Nights Out in Haifa

I have been here for almost a month, and I finally made it off the Kibbutz and into the city this weekend! Kibbutz Ramat Yochanan is sort of in the middle of nowhere. It is a 25 minute walk to the nearest town/bus (Kiryat Ata), although you can often hitchhike with the people from the kibbutz. From there you have to take another bus to the closest city, Haifa. The public transportation system is pretty sweet, it runs often and cheaply. Unfortunately, this is Israel, so it comepletly shuts down on Friday night and Saturday for Shabbat. That leaves cabs for all weekend transportation needs.
There is a pub on the kibbutz that is fun, but very small. It has been fine until now, but this weekend we were all really dying to get off the kibbutz and see some real Israeli nightlife. Thursday night me, Ezra and Jacki decided spontaneously to go to a club in Haifa at midnight. That is actually fine planning time, since clubs and bars don't really get going here until 1:30/2. We went dancing at Luna, which was having a trance/house music night. It was a great crowd, and we left at 4 exhausted and thrilled. We went back to Luna Friday night, with more planning and more people. 8 of us went, it was great but a totally different scene from the night before. It was Soldier night, so all the 18-20 year olds who were off for the weekend were there, and the musis was all hip hop. It was still really fun and I don't think I stopped moving for about 4 hours. The bartender remembered me from the night before and gave me a couple of free drinks throughout the night, which was sweet because I am not currently making any money (not that I can complain, since technically cabs and drinks are the only things I have to pay for in this country). Anyway, now it is Saturday and my turn on the schedule to make breakfast and dinner for us (the ulpanists). I am avoiding my homework with this blog, so I will go get on that. Wish me the best for dinner...hopefully it will turn out ok. :)

update and pictures

drinking in the circle around the hookah


there are 11 girls and 35 guys....almost all my pictures look like this.


some of the ulpanists chillin in haifa


The Trojan Dinosour!! (you can't really tell, but thats what it says)


they have painted cows in boston... in Haifa they have dinosours!!


My room. My bed is the one on the right...its really not as depressing as it looks. butttttt, if you send me pretty pictures i can hang them up to make it a happier room!

other view of my room.



Avi and Anat...family of the Cohens. They are amazing and took me around Haifa the first day I was here


Haifa from above the Bahai temple


Again...


view of Bahai Gardens from above


Hof ha-Carmel...the beach in Haifa.


me as I arrived in Jerusalem...way too many hours on a plane.


I have my computer back!!! Ok, so a quick sketch of my life...I am living dorm style, like freshman year, with three of us to a room. It's actually not as bad as you would think. I spend most of my time in the Moadon (I have no idea how to spell that), its basically the club house for the Ulpanists. The Kibbutz is pretty large, and we (the people on the Ulpan program...easily identified as the ones who don't speak hebrew) have our own area with all our rooms, an outside common area and the moadon. The moadon is where we eat and hangout when it's too hot to be outside. Luckily, this is a wealthy kibbutz (they have 80 cars!!...and over 800 people) so we all get air conditioning in our rooms.
I spend my days either in classes or working. The classes aren't bad, and so far I have been good about studying the vocab and stuff, so I still have my head above water. Anyone who has ever lived with me will find this funny...my job on the kibbutz is to clean...and I kinda like it :) I work in the Chaderochel, which means dining room. Everyone on the Kibbutz eats together there, although I think the families also have small kitchens in their apartments. Its not a bad job. I wash tables and serve food and clean bathrooms and sweep floors. actually, it would be pretty mind numbing, but I get to work with another ulpanist, Channah, and we really get along. Its also a really good chance to talk to lots of kibbutzniks and practice my hebrew. It sucked to learn that I would not be learning to be a farmer, but at least I dont work in the plastic factory like the guys!
I hope you all enjoy these pictures, and now that I have my computer my posts and pictures will be more frequent. I hope everything is going well in the States...send me updates :)

Hey everyone! I am alive and safe in Israel!! I'm sorry it has taken me so long, but my computer is in Haifa, so I have had to borrow a friend's. It is Thursday night, I have been on the kibbutz for 4 days. I arrived in Israel on Sunday, after an absurdly long time sitting in chairs (although, I got bumped up on both my flights to premium economy, so they were slightly wider chairs :).  I spent all day Sunday with Anat and Avi Hecht (family of our family friend's the Cohens), who took me all around Haifa...to the Bahai gardens, the 30th floor of the University building for an amazing view, to the beach and for some delicious Druze food. I cannot thank them enough for making me feel like I have family in Israel!

Since Monday I have been at Kibbutz Ramat Yochanan. Classes and work haven't started yet, so we basically sit around, talk, and drink a lot. There are about 40 people in the program and most are American. There are a few Australians, Brits, South Americans and Russians as well. The people all seem really nice, and very outgoing. Neither of my roommates speak English, which is difficult, but will give me even more incentive to learn Hebrew quickly!

Israel is gorgeous and when I finally get my computer back from Aliza and Artur's house (the parents of Anat and Avi...I slept at their house Sunday night) I will post my pictures here. 

I miss you all very much and will definitely appreciate comments and emails!!!

Love and a giant hug,

Sarah