Global Beat Blog

Postcards from Dakar: Being Muslim

Kiersten Rooke — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:05:57 +0000

Islam in Senegal is a lot different from the Islam in the Middle East and places like Afghanistan and Pakistan, so a lot of the things that Americans “know” about Islam don’t even apply here. Sometimes I’ll learn something that clarifies things that have confused me, but nearly as often, I will learn something that contradicts what I thought I already knew and which just leaves me more confused. So take this with a grain of salt. The chances that I don’t always know what I’m talking about are pretty good.

The Islam practiced in Senegal is a very particular brand. Most Americans now know the difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims (or at least know that there is a difference). Technically, Senegalese Muslims are Sunnis, but they are much more accurately described as Sufis. Sufism is a form of Islam that emphasizes mystical aspects and allows for the charismatic style of leadership exercised by the marabouts. African animism found common ground with Muslim mysticism, and as a result, Senegalese Islam is deeply infused and entwined with ancient practices and beliefs. My literature professor likes to say that Senegal is 95% Muslim, 5% Christian, and 100% animist. By way of illustration, he told us a story about an old man that he picked up on his way back Dakar after visiting his parent’s village. To show his gratitude for the ride, the old hitchhiker gave my professor the words to an incantation that would protect him from car accidents. Senegalese wrestling matches are also a good place to observe traditional practices in action. I watched some on TV once. Some of the wrestlers doused themselves in oil that had been blessed by their marabouts to ensure their victory.

Muslims here belong to brotherhoods. There are four major brotherhoods in Senegal, but the overwhelming majority of people belong to either the Mouridiya and the Tijaniya. The Tijaniya was founded by Moroccans a long time ago, but the Mouridiya was founded by a Senegalese, Cheikh Amadou Bamba, during the height of French colonialism in the 19th century. Its early history is closely tied in with the popular resistance against colonial rule. Today, the Mouridiya is the most important brotherhood in Senegal.

Cheikh Amadou Bamba and a devoted student of his, Cheikh Ibra “Lamp” Fall, are highly revered figures for Mourides. During his lifetime, there was only ever one photograph taken of Amadou Bamba, and it’s probably the most recognized image in Senegal. Towards the end of the 19th century, France was feeling threatened by how popular Bamba was getting, so they exiled him from Senegal. In 1907, they let him come back, and this event is celebrated every year by the Mourides by a huge pilgrimage to Touba, the seat of Mouride power.

This year, the pilgrimage, called the Magal, was on Valentine’s Day, and I already know that my biggest regret about my semester in Senegal will be that I didn’t go to Touba for the Magal. I had a few friends who went and who invited me to come with them, but I was overwhelmed at the idea of all the crowds and traffic jams. I then spent a monumentally boring weekend in an empty city, wishing I was in Touba with the rest of the world.

There are a lot of little things that let you know that you’re in a Muslim country. There’s a big mosque on just about every major road, and you’ll see the smaller minarets of neighborhood mosques poking up between the houses in the more residential areas. I am woken up before dawn when the muezzin starts calling everyone to the first prayer of the day. I think the prayer times are figured according to where the sun is in the sky, so they might change slightly every day. The first prayer, for instance, is a several minuets earlier now that it was when I first got here.

Sometimes people will go into the mosques for the prayers, but if there isn’t one handy or the person can’t stray too far from their job or their companions, they’ll pray wherever they are. You’ll see brightly colored teakettles next to every shop or market stall, which people use for ablutions before they pray. The demarcation of a sacred space is very important. Tening, our old maid, was Muslim, and I don’t think she had a prayer mat but would pray on her shawl, and once I even saw her use an empty rice sack.

Islam gets into everything here. Even the language is infused with it. The future tense in Wolof is pretty much just present tense with an “inshallah” (or “God willing”) attached to it, and people even toss it in when they’re speaking French. If you pay attention to a Wolof conversation, especially if it’s just getting started and there are lots of salutations to get through (salutations are very important in Senegal), you’ll hear “Alhamdoulilai” (or “Thanks be to God”) as the response to lots of questions. The car rapides have blessings written all over them. People walk around with chapelets, or rosary-like prayer beads, either wrapped around their hands or dangling loosely so they can flick through the beads as they whisper the prayers to themselves or say them in their heads.

Women wearing burkhas and Muslim headscarfs is rare. Wearing the scarf is definitely a personal choice and not a cultural norm in Senegal. Also, the women who do wear the scarf tend to choose scarves that are neon pink and/or covered in sequins.

Marabouts of any brotherhood are very powerful, and the head marabouts of each brotherhood, or caliphs, are enormously powerful and wealthy. The brotherhoods have control over the vast fields of peanuts, which is Senegal’s cash crop. People also pay their marabouts to pray for them. The marabouts are widely criticized (at least, among my Catholic family and my professors) for amassing such staggering individual wealth while huge numbers of their followers are experiencing economic hardships if not downright poverty.

When a caliph dies, his son becomes the next caliph. Because of this, certain surnames in Senegal carry a lot of weight. For the Tijanes, the caliph’s family is Sy, for the Mourides, it’s Mbacké. You see these names everywhere: on signs, shops, car rapides, t-shirts. If people can claim a connection to these families, they will. I’ve heard that there’s a lot of intermarriage in these families, and powerful marabouts can sometimes have dozens of wives (though technically you’re only allowed four, according to the Coran and Senegalese law).

Even though the Senegalese people are all very devoted to their religion of choice, Senegal is a religiously tolerant country. According to the Senegalese constitution, Senegal is a secular state. There’s no sharia law here, although some things have a Muslim flavor, such as the allowance for men to marry up to four wives and the option of unequal inheritances based on the sexes of one’s children. No political parties can be founded along religious lines (or ethnic ones, for that matter), and religious discrimination is also illegal. There is little friction between Catholics and Muslims and between the brotherhoods. The different religious groups like to make public signs of their solidarity. The different brotherhoods will send delegations on each other’s pilgrimages, and the Catholics will too. Muslims and Catholics are friends with each other, and intermarriage is not unheard of. Senegal’s discrimination problems fall more along the lines of gender, class, and sexuality (being gay is actually illegal here).

All that said, Islam is pretty bound up in Senegalese politics. It is impossible for anyone to get elected in Senegal without the support of the marabouts. The caliphs have the power to issue what’s called an ndigël, which is essentially a command. When people join the brotherhoods here, especially the Mourides, they take an oath of allegiance to their caliphs and swear to follow the commands. The leadership of the brotherhoods has been instrumental in some of Senegalese policy-making. For instance, the government of Senegal passed a law banning excision, or female genital mutilation, which is an important traditional practice among several ethnicities within Senegal. One of the caliphs objected to the law and it was suspended.

Postcards from Dakar: Easter

Kiersten Rooke — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:42:58 +0000

This weekend I celebrated Easter with my host family. I started off Holy Week by forgetting that it was Palm Sunday and not realizing why my host mom seemed especially annoyed that I said I wasn’t going to Mass as opposed to any of the other times when I say I’m not going to Mass. Whoops.

On Good Friday, I participated in a Senegalese Catholic tradition that even Muslims look forward to, and that is ngalax. Ngalax is a really . . . interesting dish that Catholics make for Easter weekend in ridiculously enormous quantities and then distribute to everyone in their neighborhoods, even the Muslims. When I had class on Friday afternoon, all of us Americans with Catholic families were talking about how much ngalax was in our house and alerting those of with Muslim families that in all likelihood that’s what would be for dinner in their houses too.

Ngalax is kind of like soup, only it’s served cold. Its primary ingredients are bouye (called pain de singe in French, which is “monkey bread” in English. It’s the fruit from the baobab trees), pâte d’arachide (not peanut butter, but close), and mil (millet). On Thursday night, Moussouba and someone who I think is an aunt produced a couple huge sacks of pain de singe and put them in huge buckets of water to soak overnight. (Huge buckets, I’m telling you. We do laundry in these buckets. And there were three of them). Pain de singe has this weird Styrofoamy texture, and it dissolves in water, leaving behind a ton of big brown seeds, like beans, and a bunch of pink stringy stuff. In the morning, Moussouba and the Aunt sifted out all the seeds and strings and added sugar at least and maybe milk.

To the huge buckets of bouye they added proportionally huge globs of pâte d’arachide, which they mixed with their hands. They then poured it all through a sieve, several times, until it had a smooth, uniform consistency and was almost as thin as water. Because there was so much of it, this sieving step took hours. I had to go to class before they were finished, which bummed me out because I wanted to go delivering with them. Judging from the final product, the last step just involved stirring in ton of cooked millet. It looks like tomato soup with couscous in it, sort of.

What does it taste like? Well, everyone here LOVES it, and you could tell that Moussouba and the Aunt, even though it was a lot of work, really enjoyed making it. Just like it wouldn’t be Easter for me without some baklava and day-old Peeps, it wouldn’t be Easter here without ngalax.

So that was the thing that happened on Friday. On Saturday, everyone went to midnight Mass, but everyone left at a different time and went to a different church. We got very dressed up for this. Anita and Fatima both replaced their braids with long, straight weaves, and Effie even did me up in some braids. My sisters have been planning to me tresser for Easter for months now, and I was a little nervous to let them take another stab at beautifying me after the Moussouba-does-my-makeup incident. But all they had Effie do were short cornrows not even half way back from my forehead, with the rest loose, and I like it. Alhamdoulilah.

Anyway, we got all dressed up and then took pictures together, like it was prom instead of Easter, and then went to church. Mass got out at about 1 a.m., and then we said hello and Alleluia to a lot of people. We also did les bises a lot more often than usual, which is always sort of a problem for me. Les bises is the French cheek-kissing thing, which is a really common form of greeting in Senegal, particularly among Catholics in my experience. In addition to the fact that kissing strangers can be a little awkward for Americans in the first place, les bises are also dangerously unregulated in Senegal. You kiss people anywhere from zero to four times, and I also never know which way I’m supposed to go first. This means I often end up continuing to kiss people after they’ve finished kissing me, or pulling away before they’re done, or kissing parts of their face that I had no intention of kissing. I’m always so relieved to see a hand extended towards me, because I can usually be trusted not to look like an idiot shaking hands. Sometimes, however, I do get teased for my firm American grip.

After church we walked to Habibou’s house and had a snack of reheated meat and goat-foot soup, and after that we took a taxi to a community center in another neighborhood where there was a big dance party going on, which we stayed at until around 5 a.m. It would appear that in Senegal, spending the night partying with your friends at Easter is just as important as spending the day visiting with your family.

All in all, it was a very different Easter weekend than I would have had at home. I spent a lot of quality time with my host family and did new and different things, which was good, but I will be happy to be home for Easter next year. I missed the Anglican hymns and the baklava and the egg game and the jellybeans and the people a whole lot.

Elyse in Haifa: Yom HaShoah

Elyse Horowitz — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:28:41 +0000

This evening marks the beginning of an important series of Israeli holidays which are to come in the next few weeks. Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) starts at sundown tonight, and continues until sundown tomorrow night. Less than a week later comes Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) and Yom HaAtzma’ut (Israel Independence Day). The first two are somber holidays, so much so that a siren rings out through the entire country, stopping all activities to elicit Israelis to stand silently and remember the ones who have fallen for the sake of the Jewish people.
To start Yom HaShoah, the International school organized a second-generation Holocaust survivor to come and speak to us. As I listened, I decided that it was one of the most influential things I had done thus far in Israel. Oranit seemed to be in her upper 50s, and had the most soothing voice I had ever heard. She spoke so matter-of-factly about her parent’s experiences during the Holocaust that it was hard to imagine how they actually lived through it. It would be a failed attempt for me to even try to recreate anything that she said, but I will mention some points that stuck out in my mind.
She started off by telling us that her parents considered themselves ‘graduates’ of the Holocaust, not survivors, and that there is no one who truly survives such an experience. Both parents were lucky enough to escape the lives of concentration camps, but, since they were young children when the war started, their disturbed childhood persisted as they became adults. Oranit described her mother as a ‘fixer’ – she could not handle what was going on in her mind, so she set off to fix the problems of others instead. This lifestyle landed her in mental hospitals many times, but she later became a painter, and used beautiful landscapes and still lifes to suppress her memories of losing her father and fleeing from the Nazis.
Oranit’s parents’ marriage only lasted for five years, which she believes was typical of those who lived through the Holocaust. Her father was violent, and built a wall between himself and everyone else around him. Because of this, Oranit felt that she grew up with very little nurturing and love, and says she is only just beginning to learn about herself. Throughout her speaking, she encouraged people to ask questions, so I decided to ask about her feelings towards Yom HaShoah, knowing that the Holocaust is a part of her daily life. Of course, she replied that this is a question she hoped no one would ask… oops. Anyway, she went on to explain that thinking about the Holocaust is like looking at a picture book- usually, it is important to keep the book closed, and on a shelf, and not to plaster the pictures all over our walls and live with the pain of them. However, we also need to open the album and take a look at the pictures every so often.
I know that tomorrow and next week will bring a very different perspective to being in Israel, so I will post more once it happens…

Elyse in Haifa: Day Trips

Elyse Horowitz — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:55:43 +0000

Since it is still spring break here at Haifa University, I have been going to a few more places around the northern area of the country that I have yet to see. On Monday, I traveled with Debby to Old Akko, a beautiful port city. Akko is mostly inhabited now by Muslims and Arabs, and is a huge tourist attraction because of its ancient buildings and breathtaking landscape.
Debby and I first went to look at the Al-Jazzar Mosque, which was built in 1781 (according to my trusty guidebook), but were not allowed in because we were considered “naked” in only shorts and t-shirts. Luckily, many of the sites in Old Akko are close to each other, so we kept walking until we found the Citadel, which proved to be the main attraction of the day. This massive structure was built and rebuilt for many years, with tunnels and grand hallways. Part of the Citadel was actually used as a prison for Zionist leader Vladimir Jabotinsky in the 1920s. The size of the Citadel was unbelievable – even more still because it stands to this day.
After viewing the Citadel, Debby and I decided to take a taxi to Rosh Hanikra, which is a beautiful area near the border of Israel and Lebanon. We took a cable car ride down the side of the white cliffs overlooking the clearest water I have ever seen, which ended at the Grottos which developed in the sides of the cliffs. At this point, it was getting late, and neither Debby nor I had eaten all day (the only Kosher for Passover food we saw was in a vending machine), so we decided to head home to the University.
The next morning, Debby’s Israeli roommate Keshet invited us to spend the day with her family in the Carmel National Park, near Haifa University. Since it is Passover break, most children have no school and work hours are much more flexible. Keshet and her parents picked us up at the University and we met up with two other families at the park for a Passover picnic. It was so nice to be around families again, and Debby and I were able to use some of our Hebrew to talk to everyone. We ended up staying for hours, relishing in the ability to relax in the park on a Tuesday afternoon. If there is one thing that I have learned from studying in Israel, it is how to relax!
Unfortunately, the past two days have been a lot cooler and even rainy, so I haven’t done much touring. However, spring break has left me in a very ’sieze-the-day’ morale, so I will hopefully be planning many more day trips to come!

Elyse in Haifa: “This Year in Jerusalem…!”

Elyse Horowitz — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:53:22 +0000

Needless to say, being able to spend one of my favorite Jewish holidays in Israel is something I never thought I would get to experience. While it is difficult to be so far from home on what is traditionally a family holiday, experiencing a Passover in Israel is like nothing else.
Last Tuesday I went food shopping in Mercaz HaCarmel to get ready for the holiday and found the supermarket like the Natick Mall on the day before Christmas. I managed to make my way through the aisles to do my Passover shopping, all the while marveling at the fact that all things Hametz (bread or other things forbidden on Passover) were covered with plastic sheets and taped off. Later that evening, I headed to Ra’anana, a town north of Tel Aviv, where I would be having seder (literally means order, figuratively refers to the big dinners held on Passover) with some family friends.
On Wednesday night, the official start of Passover, I had my first seder in Israel, and even read from the Hagaddah (prayer book) in Hebrew, with vowels of course…! The rest of the evening was fairly similar to my usual family seders at home, with a meal that resembled a Thanksgiving feast, complete with four cups of wine. Since the holiday didn’t begin until after sunset on Wednesday night, our seder lasted until after one in the morning, at which point we all went to sleep to prepare for shul early the next morning.
After the end of the holiday on Thursday night I met up with Abraham, a friend of mine studying in Italy for the semester who came to Israel for Passover. Together we took the bus from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and met up with Miriam at Hebrew University, where we stayed for the night. It was so nice to see so many friends! Friday morning we all woke up and took a bus to Emek Refaim, a street near the Old City in Jerusalem, where we were able to eat a meal in a Kosher for Passover restaurant – definitely one of the highlights of spending the holiday in Israel. After, Abraham and I said goodbye to Miriam and headed to the home of another friend’s family where we were being hosted for the night. We walked along Emek Refaim before getting ready for Shabbat and then had a nice hot meal after Friday night shul.
Saturday morning we woke early and walked to the Kotel to observe Shabbat Chol HaMoed (the Shabbat after a holiday) in the holiest site in the world. We stayed at the Western Wall for a little while, and then headed back to Emek Refaim for a more traditional Shabbat morning service at Shira Hadashah, a synagogue which is known for its beautiful singing, and then walked back to our hosts’ for lunch and relaxing for the rest of Shabbat.
After Shabbat ended, we hopped on a bus and came back up to Haifa, and then spent Sunday on the Haifa beach and shopping in Mercaz HaCarmel before Abraham’s flight back to Italy early Monday morning. It was great to spend the first half of Passover in the company of such good friends!

Elyse in Haifa: Kibbutz Geva

Elyse Horowitz — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:48:55 +0000

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of going with Miriam to the Kibbutz that her mother lived on for the time that she was in Israel, located in the Gilboa region of the north. Kibbutzim are communities of families which live and work together and share all possessions. Kibbutzim were first developed in the early 1900s when Zionist Jews came to Israel to begin their lives and learned that living together was a good means of survival. Kibbutz Geva used to be one of the major providers of chocolate in Israel, but now produces metal pistons. The Kibbutz employs all of the people who live there, either in the factory, school, kitchen and dining room, or with other work, such as laundry and gardening. Geva is also home to hundreds of cows and sheep, which are milked for drinking and making cheese.
The members of Geva also share a very large bank account – there are no salaries, and no doctor’s bills or rent to be paid. Each year, a family receives a budget, which is supposed to be enough to include all expenses. In order to become a member of Geva, people must live and work on the Kibbutz for six months, and are then placed before the other residents (Geva has about 600) in a vote. Since the community is so tightly knit, it is very important for all the residents to get along with one another.
Miriam and I stayed with a wonderful couple, Asnat and Richard, who both knew Miriam’s mother when she lived on Geva. They took us to the dining hall for our meals, and showed us around the Kibbutz so we could get a better view of how the community lives. The area surrounding Geva is beautiful with lush green fields and forests; the view from Richard and Asnat’s home is an unbelievable site! We spent the afternoon walking around the Kibbutz, and then went out for dinner in the nearby town of Afula, before watching the news in Hebrew and heading to bed. As we walked around Geva the next morning, I thought about how sweet and simple life was in the Kibbutz, and how much I would prefer it to the hassle of paper-writing and food shopping. Hopefully I will be able to go back to Geva during my next two months here!

Elyse in Haifa: Yisrael

Elyse Horowitz — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:46:29 +0000

After our extreme adventures of last Friday, my friends and I had a restful Shabbat morning, and then went out to our first soccer game in Tel Aviv!
Almost 20 students from the International School at Haifa got tickets to the game, which was against Greece, and we all ordered two big taxis to take us to the Ramat-Gan Stadium, which is a little over an hour away from the University. Once we arrived, we walked around and bought some Israeli National Team regalia before heading into the stadium. We were surprised to realize that seating was first-come, first-served, so we took full advantage and sat in the sixth row up from the field near one of the goals.
One of the coolest parts of the night occurred even before the game started. Since we got to our seats early, we were able to experience all of the pregame action, including an Israeli flag parade. We also got to hear the Israeli team fight song (even though the only words I understood were Israel, blue, and white), and it was amazing to be sitting in a stadium where everyone was cheering for their home country, which is something that you can only imagine happening at the Olympics.
The excitement before the game started was only increased when the Israeli team scored their goal; unfortunately, the game ended in a tie, and Greece overcame Israel in their next game later that week.
We got back to Haifa really late, and I had an academic tour for a class early Sunday morning. My Contemporary Israel class goes on two field trips during the semester to various sites that we talk about in class, and Sunday was our first. We visited Mount Shaul, Mount Barkan, the Kinneret Cemetery, Tiberias, and Mount Arbel, which are all in the Northern Galilee area. It was a really beautiful day, and I got to see a lot of historical sites that I had never visited before, and to see the similarities between Israel in the past and Israel today was really empowering. I decided that the view of the Kinneret Sea from the coast of Tiberias is one of the most beautiful sites I have ever witnessed. Hopefully I will be able to go back there again during spring break or another weekend.
This week wrapped up the first half of the semester, and we are now on spring break until the end of Passover. While a lot of abroad students generally use this time to travel around Europe, I decided to stay in Israel, not only because everyone says it’s an amazing experience over Passover, but also because I want to take full advantage of my time here. I have a lot of lame tourist-y days planned, which I am really excited about, so I will for sure have more fun updates soon!

Sara Mitra’s Bon Voyage: Comme le temps passe vite

Sara Afzal — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:40:43 +0000

I have less than two months left in Paris, when did this happen? Time has been flying by with classes, everyday life, and traveling.

I am satisfied with my classes: Français Orale, Langue Français, Les Médias en France, and Le Stage. In my oral class, my professor really pushes us to speak energetically, rhythmically, and with correct pronunciation. We frequently memorize dialogues that we write in class or perform poems like Pour Toi Mon Amour by Jacques Prévert. At first, I felt a bit out of my comfort zone, but the interactive class style has really improved my speaking. My French grammar class has been the most helpful, since my professor has reviewed the plus-que-parfait, conjunctions, and many other areas of confusion. My professor is a charming young woman in her thirties who roles her r’s and has a spunky sense of humor, which keeps me awake at 9 a.m. My media class has been quite interesting. I have realized that the American and French presses are really different, which is most apparent in the strong circulation of liberal and leftist newspapers in France.

Lastly, once a week I lead discussions in English at a French high school, l’École Pascal. We discuss American culture including TV shows, holidays, and current events. The boys seem to be most curious about Obama, and they hope America will change its foreign policy. When I asked them if they think France would ever have an African president, they said, “No. France is not ready for that, but maybe after Obama there could be the possibility.” Overall, I have noticed that the French are very supportive of Obama.

Even with the busyness of classes, I still try to get in on the newest art shows in Paris. I was very excited to see the Andy Warhol exhibit at Le Grand Palais. It was a very extensive collection that included my favorite portraits of Debbie Harry, Mick Jagger, and Jackie O. I was shocked to see classic Warhol portraits of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and Farah Pahlavi. Warhol did the portraits in 1978, right before the chaos of the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution, when the Shah was exiled. Warhol’s powerful connection to the world of celebrities is both odd and intriguing. He was so consumed by fame and his own image, and his works glorify celebrities and politicians.

Not having classes on Fridays has allowed me to travel easily on the weekends. I visited my aunt in East Sussex, England and I got to spend one day in London, which really reminded me of Boston. The highlight of the visit was seeing my family and eating the best Indian food I have ever had at a restaurant on Brick Lane, in London’s east end, known for Indian cuisine and vintage stores.

Last weekend, my program took us to Normandie et Bretagne in Northern France. We visited Omaha Beach in Normandy, the location of D-Day. On a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach there is a cemetery dedicated to the 9,387 American soldiers that lost their lives on D-Day during World War II. We spent the night in Saint Malo, a beautiful fortified beach town on the coast of the English Channel. The next day, we visited Mont-Saint-Michel, a grand gothic abbey built in the 13th century on an island in the bay of the English Channel and known to be one of the seven wonders of the world. I was very content with this trip and it was great to see these very historically important sites.

Elyse in Haifa: Israel Extreme!

Elyse Horowitz — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:09:09 +0000

This Friday my friends were able to go on an adventure into the Galilee area of northern Israel. A few months back, I came up with the idea that it would be fun to repel from one of the many mountains here in Israel, and I researched a few good companies with my dad. After a lot of planning, a group of seven friends (including myself) were finally able to go. We were picked up at 7:00 a.m. and driven by our guide from ‘Israel Extreme’ to Alma Cave in the Galilee. The drive there turned out to be scarier than the rest of the day’s activities – a lot of dirt paths and winding roads!

When we first arrived at Alma Cave, our guide, Moshe, set up a rope for us to swing across the opening of the cave, which was my personal favorite activity of the day. The height was initially scary, but we were harnessed in very well. The swinging was thrilling, and it was easy to relax and allow the rope to hold you up.
After our rope-swinging over the opening of Alma cave, we were able to crawl through it, with the help of many man-made steps and railings. Once we reached a certain point, Moshe had us turn off the headlights on our helmets and have a moment of silence to understand the intensity of the experience. It was so interesting to be sitting completely cut off from the world for a few moments, but we were all glad to see the sunlight again when we emerged from the cave.

We broke for a quick lunch on the field outside of Alma Cave, then drove to our next destination, Qeshet Cave. I have yet to understand why this is called a cave because it looks more like the side of a cliff. It was here that we were each going to repel (almost 160 feet) down the side of the rocks and into the base of the cave. There happened to be a lot of wind that day, which made the process a lot scarier, especially when I was about to step backwards off of a mountain! Everyone in the group made it successfully down to the bottom of the cliff, but the adventure wasn’t over yet! Once we got back on solid ground, we had to hike back up to the top of the cave before getting in the car and heading home. The hike up was overlooking the Galilee area, which is luscious and green at this time of year.

After a loooong day, we arrived back to Haifa campus just before Shabbat, where we showered, ate dinner, and got ready for the next day’s adventure…

Elyse in Haifa: Adventures in the Holyland

Elyse Horowitz — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:59:30 +0000

I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog, but it’s only because I’ve been doing and seeing so much!

First of all, I got to experience a St. Patrick’s Day in Israel! There is a bar in Mercaz HaCarmel called The Irish Pub, which is where my friends and I went for the evening. They had even more Irish flare than usual, with a live band singing all English songs, including The Beatles and Sweet Home Alabama. Honestly, being there made me feel almost as if I were back in Boston for the night!

That weekend I went to Tel Aviv for a night to visit with some of my counselor friends from Tevya – it was so nice to see a few familiar faces! I stayed in a hostel for the night with my friends from Haifa, and the next morning we walked around the city and went to Nahalat Benyamin (literally: property of Benjamin), the artists’ colony that occurs twice a week. Since it was a Friday morning, the area was packed with people getting ready for Shabbat, especially since the parallel street is an enormous shuk.

Walking through Nahalat Benyamin reminded me a lot of Faneuil Hall, with small shops and eateries on the sides of the streets, and many tables of artists in the middle. It was also interesting to hear all of the different languages that were spoken throughout the day – Hebrew, English, Russian, and even some Spanish. I bought some great things to bring home for souvenirs, including a wall clock made with Jerusalem stone and a beautiful stained glass menorah.

My friends and I had lunch at a cafe on the beach looking over the Mediterranean Sea and then sadly had to leave for Haifa before Shabbat started.

On Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early to head for my first Regatta race! My friend Chantal, who has been studying in Israel for the year, is a member of the Israel Maccabia crew team, and was having a race in Haifa! We went to watch and support her, then went for lunch in Mercaz HaCarmel, the center of town.

Sunday afternoon I started my internship that I will be doing for the rest of the semester. As of now, I am an intern at the Office of the Spokesperson at the University of Haifa under Amir Gilat, the head of communications and media relations in the Department of External Affairs. There is an English section of everything that the University publishes, including a website, monthly newsletter, press releases, and more, which is what I will be helping with. So far I’ve only been in the office a few times, but I’ve really enjoyed my time there and it reminds me of The Collegian, so it’s been great. I will let you know as soon as an article of mine comes out!