Safe and Sound

I have arrived in Haifa safe and sound and found the campus dormitories where I will be staying for the next month.  I didn't realize it by looking at the website but the University is the highest point in the city, located on the top of Mount Carmel looking over the urban landscape below and the fields and the Medditeranean beyond.  The view from my room is pretty incredible.  

I spent a couple of sleepless nights in Tel Aviv in a very nice hostel, Munich Hostel, dedicated to the 11 athletes who were killed in 1972.  It was across from a park.  On Saturday, Shabbat, around dusk, after waking from a much needed sleep, I went for a stroll and was amazed at the number of walkers, bikers, dogs and families having picnics.  The park was full.  The next evening there was only a stray dog and the occasional walker to be found.

Just a little aside: in the Amman airport there is a Starbucks, a Pizza Hut, and a Popeye's Chicken.  Ah, the beauty and comfort of American chains are never far away.