Saturday at a beach in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Our day in the beautiful city was spent window shopping the boutique shops (everything was closed for Shabbat), admiring the very fashionable Israelis, and watching the sunset from the fort of one of the world's oldest port cities. We also ate the most delicious chicken schwarma ever, but felt like it cost us an arm and a leg. If anyone thinks Israel will be cheaper than the US, think again.We then headed to Haifa to see yet another one of the holiest places in the world.
In Haifa, on Mount Carmel, is the Baha'i World Centre, the administrative center for the Baha'i faith and also the location of the Shrine of the Bab. Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith, was a follower of the Bab. The Shrine is in the middle of the hill and above and below are some of the most spectacularly manicured gardens you will ever see. These photos hardly capture a inch of its grandeur, beauty, and attention to detail. Part of the reason is our poor photography skills and the other part is that the gardens are carefully protected. To see them you have to prebook a spot in a guided tour and during the tour you are only allowed to stop for photos twice. The space therefore lacks the earthy, and often gritty, humanness of other religious sites, but it does retain it's serenity, unlike most other holy places we've seen.
The view from the gardens - looking out over Haifa and into the Mediterranean.
In another major difference from other religious sites, the Baha'i administration asks Baha'is not to live in Haifa. They feel that there is already too much religious conflict in Israel and they do not want their religion to be a part of it. Therefore, all the Baha'is in Haifa are volunteers working at the center. We asked one of these volunteers where to get a cheap and delicious lunch. He told us we would have to walk to the Arab part of town and we said that's fine because we have more time than money. Once we reached the Arab area we asked a fruit vendor where we could find the best falafel. He gave us a name of a restaurant and after walking down small lanes and questioning many strangers we eventually found a tiny shop. It was truly great. The falafel sandwiches were huge, really good, and they kept adding more tzatziki and garlic sauce whenever you wanted. In the shop we met a Finnish-Arab guy who was staying with his relatives in Haifa for the summer. We have never met anyone who hates their home country like this person did. He escapes Finland as often as he can to bask in the Mediterranean sun. We went with him to the beach.
And built a sand castle. While building, a guy from Belarus came out of nowhere and started playing guitar. Then he disappeared leaving us with a huge Israeli flag . . . A huge Israeli flag is one of those things you are just not sure what to do with - hard to say what kind of response it will elicit. We took some photos with it and then tucked it away before entering the West Bank.
It's jellyfish season! Or at least it was a month ago. The beach was littered with the translucent bodies and no one dared go swimming. We stuck our toes in and got stung instantly.
In addition to Alisa's lip problems, her nose is suffering as well. It has been permanently bright red since Egypt. We have now decided it must be because of the doxycycline we are taking for malaria. We didn't know this then and went to the Haifa beach lifeguard for help. He gave her a bandage.
What made our time in Haifa really special was our couchsurfing hosts (http://www.couchsurfing.com/). We contacted an engineering student named Natalie and though she personally couldn't host us, she said her friend Igal could. Igal, also an engineering student at Haifa's Tecnion Institute, welcomed us into is shared apartment and set to work cooking us his mother's world famous chicken schnitzel. Yum.
The next night we had a pasta dinner with a special sauce prepared by Shoky and enjoyed by all. We stayed up late talking and learned a lot about what it is like to be a young Israeli. Like all Israelis, our friends will dutifully serve in the army after finishing school (girls for one year, boys for two). All of them could also relate, whether personally or through close friends or family, to a recent terrorist attack. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to be a young person in Israel, a country at once so powerful, controversial and threatened, to feel what it is like to be the attacked and the attacker. One of our friends mentioned that no other country would ever be demanded not to retailiate against a terrorist attack, but Israel is. They also talked about recent threats of nuclear attacks from Iranian President Ahmadinejad. In the same conversation we also talked about current discrimination against Arabs and the reality that Arabs and Israelis intermix so infrequently at their university (evidenced by the fact that they could name the few people that do intermix).
We really appreciated their willingness to talk about politics, their diverse cultural histories, and modern religious practice. Israel is fascinating, because while it is such a young country and contains so many people of different backgrounds (there's no such thing as traditional Israeli music, for instance), there exists an incredibly strong shared identity and history. So while our friends disagreed with each other on specific political strategies and Israeli policies, and while some came from conservative religious families and others from secular families, the commitment to the nation and the protection of its citizens is strong.
Our host, Igal, showcasing his guitar skillz.
The Western/Wailing Wall. This wall is venerated by Jews as the only remaining, exposed part of the Second Temple that was built on the Temple Mount. Among other things, the Temple Mount is believed to be the place from which God took the dust to create Adam and from which the universe was created. The exact place of the Holiest of Holies is unknown and, therefore, Jewish law forbids Jews from walking on the Temple Mount for risk of stepping on it. Jews come to this wall to pray and grieve. The cracks of the wall are crammed with wadded up pieces of paper and cloth upon which prayers are written. Men are on the left and women on the right. One had to go through a security checkpoint to enter the large, open space. The contrast between serious mourners and Jewish guards trying to catch all the inappropriately dressed tourists was interesting.
The Dome of the Rock. Built in the center of the Temple Mount, on top of a stone which some believe to be the site of the Holiest of Holies for Jews, is the Dome of the Rock. Muslims believe this is where Mohammed ascended to heaven with the angel Gabriel. Non-Muslims are only allowed to enter at certain times of the day and you must go through a security check and then walk through a covered ramp that goes directly over the Wailing Wall (the ramp is just to the right of the photo above). The Dome of the Rock is stunning and the surrounding space lovely with trees and fountains and a great view over the city. We sat peacefully and took in the scene until a Muslim guard came up to us to make sure we were not praying. Apparently praying is not allowed . . . not sure exactly why. 
