End at the Beginning

This morning is my last here in Haifa.  I'm certain that I will be back to Israel, but these are my last moments sitting at my kitchen table and listening to the waves as they gently roll towards the shore.  It's been fun.  Israel is not at all what I expected and I'm not sure that after five and a half months I really understand it. 

Israel is a young country, full of contradictions, competitiveness, and color.  It's the stony deserts of the Negev and the classy streets of Tel Aviv.  It's the mosque within sight of Matam, the scientific and technological center of Haifa.  It's the tent city student protest parties and the train full of tired youth returning from the military for Shabbat.  It's the warm kiss from a friend and the smile of a stranger baking pitas. Haertz Israel. The land and the people.

A parting story:
Yesterday was the best day we've had during our entire time here.  We started the morning with fresh pastries and chocolate cereal.  We said goodbye to Camel (our car) and Avi our landlord.  Avi has a son in San Jose so we chatted about California, Yosemite, and Tahoe.  He is off to Barcelona in a few weeks.

We walked the beach to the train station and went to see downtown Haifa for the last time.  We had been here before, in February, when it was cold enough to scale the 1002 steps from Yefe Nof to Wadi Nisnas in sweatshirts.  On a gray and rainy day we had wandered down into Wadi Nisnas and discovered an amazing baklava bakery in the midst of a very strange part of town.  We had wandered around the old city and back up the mountain tasting the first flavors of Israel--foreign, exciting and a little scary--as we made our way back up to the Carmel Center.

Full circle, back in Wadi Nisnas nothing looked familiar.  The sun was shining, unmercifully hot, and the little ramshackle village didn't look half as "Middle Eastern" as it had on that gray day in February.  The people were welcoming and warm.  To think that I had once considered them slightly threatening!  We went back to the same bakery where we met some very kind Jewish women.  They were there to purchase merengue cookies but heartily recommended different types of baklava and helped us communicate with the shop owner.  The bakery, located in a Christian Arab village, caters to his neighbors.  For the Jewish ones, he has a sign in Hebrew letters and bakes cakes and cookies in the European fashion.  For the Arab ones, he has a sign in Arabic and bakes baklava and knefe sprinkled with rose water.  Everyone is free to indulge in their own comfort food.

Later in the evening, we went for a sunset swim.  Since jellyfish season is now over, the beach was massively crowded.  There were people everywhere--on the sand and in the water.  We swam out and looked back on the crowd.  It was the world's largest pool party!  There were kids jumping off of their dads' shoulders, Russian women floating around as they gossiped and single men trying to swim aggressively against the waves.  Everyone was happy.  How could you not be?  The water and the gentle waves were like a warm hug, relaxing as it cradled you and rocked you back and forth.  There were no jellyfish, nothing to be afraid of, just sand and water and laughter.  This was the Israel I didn't expect and the one that I'll cherish for as long as I live.

"Shalom," meaning "peace" is the traditional greeting in Israel.  It is also "good-bye."  So go in peace, live in peace, come again in peace.

I used to wonder what the waves whispered as they sighed outside my window.  Now, I know.

Shhhhhhhhalom.

Shopping in Israel + Beyond

Relative to driving up to Costco and carrying away a truckload of groceries and gadgets, shopping in Israel is hard.  It is very dependent upon when you go and where you go.  If you are shopping on Shabbat, you are most likely in an Arab souk where prices are not posted and haggling is expected.  If you are shopping on Friday, you are most likely in a crowded Jewish store where prices are non-negotiable.  Don't get the two confused!

Daily shopping:
Jewish stores are closed on Shabbat and they start closing at ~2:00 p.m. on Friday so they can get ready for the Shabbat dinner.  If you need something from a mall on the weekend you have to fight with everyone else.  If you don't like fighting for space, go early (before 11).  Remember: security guards check all cars going into parking garages.  Stop politely and open the trunk.  The guard will look in your backseat and your trunk and then pass you through.  Don't try to talk with him in English--it just makes him suspicious.  Guys will be wanded at the entrance to the mall.  Women will have their purses inspected.  Mall parking gets creative and dangerous on Friday.  If you want to avoid the crowds, shop on Sunday evening after work.

For groceries, if you shop at Sufersal (red and white logo), register your address for a saver card.  This is like a Safeway Club Card in the states and it is very good to have.  We saved a bundle on 2 for 1 deals.

For a fun and cheap lunch, go to the malls or a market on Friday.  Malls host smaller stalls with farm-fresh groceries or special breads or cheeses.  The cheese stall in the Haifa mall near Matam is especially good.

If you're looking for a special souvenier:

Craft stores:

A very special find is Foad Halbe's Druze Crafts in Daliyat Ha Carmel.  On the main street he is just across the way from several restaurants, on the northern end of town.  Go there!  He sells Druze Glass and hand-weaving wholesale.  This has been the highlight of many shopping trips.  The restaurant next door is very good as well. 

Magdal in Ein Hod.  Magdal works with ceramics in this artist village, just east of the cafe.  Look for the brightly colored pottery.  She's amazing.

St. Patrick's, Milk Grotto Street in Bethlehem.  This store run by Louis has some of the best reasonably priced olive-wood souveniers in Bethlehem.  It may not be high art, but it's nice enough to display on the shelf.  Best olive wood souveniers in all of Israel!  We love the angel we got there.

Arab Markets:

My favorite market for driving hard bargains is Daliyat Ha Carmel on Fridays.  On Shabbat the place is incredibly crowded, but on Fridays you can get some great deals.

Jerusalem has the biggest market with the best selection.  If you want something that looks Middle Eastern, this is the place to shop.  Prices are steep and negotiations aggressive but the variety is excellent.  It is also the best place to people watch if you aren't being crushed by the crowds on Via Dolorosa.

Akko is my favorite souk to wander.  It has a fair selection (we really like the shop just south of the Knights Hall) but the fish market, the spices, and the old city make it a fun place for pictures and general ambience.

Nazareth is ok if you want olive wood carvings but aren't going to Jerusalem or Bethlehem.  Prices are better in the off-season when Christian tourists are few and far between.

Jordan:
If you have time to go farther afield, the markets in Aqaba, Jordan beat anything in Israel.  My favorite place there is Hilawi on the Jeweler's street.  He makes custom beautiful beaded jewelry out of local stones.  Great prices, great place.  It's also a good place to by dallahs.  We got ours at a store on the road to Petra (which might have been a tourist trap) but never saw anything so nice in Israel.

Tel Aviv:
Shopping is excellent if you want a piece of the hip, trendy vibe in the city.  It seemed to specialize in designer clothing.  The store at the Bauhaus Center on Dizengoff had some very cool decorative art.  The craft fair on Friday morning was interesting but slightly overwhelming.  If you like hamsas, that's the place to find one.  Just don't try to shop on Shabbat.  You will be sadly disappointed.

Shopping is more personal in Israel so have fun with it, meet people, and enjoy!  It's not Amazon.com, and that's the joy and challenge of it.

Best Sights to See in Israel

If you're coming to Israel for pleasure, I'm sure you're planning a stop in Jerusalem, a swim in the Dead Sea and maybe an excursion to Tel Aviv.  We've discovered a few spots slightly off of the tourist route that are definitely worth exploring.  Here our our favorites.

To get a great sense of history:

·         Best ruins: Tzippori/Sephoris (mosaics are outstanding – you won’t believe that they’re 2k yr old)

·         Best place to feel like an ancient Roman: Bet She'an (Scythopolis).  Biggest and best collection of Roman ruins in Israel – real feel for a roman city.

·         Best place to feel like a knight: Tel Asruf/Apollonia in Herziliya (a castle on a cliff overlooking the sea). A close second is the Knight's Hall in Akko

·         Best place to feel like a fisher of men: Capernaum (St. Peter's House) in Galilee

·         Best museum: Eretz Israel in Tel Aviv.  Interesting stuff, good explanations in English, and you can take pictures of the artifacts (unlike the Israel Museum)

·         Best place to feel the weight of history: Jerusalem, Old City, on Shabbat in lent.  People will be everywhere, in full religious garb (from orthodox Jews at the wailing wall to orthodox Christians in the holy sepulchre

To experience nature:

• Best wildlife: Agamon Hahula (Hula Lake) just off of highway 90 in the Upper Galilee.  Great in autumn as migrating cranes make a stopover in the thousands.  Good in spring.  Hot in the summer (see Twitching in Israel for more)

• Best lush greenery: Banias is so beautiful, wet and green that you would swear you're not in Israel.  The falls were really flowing in May and I think they are good year-round.  If you can make the trip, couple it with a dinner at Dag al HaDan.

• Best desert landscape: Mitzpe Ramon.  On a clear day you can see the whole crater and even if you can't the diverse colors of the Carpentry are worth making the trip.  I've never felt a landscape this desolate!

• Best unexpected surprise: If you come from March-May there are great wildflowers blooming all over Israel.  The bloom starts in the south and moves north so there's always something good to see.  The diversity of color and forms in the flowers is much better than those in California.  Everyone will go to Mt. Gilboa for the Gilboa iris, but there are good flowers growing elsewhere too!

*If you are in Haifa there are trails down the western wadis from the top of the Carmel to the sea.  Follow the brown signs to the trail at the top of the wadi and then follow the white-green-white stripes on the rocks.  Careful, the rain makes the trails very slippery!

To experience the New Israel:

• Best cultural experience: beaches on Shabbat.  Everyone flocks to the beaches--young, old, families, singles, Arab, Russian, Jew, tourist...On Saturday nights the Haifa Hof Ha Carmel hosts folk dancing just south of the Hotel Leonardo.  Come and watch the crowds!  Last weekend several couples danced while on rollerblades

• Best walk in Haifa: stroll the Louis Promenade on the uphill side of Yefe Nof.  Night or day, it's a gorgeous view.

• Best Arab city: Old Akko (Acre) is a nice medieval town on the sea.  It's a seashore carnival atmosphere of Middle Eastern culture.  There's a fun souk with fishmarket and a great seashore promenade on the southern and western sides of the city.  Make a day of it and have dinner at Uri Burri (great seafood).  It's especially nice on Shabbat since it's still open when Haifa's stores are closed.

• Best way to feel the "vibe": stroll anywhere in Tel Aviv at any time.  It's amazing but the streets will be packed at midnight with more people than were out at noon.

These are a few of our favorite things.  Really, there was nothing we saw that we regretted seeing other than a few really nasty traffic jams. 

Top Tips:
If you are here for a long time, purchase a National Parks Pass which is good for a year of unlimited entries.  Israel has 65 National Parks and more National Reserves so this has more than paid for itself in five months.  Also, parks close 1 hr earlier on Friday than they due on Saturday due to Shabbat.  If you want to make sure to see something, get there before 2.  They will close at 4 and start shooing people out of the parks at 3.

If you are interested in hiking, Carta Jerusalem publishes an excellent English guide to the National Parks.  It has a summary of each park, the trails in them, maps to them, and pictures of what to see.  It's available for purchase at the National Parks.

If you are traveling on Shabbat, target an Arab village for lunch or BYO sandwich.  Tiberias was a ghost town and the only places that were open for lunch were rest stops in the gas stations.  National Parks will probably have a small concession booth selling ice cream and water.

If you want to park in the cities before 8:00 p.m. or on days other than Shabbat, purchase an electronic parking pass (available in gas stations).  Dial in the city code and zone and it deducts from a pre-paid amount until you get back and cancel it rather than requiring you to feed the meter.  Genius! (There is also a way to pay by phone but that requires you to have a cell phone while in Israel).

Don't take life too seriously!  Always a good tip, but of utmost importance in Israel.  Don't get offended or insulted by rude behavior--it's just the way this rather aggressive country is some times.  Laugh it off and let it go.  I can't tell you how many times I've nearly been run down by buses at round-about pedestrian crossings.  The key is *nearly.*  I'm still walking and no harm's been done.

Have fun! La Chaim!

Best Food and Drink in Northern Israel+Beyond

With less than 1 week left before we leave, I'd like to pass on our recommendations for the "best of" Israel.  Here are our favorites for food in northern Israel (with just a few from Jordan). 

·         Best cold drink: fresh squeezed orange juice on the beach or wherever you can get it from street vendors.  Yes, fresh squeezed – they get the oranges out of the fridge and squeeze them in front of you:

·         Best hot drink: Arab coffee.  Finely ground coffee simmered with cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, and a little sugar.  Little sweet, little spicy, really gets you going. (see Small Addictions post for recipe)  #2 is mint tea with lemon—still tasty but with half the caffeine jolt.

·         Best cheap eats : Bruno Casa Della Pizza in Merkaz HaCarmel.  $10 buys you a slice of Pizza and a beer.  Not cheap you say?  It is for Israel…

·         Best humus: Humus Said in Akko.  Yes it’s kitschy, yes the locals all seem to have another favorite, but the only thing they make is great hummus and fresh pitas.  I know it’s totally inaccurate, but from now on, I’m going to picture ‘manna from heaven’ as the lunch we got at Humus Said.

·         Best falafel and Arab food: Arazim in Shlomi near Rosh Hanikra.  Tough choice this one, but they had the freshest salads and spiciest meat. Mmmmm spicy meat.  If you aren't in the mood for meat (or don't want to travel all the way to Lebanon), the best falafel is at Hazkenim in Wadi Nisnas Street in Haifa.  Awesome felafel+pita.  If you are in Haifa, you must try it. 

·         Best chef restaurant: Kimel in Tel Aviv.  The chef has his own TV show in Israel.  Very popular and very tasty!

·         Best unique dessert: knefe, a Lebanese dessert made with shredded phyllo and cheese.  If you find it, you must try it.  If you don’t, settle for the delicious baklava from a local bakery.., Best bakery is in Wadi Nisnas down a small side street off of Allenby (near Shadaha on the northern/coast side of Khuri, ask if you get lost).  Look for the baker on the sign.

·         Best guilty pleasure: Gelato from Leggenda.  Ok, so it’s not indigenous, but it sure is tasty!

Best fish restaurant: Dag al HaDan on the Dan River.  This is a bit of a drive from Haifa, but it's one of the most unique dining experiences in Israel.  Diners are served fresh trout on the banks of the Dan River.  One wonders if the fish swimming in the river have any inkling about their impending doom.

And, last but not least, best hamburger (and best restaurant mascot) has got to go to Moses in Tel Aviv:

Outside of Israel:

We had some amazing food in Jordan.  If you happen to be in Aqaba, look up the Syrian Palace—great food, great service, great location. Al-Arabi in Wadi Mousa had the tastiest shwarma EVER!  Go there if you aren’t too exhausted from exploring Petra.

Best kebab+pita: The Grotto in Shepherds' Field.  If you're visiting Bethlehem in the West Bank, make sure to eat there.

A Helping Hamsa

In the Middle East, it helps to be lucky.  For hundreds of years, during Muslim, Christian, Muslim and Jewish administrations people in this area of the world believed in charms to defend against the "evil" eye and other misfortunes.  One of the most popular and enduring charms is the "hamsa," a palm-shaped amulet (pictured here):

Depending upon the faith of the owner, a hamsa amulet is either The Hand of Fatima(Muslim), The Hand of Miriam (Jewish) or The Hand of God (Christian), although the icon predates monotheism.  "Hamsa" means "five" in Arabic (like 'hamesh' in Hebrew) and the five fingers are reminders of the five pillars of Islam or the five senses of man.  The eye guards against the "evil eye," an ancient curse in Arabia, while the open palm represents blessing and providence.  Hamsas are usually placed near the doorway of a home to protect it and its occupants from any evil that might cross the threshold, although you can see them around people's necks, in cars, and in any room of the home that might need a little luck.

What I find most interesting is that the superstition was so strong the Jewish mystics in the Upper Galilee took up the tradition from their Arab neighbors.  The Hand of Fatima became The Hand of Miriam and the symbolism of five reinterpreted to mean the five books of the Torah. 

Today, the hamsa is so en vogue it's impossible to miss in the Jewish Friday craft fairs and Saturday Arab markets.  From Wikipedia: "In Israel today, it is a trendy symbol that has become 'an icon of Israeliness and secularity'."  The hamsa has been in the background of our own Israeli experience.  When we came here in February our apartment was graced with a malfunctioning doorbell in the shape of a hamsa (we did not recognize it at the time).  Upon planning our departure from Israel we were presented with one as a good-bye gift.  We've probably seen more hamsas than mezuzahs!

Perhaps it isn't so amazing that people from two strong monotheistic religions with no visible representation of God have agreed on this icon of "His" protection.  While the great invisible gods Yahweh and Allah remain in conflict, people embrace luck or fortune to keep them safe.  In a land of high risk, it doesn't hurt to be lucky.

Meduzot (מדוזה)

It's July and, as we expected, it's hot and humid in Israel.  Haifa is averaging a high of 88F and a low of 70F with 65% humidity so it's not that pleasant for walking around.  When you drive inland, the humidity drops but the temps rise to +90F.  This is not a nice time for touring relative to April or May.  If you're planning a trip here, go before the end of June.  So now everyone is thinking "water" and we're sitting pretty right on the beach, with plenty of sandy shore access and a beautiful swimming zone just across the street.  The only problem is that relatively no one is in the water.
 
The first problem is the waves.  We've seen some of the biggest breakers come in from June to July (bigger than they were in March) and swimming is not safe even though there's no storm in sight.  Today is sunny and hot and windy but the waves are in the 6ft range and too dangerous for swimming.

The second problem is the jellyfish or meduzot.  I learned the Hebrew name because yesterday I had a close encounter with one and the lifeguard was the only thing that saved my face from a mass of stinging tentacles.  The waves were up, but still swimmable.  I was trying to get pictures of the local fish for my blog and was focused on chasing a small tillapia.  Suddenly, the lifeguard shouted at me: "meduzot!" but I didn't understand so he switched into English.  "Lady, there is a jellyfish, right there." Sure enough, there it was, about 1 foot away, a blue jellyfish with a 6 inch bell.  I got to my feet and backed away from it, but it must have had a cousin or something because no sooner had I stood up then I felt two stings on the backs of my legs. 

The pain related to them was somewhere between a wasp and a bee sting, so not horrible but not easily ignored.  We had both been stung before with the small broken bits of tentacles that float in the water, but these stings were much more intense.  That ended our swimming for the day and the stings went away in about 2 hours. 

One of my coworkers insists that from July-August she swims exclusively in the fresh water of Lake Kinnereth (Sea of Galilee), and, having been stung, I don't blame her.  In Tel Aviv we saw schools of 8-10 jellyfish with 1 ft bells floating in the waves and I've seen even larger ones off the coast of Dado South Beach in Haifa.  We wear UV shirts to protect our arms and upper bodies so we're pretty safe and usually it's easy to avoid the meduzot when the water is calm.  Dealing with jellyfish is just the cost of enjoying a nice swim in these hot summer months--the water itself is 82 degrees and very refreshing!

Jellyfish identification chart (we usually see the Drymonema type):

If you have a strong stomach check out pictures of a much larger jellyfish school that shut down a power plant just north of Tel Aviv:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2011565/Jellyfish-shut-power-station-amid-claims-climate-change-caused-population-surge.html

Pictures of the jellyfish that washed up this weekend (each white blob is a different stinger):

Shabbat and the City (Tel Aviv, part 2)

Tel Aviv certainly is "cool."  There's a vibe about the place unlike Haifa or Jerusalem.   The Friday markets are crowded and fun.  Everything is on display for the public.  It is a place to see and be seen.  Hip stores vie for attention on the boulevards while farmers hawk piles of cherries in the plaza.  It is a kaleidoscope of color.  Restaurants (at least the ones we tried) are extremely good.  However, like all of Israel, it suffers from the tyranny of Shabbat.

Everything that was exciting and cool--the markets, the restaurants, the trendy shops--everything like that, is completely gone by Saturday morning.  Some restaurants and coffee shops are open which is a small mercy, but the majority of the city is closed.  Plazas are devoid of life.  Large boulevards have no traffic.  Shops are shuttered or display their wares in windows with one light on, as if to mock and say "come back later."  It's like a war-zone and everyone has gone to ground.  The city is empty.

Everyone is at the beach, and I do mean everyone.  The entire city lives by the "shop on Friday, beach on Saturday" cycle also common in Haifa. From an American point of view, this is just too much conformity.  I can go to the beach and enjoy it on Friday while the people are elsewhere, but I can't go shopping on Saturday to avoid the beach crowds.  Silly … 

Beach on Friday

Beach on Saturday

There is also no public transportation from Friday afternoon until Saturday night.  Come to Tel Aviv on the train on Friday and you're stuck until 9:10 p.m. on Saturday.  This might work if you can crash with family or friends, but a night in a Tel Aviv hotel is not cheap ($200+).  It seems like the rules have been made to benefit the natives or the tourists.  Tel Aviv works well if you live there, like to party all night on Friday and sleep on a beach chair, or don't work a normal week. 

Still, it was good to see the city and to be able to stay over on Thursday and Friday nights.  The restaurants were the best in Israel which made it worth it to have two dinners in the city.  We were too tired to take in the fabled night-life scene but given what I've seen in Haifa and Jerusalem, Tel Aviv is the only place you can go out for a "night on the town" in the entire country, so any bar would be like New York crossed with Miami crossed with Vegas.  We overheard one person at the beach saying that he got to sleep around 5:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.  No wonder Shabbat is so quiet--everyone not at the beach is sleeping off a hangover.  Tel Aviv ranks high on my list of Israel experiences, but I still think Haifa with its natural beauty and pleasant beach is definitely the best place to live!