with the sea shells. This is ancient pottery pieces from when Caesarea was destroyed. When we left there our bus broke down I believe it was a fuel line. We all got off the bus and made the best of it. We probably lost an hour or more ... read more

Hi everyone The Israeli experience has been amazing. Security has been very tight. For example, all 4000 passengers had to get their passports checked by immigration before leaving the ship. It was a new cruising experience as you get used to wandering freely in and out of European countries. The immigration procedure involved standing in a line for an hour and a half before making it to the presence of a number of very surly and well armed Israeli officials who looked like they had been drinking cocktails. Best to just line up and be quiet in such situations I have found. Not so the German man further back in the queue! He was very stroppy and had to be calmed by other passengers. There were no ship's staff around anywhere to control the chaos. We ... read more

Hi all, Well it's Christmas time here in Israel. Although most people here aren't Christian, they still hold a big celebration in the German colony by the Bahai Gardens downtown. It's a festival for the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim holidays during December, and everyone comes together to celebrate. They have food stands and stores selling holiday souvenirs, and they decorated the entire area with lights and ornaments. It's absolutely beautiful there. I went with Laura and our friend Ryan on Friday and again on Sunday with Laura. We walked around the streets and had drinks in the restaurants there. On Friday, it was very crisp and refreshing outside, but it started raining on Sunday while we were there so it was really cold. We had a terrific time. I tried to take some pictures there at ... read more

I was sitting in a coffee shop and having a cider with my friend Laura the other day when we both realized that it was already December! We only have one month left here. It's so weird to think about. I have no idea how time flew by so quickly. Now that I am just starting to get in the groove of living in Israel, I am already going to have to leave soon. We were so sad to think about saying goodbye to each other and our other friends here. How strange to think that we won't be able to see each other for a long time after the semester is over. I didn't realize how late it was, which then started me thinking about all of the other things I need to do. Finals ... read more

Hi everyone! Everything is well in Haifa, and I think that the violence is starting to quiet down as well. I haven't heard anything else on the news about it so far. So hopefully that means that we'll be allowed to travel now :). School's starting to get busy, and it's hard to believe but midterm exams are almost here! So far the classes are really interesting, and I'm enjoying them very much. The weather here has been beautiful! It's in the 70s-60s, and it rains almost every day. It's absolutely perfect. One day it was so foggy that I couldn't even see more than 5 feet in front of me! It almost reminds me a bit of San Diego. And Aunt Tippi- I went to the beach at night with one of my friends this ... read more