shalom from Haifa

1/21/2015
.  Monday's flight to Istanbul left Boston and arrived on time.  It was 9 hour flight, filled with all nationalities and ages.  after a 2 hr layover in Istanbul, épée headed to Tel Aviv.  My first flight I sat next to a lovely Turkish you woman, just completed graduate work at Columbia and go home for a 3 month visit to see her husband  before returning to the states to job hunt!  She is working on immigration issues to bring her husband to USA.  Good conversation and watching a movie helped to pass the time on an arduous flight.
     Note, the Istanbul airport has you land far from the terminal and carry your bags down the steps, board a bus and the up steps to get to the terminal.   When you connect to the next flight it more walking and steps and yet another bus and more stops up to the plane.  That explains why they post boarding time One hour before departure!
    Arriving at Ben Guerion airport I marveled at how modern and beautiful the facilities are.  Quire different from my earlier trips to israel .  International arrivals is a huge hall with a recreation of the wailing wall, Jerusalem stone, leading you to immigration and customs.    All very efficient , the lines were manageable and moved quickly, which might be an indication as to how fewer tourists are visiting now...
     Driver Jacob, met me at arrivals.  I was so glad for that, as I was worried about finding etc.   it speaks about 90 minute drive to Haifa. Since it was dark I did not see much, though a good part of the ride was along the Meditteranean  sea.   Hotel is high on Mt Carmel. My view is of the, with many parks and the zoo and the sea within sight!
      I met my fellow travelers in the dining room for beautiful israeli breakfast. Lots of fruit, veggies, cheese, pastries, breads etc. And another gorgeous view!
    We took a walk to find the nearby bank, food market and other conveniences .  Mid day one of the Israeli host families joined us and took us to the beach for a long  walk and late lunch in outdoor cafe.  They are most gracious, articulate and eager to welcome us.
Weather us sunny, temp high 60s and warmer in the sun!  Apparently the recently had many days of rain so we were all grateful for the good  weather.  
   I know my school assignments.  2 days a week with HS students and 2 days with elementary students.  One of the volunteers assigned with me is stlill in the states. Apparently her passport expires soon and they would not let her board the flight, so she is in Boston working on getting an emergency passport. We hope to see her by the weekend!