So after my first 2 days in Jerusalem It was time to move on… or as one of my fellow Olim put it “time for the holiday to end” and I couldn’t agree more. But sadly it didn’t get off to the best of starts.
Immediately as I grabbed my bags to load on the minibus to Haifa my favorite white linen trousers got caught on the bag and ripped.
Now if it had been a pair of jeans I could probably get away with it but not on these so needless to say I wasn’t happy… But no point crying over spilt milk!
So I finished loading and off I went.
But then of course something else had to go wrong didn’t it….
It turned out the driver had no idea where I was meant to go….. One would probably assume that the agency had told him where I was going due to the fact they had booked him but no apparently that’s not the Israeli way!!!!!!
Luckily my advisor in Haifa called Karen had put me in touch with another British Immigrant named Jason who was able to give me the street name and with the help of some locals (he stopped to ask directions several times!!!!) I finally made it to the Hanamal halls of residence for Haifa University at around 1pm.
Very quickly with the help of Jason (who funny enough I found out is also from Gants hill!!) and one of the site staff I was moved in to my apartment and with just a few documents to sign regarding health and safety I was left to settle in my temporary home.
Within about 2 minutes the first of my flat mates came to visit me an American summer school student called Joe he immediately offered me a choco’be’sakit now for those of you who don’t know this basically chocolate milk in a small plastic bag.. It’s very popular in Israel and it’s a shame it never reached England. Anyway Joe and I sat down to chat and got on well before he had to runoff and do some work while I had a heck of a lot of unpacking to do which was when I got to meet my second flat mate a French man called Eric. Now while Eric is a lovely guy I often find it hard to understand him through his French accent but needless to say I felt it very easy to get on with my new flat mates.
Later that night Joe, his school friend Helen and myself headed out to a sushi bar in Haifa’s Carmel district which is at the top of the mountain.
now after the fun of walking to find the restaurants we discovered that it had eel on the menu and therefore was clearly not going to be kosher so after walking around for a while we settled at a falafel / Shwarma stand which don’t get me wrong was very nice but not really what we went out for. Then to our surprise we had missed the bus home and took a taxi down giving me a chance to appreciate the lovely views on the way down. Believe me the photos I put on facebook do this no justice!!!!
Next day being Friday it was time to set up my new home as quick as possible before the Sabbath which meant a fun trip to the center of any national culture…. the supermarket. It was a somewhat interesting task trying to remember what all the Hebrew names for the common staples are but gradually I got there.
Finally after running around store after store in town without knowing anything about where I was going I finally had everything I needed to get myself started in my new home and then as I turned onto my street. I noticed there were lots of stalls being set up it looked like something big was going to happen!! And the Israelis didn’t disappoint by 3pm my street was packed with bars selling beer and lots of different stalls selling all sorts of food I trekked up the road watching all the unusual performers around.
So after grabbing myself a cold beer I made my way to my flat and sat on my balcony where I could get the perfect view of the band and watched as the crowds were getting bigger and bigger. Later that night after meeting my third and final flat mate Erez from Israel we went on a night walk so I could get a better bearing of the area before coming home for the night. By the way so you know Erez is an insane guy but is so much fun to hang out with.
Now Saturday being the day of rest I chose to take advantage of this and relaxed until the evening when I joined Jason and his girlfriend Skye for a late lunch and then in the evening I headed out to see how the night life in Haifa measured up. So I did the obvious first thing on a night out and visited my local and as I got in something seemed strangely familiar with the feeling and the decor. Then it sprung to my mind I was in an English themed pub funny isn’t it hundreds of miles away from my home my local is not only English themed by owned by a guy with British descent!!!
Anyway I can hear music and lots of voices coming from my roof meaning only one thing PARTY!!!!!
Any way stay tuned I"ve got loads more to tell including my first Israeli gig and loads of sightseeing stories so signing off for now!!!!
Catch you all later!!!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
first steps in israel
So after months of waiting I was making my way to
Now I don't know about the rest of you but I felt leaving the
Once on the plane a special announcement was made welcoming all the Olim as we embarked on what was to be one of the biggest journeys of my life!!!
Immediately after touchdown we were led to passport control where I was personally intercepted by not one but 3 reporters and a photographer all out to catch a glimpse of my story anyway once I got free of them I made my way to the Immigration office.
While we all waited in the office for our names to be called and to receive our new immigrant certificates. I decided now was a more perfect time then ever so I cracked open the vodka with some of my fellow Olim and in front of the press cameras we toasted a successful journey seeing that we most defiantly deserved a stiff drink after leaving our homes to start over new!!!
Finally once we left the airport and got to our hotel it was 3AM!!!!!! So no guesses what I wanted to do then!!!
On the next morning the agency organized a fair where we could get ourselves started and talk to some businesses we required. It was here I organized my bank account, health insurance and a mobile phone.
Now the evening was another exciting event firstly we headed off to the western wall for a ceremony to receive our ID cards and of course once again the press was there so giving the people what they want I threw my flag into the air as my name was called out and of course once again I made another series of press photos.
(I was hoping to become a bit of a celebrity out here!!)
after that we settled down to a lovely dinner with a pro Israeli christian group called Ebenezer who had helped organize and fund this huge event and they personally went round to congratulate all of us.. one of the executive members even hugged me and congratulated me whilst jokingly saying " you must be really excited you havent taken off that flag"!!
Then Exhausted after along two long days we made our way back to the hotel for our teary goodbyes before I was to head off to
Anyway i will fill you in about Haifa when i have the time
Its allready 1am here and i have to be up at 7!!!
Wishing you were all here with me
Jordan
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