Let me tell you a little bit about Haifa. Haifa is a city built on a peninsula and on a mountain (Mount Carmel) -- so the topography of Haifa is quite a bit like the topography of the city where I grew up, San Francisco. There are views of the sea from all over town -- on one side the open Mediterranean and on the other side the Haifa bay, the Haifa harbor and on a clear day, north to Rosh HaNikra, on the Lebanon border. At this time of year it is hazy, but in the winter the air is very clear. Haifa is built up the sides of the mountain on three levels: the bottom level (Ir HaTachtit) is where big commerce takes place; the middle level is Hadar, a marvelous mix of markets, little shops selling everything, apartments, and thronging with people; and the ridge of Mount Carmel, basically "nicer" neighborhoods.

This morning I had to go to Hadar to the only shop in town that sells photography chemicals to develop my film. Since parking is a mess in Hadar I took the bus. (Bus travel for "pensionairs" is half price -- about 50 cents.) I took a #12 bus which I knew would get to Hadar, but I had no idea of the route, and I had a great bus ride through neighborhoods I haven't been in. I asked the woman next to me where the bus would end up, but she told me in broken Hebrew that she didn't speak Hebrew, only Russian and Yiddish. That pretty much ended our conversation, except she said she was getting off at the "shuk" (the market) and I wanted to go there too, so that's how I found my way to the shuk! Oh my, how gorgeous it is -- many stands of the nicest fruits and vegetables intermixed with tiny shops selling shoes, plastic goods, skirts, electronics...you can get anything you want at the shuk! And for a lot cheaper than you can get it at the big supermarkets. So I passed a fish store and bought two fish and carried them with me in a plastic bag wrapped in newspaper. I knew that the chemicals would be heavy, so I didn't buy any produce, but I'm waiting till I can get Frank to go down with me to help carry.

I had intended to go to the photography shop yesterday, but in the afternoon it was so hot and I hadn't drunk enough so I felt kind of clammy and didn't go. The shopkeeper, Mr. Forman, greeted me so warmly. It turns out that my friend Edy had called him yesterday and told him I was coming. And hear this! Yesterday he wanted to close early but he stayed open waiting for me. And of course I didn't come. So this morning he wanted to not open at all, but he thought I might come and he was, in fact open! (Thank heavens I went!!) I don't think he did this because he needs the money from a bottle of developer and a bottle of fixer; I think he stayed open because he didn't want me to come and find him closed!! This is a side of Israel you don't see on a tour....

On the way home a woman got on the bus and sat next to me. She opened her bag and drank some liquid yoghurt (very popular here) and took a pill. Then I noticed that she was a bit agitated and had tears in her eyes. I asked her if she was OK. She didn't speak Hebrew either -- just Russian. She began to cry and tapped her two index fingers together and said "Bye bye" and then "Boker boker" (which means morning, morning). I have no idea what her story was, and I got off at the next stop, but in my imagination she was telling me that someone she was close to died that morning.

Now I'm home, writing to you. I am enjoying the blog immensely. Before e-mail I used to write really long letters -- pages, single-spaced typed -- but I haven't written letters like that in many years. The blog gives me the opportunity. Next time I will write more about the disengagement and Sharon, but not this morning.

Write me back at pzfisch@nc.rr.com; Frank is at rabfisch@nc.rr.com.

Love, Pat