College life in Israel as of today

Shabbat shalom everyone!

I was planning on writing a totally different blog post than this, but I ended up deciding that this must be way more intriguing than what I had in mind... so here it is! 

First off, I must point out that living in a country which has been in a state of emergency since its establishment is quite different than what you must imagine. Israel is a small country, surrounded by countries such as Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, and divided by Israeli and Palestinian territories. People living here have a looming threat over their everyday life - the possibility of an incoming missile is not unimaginable, however, this does not stop them from living their everyday life to the fullest.

During my stay here I have discovered that life is just like back at home - we all go to school every day, explore the country during the weekends, and have tons of homework waiting for us when we get back :) The food is amazing, and people are incredibly hospitable. As the country is quite small in size, my new friends and I have travelled quite a lot around to make sure we see as much as possible. And as always, heed caution! The university will send you emails warning you of places not to travel, and as you are a guest in this country, heed their advise - and stay away from places they warn you of. Now, this is not meant to scare you - Israel is amazing, and I love it here. But I want you to know that things are a bit different here than at home, and listening to the locals is always the best thing to do. 

Still, that does not mean that you should not travel! You are only here for a limited amount of time before you return to HPU. So go out and explore! Meet locals, eat street food, and let loose! The staff of the international school are great and have planned many trips around Israel for the international students. So far, we have visited Jerusalem, Rosh HaNikra, Atlit, Ceasara, and more, plus had countless events around in Haifa - from volunteering to pub crawls - there is tons to do and see!

Getting around is not difficult. There are buses and trains that can take you anywhere, and car rentals if you want the freedom to go wherever, whenever. Remember Shabbat though! From midday Friday to Saturday night almost all public transport stops, and shops are closed for the Judaism's day of rest. However, there will be a few buses operating on Saturday, as Israel has a very strong tradition of freedom of religion and of expression - thus, some Israelis keep to Shabbat very strictly (no work, no travel etc), and equally as many don't keep it at all. Therefore, Friday and Saturday has become the weekend, and Sunday is technically the first day of the week (therefore, school starts on Sunday as well). 

The classes are a bit different as well. You will have about the same amount of classes and credit hours as you have at HPU, however, how they divide their class-hours is a bit different. A class will only be taught one day of the week, thus, in my case for example, I will only have my Arab-Israeli Relations class one day - on a Monday, for 3 full hours (we get a small break, of course). Now, as far as I'm concerned, this is not a problem. All the Israelis follow the same system. And honestly, you get used to it after some time. Plus, as all your classes follow the same system, you can technically end up with an incredibly long weekend! Which is perfect if you wish to have longer trips around the country - or more time for writing all your papers ;) 

I hope this helped you guys if you were wondering about life here in the Middle East. It is a totally different way of living - while at the same time, not so different when you think about it. I can only hope more of you will consider studying abroad here. HPU has to represent, haha :) Have a great weekend everyone! Aloha

Israeli cuisine is amazing!

Aloha everyone!

There are so many delicious dishes here in Israel to try out, largely due to Israel being a huge melting pot of cultures and religions, and I have already started trying them out. These are some dishes I have fallen in love with, and I strongly suggest you try them out whenever you are here!

Falafel // Hummus // Shwarma // Tahini // Baba Ganoush // Bourekas // Rugelach

Plus seafood and shabbat dinners! Oh, and a traditional Israeli salad! And shakshuka! Israel has so much to offer when it comes to food, and the best part is that most of it is actually healthy - its full of fresh veggies, fruit dishes, fish instead of meat, etc etc. Definitely worth trying out. And if you want pastries and the like, then don't worry, the Israelis have a sweet tooth too ;)

Shalom Israel!

Hello HPU students! And shalom :)

My third week in Israel is coming to an end, and I am starting to adapt to my new life here in Haifa. From my relatively short flight to Tel Aviv, and the ensuing travel to Haifa by train and bus, to dorm- and student life at the University, I am hoping to give you guys a short glimpse into life here in Israel as a visiting student from HPU :) I hope this will help with some questions you might have regarding a study abroad experience here in the Middle East!

A view of Haifa from the university

First of all is travelling to Israel. If you wish to study at the University of Haifa, one of HPU's partner universities, remember that Haifa is situated north in the country, about 90 kilometers north of Tel Aviv - and 90 kilometers north of the Ben Gurion Airport; the main international airport of Israel, and the airport you need to land at (as it is the closest international airport to the city of Haifa). From there, the easiest way to get to Haifa is by train. But don't worry! There is a train station at the airport :) Take the train to the Hof HaCarmel station in Haifa, and take either a bus or taxi from there to the university. And again, don't worry. Almost everybody here speaks English, and they all know of the university and where it is located. Getting to the university is not as difficult as people make it seem.

View of Jerusalem from a hostel I stayed at

Second is the dorm life and the student life. The campus is located on the historic slopes of Mount Carmel, with a view overlooking Haifa (as seen on one of the pictures above). The view is amazing! And so are the dorms. While I chose to live at the Federman dorms, where we live in double bedrooms, you can also choose to live at the Talia dorms, where you live in single bedrooms. Both are located right next to each other. You share an apartment with other international students, but are surrounded by apartments with Israeli students - a great way to get to know everyone on campus!

Furthermore, the student life here is very including. There is an amazing staff at the international school who are organizing all kinds of parties and excursions for us, while the Israeli students also organize several parties and events for the university students, just like at HPU. And everyone is welcome to join! I can't wait to explore more of what life here in Haifa has to offer :)

One of the beaches in Haifa

Are You Craving A Shawarma?

Hey guys! So if you haven't guessed it already this blog post is going to be about the scrumptious foods I have tried so far in Israel. Let me first start by explaining to you some differences between the US and Israel when it comes to meal time.  Beginning with breakfast...you would think of some pancakes, waffles, eggs, maybe some toast and cheese or yogurt with granola. Well, scratch that image and think salad. That's right. I said salad. About a week ago I met up with some of my Israeli family here in Haifa. When they asked me what I usually eat for breakfast and I replied yogurt and half of a grapefruit, they were shocked! They said, "What, no vegetables or cheese?" Here in Israel it is pretty typical to have an assortment of vegetables with your breakfast. These veggies usually go along with cheeses and eggs, and some really awesome pastries. I'm pretty sure I haven't had such a delicious chocolate croissant until eating in Israel. Also, a really popular dish that is eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner is called shakshuka. It's basically tomato sauce, with onions and tomatoes chopped up and mixed in with two sunny side up eggs placed right on top. You dip bread into eat and eat it all together. Sounds a little strange but it is so yummy!
Now, when it comes to lunch and dinner...the first thing I must tell you about is a shawarma. Yes, this is the dish that is talked about in the movie "The Avengers." My family friend put it into perspective for me, he said that if an Israeli has his last 10 shekels in his pocket, he'll use it to buy a shawarma. Now let me tell you, he was right! A shawarma is a pita bread filled with a combination of salads, hummus, tahini  sauce, sometimes fries, and a type of meat or curried chicken which is cut up off of a huge roast. A falafel sandwich consists of the same things except instead of the meat, the pita is stuffed with deep-fried chickpea balls. It's also delicious. The last thing I want to tell you all about which is everywhere, and with practically every dish here, is hummus. For those that don't know hummus is a thick paste or spread made of ground chickpeas and sesame seeds, olive oil, lemon, and garlic. Growing up my family always had some on our Shabbat table to eat with bread. But here it is actually with almost everything! During the CIEE orientation we went to the ancient city of Akko for the day, and had lunch at a famous hummus place. Everyone had the choice to add extra things into the hummus, like ground meat, eggplant, or mushrooms. I got mine with mushrooms and I'm pretty sure it was the best hummus I've ever had! On that note, all this talk about food is making me hungry, so dinner time it is! Until next time...shalom everyone!

Study Abroad in Haifa, Israel: First month overview

I made the decision to leave to Israel two days before my actual program with CIEE started, so i could meet up with family friends I have not seen in years. Upon my arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, I was greeted with a leap into a language I have grown up around but never actually understood. Aside from reading Hebrew prayers in synagogue and singing songs at the Shabbat table, my father speaks fluent Hebrew with his friends all the time. However he never thought to teach my brother, sister, and I. Thanks dad. This could have come in handy right now as I spend my year here. It was quite confusing since at this moment I was on my own with no one to actually translate to me where the airport coffee shop was to meet my family friends. When I finally found them an hour had passed and they weren't too happy. Guess I should have preordered my Israeli cell phone huh? Whoops. Anyway, the next two days instead of actually spending time with them I pretty much slept because of the awful jet lag. But nevertheless they were very nice about it and I will definitely make it up to them when I get the chance. Two days later I found myself back at the airport to meet the people who I would be spending most of the semester with. One by one a new exhausted face made their way off their flights and over to our meeting spot. Surprisingly, even though they all had just gotten off a long international flight, everyone was pretty bubbly for the most part. Once everyone was gathered together we made our way to our tiny bus covered in Israeli ads that would take us to our new home in Haifa. Having been to Israel once before I sort of knew what to expect from the landscape and cities. But it was very exciting to listen to the wonder and curiosity of my fellow group members. Other than myself, one other person in my group also had been to Israel before. So we both tried to give a bit of our input from what we both had previously seen. We slowly began winding our way up the side of a mountain, all of us anticipating the sight of the Haifa dorms. When we finally made it to the top we were greeted with what looked like a typical US college campus. We received our dorm assignments and we're sent on our way. The dorm is pretty decent, especially since the CIEE group was placed in the Talia dorms which are the "nicer" of the University of Haifa living facilities. Each dorm room has six separate bedrooms in it, with each room consisting of private bathrooms for each person. We all share a kitchen and a living area in each dorm too. Everyone in our CIEE group became good friends pretty quickly. We are all from different states and universities from around the US. The Haifa International School however, consists of students from all over the world. Students from Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, as well as the US. In my dorm alone we are two Americans, one German, and three local Israelis. I think my favorite part about living in Haifa so far aside from the utter beauty of it, is the diversity of the people. I can actually say that I have not experienced any type of culture shock this last month, aside from language barriers. Life in Haifa and Israel seems very westernized and comfortable. I don't think it really hit me that I am in such a different place until I visited Jerusalem with the International School. Seeing the ancient architecture and the strong basis religion has on such a tiny country was peculiar but enticing. I definitely did not feel that way when visiting Tel Aviv, although I loved the city vibe it gives off. But being in a city that is considered so holy  and rich in history to many religions really gave me the sense of why this country is one of the most "talked about" issues in everyday news. I am looking forward to spending the weekend in Jerusalem with CIEE and experiencing more of what the city has to offer. This last weekend being spent in Tel Aviv was very cool. CIEE took us to see a live band called "Heartbeat" which works to bring together Israeli Jewish and Palestinian young adults to make music and discuss important issues. They were very cool, and had awesome voices. We also received a tour of an abandoned bus station in Tel Aviv which Not only has a very upbeat art scene, but is also a place where many refugees from Sudan and Darfur come to find work. The whole bus station not only turns into a daily market, but also consists of a church, a clinic, and the only Yiddish Museum in Israel. It was definitely an experience, and I am glad I got to see it. Anyway, that's all for now, Hebrew homework is calling my name! Shalom!