On a clear day, you can see...

This morning I went by train to Haifa, where I had a lunch meeting and wanted to meet Noni, another childhood friend.  I was warned yesterday not to take the early trains, as they would be full of soldiers getting back to their bases today, Sunday or Yom Rishon (literally, Day One of the week; just starting to get my head around that one).

Of course I got up extra early, to Skype with Rafi and be on a train with as many soldiers as possible.

I haven't really seen soldiers so far at all, may be one or two here and there, so this was a thrill.  These young men and women (based on the responsibility they hold, you just cannot call them boys and girls, even though they are 18 to 22 or so). I see them and I think they are all gorgeous.

Waiting for the train

Note the young man in the back: iTunes and the weapon

They did ask me why I was taking a picture of them.

 National military service is mandatory for all Israeli citizens over the age of 18, although Arab (but not Druze) citizens are exempted if they so please. Considering Israel’s population comes from, oh, at least 60 countries, Israelis consider the Army to be the “meat grinder” that extrudes, well, true Israelis.  Currently, Israel is struggling with assimilating Jews from Ethiopia and the Army is seen as the major integrator of the younger generation.

The train ride was about 50 minutes long, very pleasant, in a brand new (or so it seemed to me) and quiet train. Haifa is North, so to my right I saw farmland and small villages and to my left, the glorious Mediterranean, seemingly uninterrupted.

Because I rushed to the train station in Tel Aviv, I didn't (gasp!) have a coffee, so when I got off in Haifa I figured I would start at a cafe.  Well Toto, I was not in Kansas anymore. No cafe in sight. So I walked towards the Baha’i Gardens thinking that, as a tourist spot, I would surely find many there but other than still-shut restaurants, no caffeine station to be seen. I missed Tel Aviv already.

Finally found an Aroma Cafe!

 The Baha’i Gardens are incredibly beautiful (and beauty is one of the Baha’i values, from what I understand) and get over half a million visitors a year. In 2008, the Bahá’í Gardens in Haifa were inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, in recognition of their “outstanding universal value” as holy places and places of pilgrimage for the followers of the Bahá’í Faith.

Not the best photo, but you get the idea

(I cheated; got this photo from the web)

I wanted to climb up the Gardens towards the shrine, but one is only allowed about 1/3 of the way up, so even though I was full of good intentions, it was a no go. Instead, I decided to walk up to the center of town. Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000 (600K in the metro area). It sits on a hill and the downtown is up. Way up. Way, way up. So is surrendered after a while and took a cab.

Haifa is a city where Israeli Arabs (not the same as Palestinians) and Israeli Jews (not quite the same as anything else) live together. The architecture is very different to Tel Aviv's, with a very song Arab influence.

Haifa has strong German influence too. The ‘German Colony’ was established in Haifa in 1868 by the German Templers. It was the first of several colonies established by the group in the Holy Land. They settled in Palestine at the urging of their leader in the belief that living in the Holy Land would hasten the second coming of Christ. The Templers built a colony in keeping with strict urban planning principles and introduced local industries that brought modernity to Palestine, which had long been neglected by the Ottomans.

Templer Building

 The train ride to Haifa was only about 50 minutes. From Haifa you can see Lebanon and during the last Lebanon war, Haifa was bombed quite hard by Hezbollah.

View of Lebanon from Haifa

 My luncheon meeting went very well and lasted for a long time. I was enthralled listening to R's perspective of life in Israel. He got his PhD at Stanford a few years ago so he can see things in context (i.e., my context). Does he worry about the rockets which continued to fly on to Ashdod and Beersheva today? Does he think about it when he wakes up in the morning? 

At first he said he doesn't. He gets up and like most people, worries about his kids, about his business, about normal, regular things. But I pushed him a bit. He then admitted that not everything is the same. His sister lost a son in Gaza, and his whole family was changed forever. A tall, strapping 21 year old, smart as a whip with a golden future ahead of him. Like the gorgeous kids I saw on the train in the morning.

Lunch (but not mine)

Once our luncheon meeting was over (the humongous schnitzel in the photo was R's; I had grilled chicken and grilled eggplant with tahini sauce), he was kind enough to drive me to Noni's place. Noni is a schoolmate of mine from Chile. At Noni's place I was met by her and her husband Tito, who recently retired as an executive in a fiber optics firm. Noni works at the hospital in Haifa. Theirs is a beautiful place high up on the hill, overlooking the Mediterranean. From their place you can see Lebanon. 

I got a tour of their home, including the "not so safe" room (the place was built before it became a regulation to build a room in every home to be protected from chemical and conventional warfare) where they had to huddle during the First Gulf War and the Lebanon war.

Did I mention you can see Lebanon from their place?

With Noni (I am not 6 months pregnant...just look it with that blouse)

 We enjoyed some great conversation and played lots of Jewish Geography games (best match: Tito is from Argentina and went to school with the sister of my friend Sandra in Vancouver).  Tito and Noni make a great couple and look so happy together, it was so nice to meet him and reconnect with Noni - beyond just Facebook!

Noni & Tito

Suddenly, in the middle of the conversation, we hear a ringing noise, which I assumed was a cell phone going off. Tito got up and Noni explained to me that they had the computer set up to go off every time a missile is fired on Ashdod. One of their sons lives there with his wife and two kids. The oldest grandchild is only 5 and is so well prepared for terror attacks that recently, when a car alarm went off near their home, he went to their safe room on his own. Did I mention he is 5?

I didn't really need to ask them in what way life is different here.


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Correction as at March 17:
 
Apparently, from Noni's place you cannot see Lebanon. My mistake. (Apologies to Hezbollah)