Welcome to Haifa!

Hey Everyone,

It's been over a month since I last posted, and I don't really have a good excuse for it. I can however tell you why I started blogging again. I found out that my grandma was mad at me. Not mad, though--disappointed. When Grandma tells you she's disappointed that you aren't keeping a blog anymore, you know it's bad (Hi Grandma Fran). Furthermore, when you get texts from your Aunt searching for the blog, you know it's REALLY time to start blogging (Hi Aunt Roz).

This blog is going to be a mix of a lot of things, but stick with me, and hopefully you'll get a general understanding of how I've been doing the last month. Mostly, it's a lot of random thoughts strung together. I'm rusty with blogging--I'll get better.

I'm not in Jordan Anymore. 

For as other as Jordan was for me, Israel is that familiar. Even though I've never previously lived in Haifa, I understand the culture of the place. I know the language (I went in to the ministry of interior yesterday and got my student visa speaking only in Hebrew). Public transportation is good (I've already spent weekends in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv), and most different--this place is Jewish. Well, sort of. It's complicated.

Haifa 101

Haifa is a really interesting city. It is very mixed in terms of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Bahais all living here. Having said that, for as much diversity appears to be here, the groups are still very separated from one another, and PLENTY of tension exists. Haifa is a city in the North of Israel, and its port is massive.

I'm studying at the University of Haifa, which is on top of a mountain with a KILLER view. IF you don't believe me, check it out for yourself. Over the last mountain ridge you can see is Lebanon. Say hello.




School and my Quadrilangual Existence

Unlike last semester, when I was doing a home stay, this semester, I'm living in the dorms. Thank god the international students aren't living exclusively with other international students. I am living in a suite with 6 single rooms around a kitchen. Along with another international student, I'm living with all Arab girls. Three of them are Druze, and one of them is Muslim. They are all really great, and I'll do an in depth post about what the Druze religion is later.

Because my roommates are Arab though, this means that I am literally using at least 3 languages ever day--Hebrew, English, and Arabic. However, one of my good friends at the international school is deaf, so I'm also learning and using sign with her. Four languages a day--not bad.

Feelings

For the last month, I have tried to blog, but I kept feeling like I was getting more political than I wanted to without trying. Largely, this is because Israel is inherently political. Let me try to explain what I was feeling, and maybe you'll understand.

When I got here, I was feeling a lot of feelings that I couldn't really articulate. In order to help you understand, I need to help you understand my relationship to Israel. It's long winded, but I promise it could be longer.

After High School, I took a gap year here and fell head over heels in love with the place. I wanted to move here, thought that anyone accusing Israel of doing bad things simply didn't understand, and thought it was my duty to show everyone how perfect Israel is. Over the two and a half years, my opinions have largely flip flopped, as I've made it my goal to learn the other side of the story politically. Largely because of my Palestinian speech Pathologist (hi Soha), I began looking into the reasons that people strongly dislike Israel. As I did so, I realized that on many charges, Israel's critiques and detractors are right. Before I had arrived in Jordan, I had begun to look at Israel much more critically and objectively. In Jordan, I forgot everything I had learned from the Jewish/Zionist perspective, and emotionally connected with the Arab side of the story.

This is the metaphor I use--note, my dad is NOT actually a serial killer. Preparing to come to Israel for this semester was like preparing to fly home for Thanksgiving after learning that my father is a serial killer. He has done some terrible things that I had no control over. I am angry at him for doing these things, but he's my father, and I love him. Now I have to talk to him about it. I can't un see and unlearn what I've learned about Israel from Jordan and my Academic research, but I also can't forget the feeling I have in this country when Shabbat starts in Jerusalem. As I said, I'm feeling a lot of feelings.


That's it for now, and I promise future posts will be coherent.
Best,
Becca