After a late night in Jerusalem we were a bit sluggish getting up. Being a holiday we also struggled a little to get food but scrounged some fruit and cereal together before we got on the road to head north to Haifa. Our time in the car took us across almost half the country in just three hours. Memorably, though, our conversations with Nurit during the ride (and really throughout the whole week) were wonderful. As we skirted north along the coast of the Mediterranean, the fresh clean air and perfect blue skies warmed us.
Our first views of Haifa up on the hillside were lovely. We arrived at Nurit’s cousins home where we met Michala, Neer, and their beautiful son Eli. They were so incredibly welcoming. The next two days with them were filled with the relaxation and unique perspective that come with spending time with friends or family who live in the country you're visiting. Nurit and her family had planned to get together for the Shavuot holiday lunch, so Nima and I decided to explore a little on our own. First we drove into the hills a little south of Haifa to a Druse village. Okay, to us it looked more like a medium-sized town, but “village” is what everyone called it. We snaked our way through pretty crowded streets (for the less religious, this is one of the only places around that is open on holidays). We eventually pulled off in a side lane and found a cute place called “Home Cooked Food” serving traditional Druse fare. The Druse are an Arab people with their own unique traditions (and dress, as we saw) who apparently usually identify strongly with their country of residence, in this case Israel. We dined on a delicious selection of 16 different types of mezze and somehow managed also to try some of the local seafood.
It was quite a meal under a tree overlooking the hills below. Afterwards we drove back through the canyons and found a good place to explore. The hike took us through some dense pine forests with occasional breaks for views of the hills and the sea. Even after many months of spending every day together it seems we never run out of things to talk about. This time we discussed our future after we return to SF. By the time we wound our way down the hill again, the sun was also on its way down and we saw a lovely sunset over the water. When we returned home, none of us were quite ready for dinner so we talked for a couple of hours and learned about Michala's and Neer's experiences during the Lebanese bombing of Haifa last year. They described the shock of the sudden transition from a normal life one day to constant anxiety the next. Like we heard in Iran, the sound that most people remember is the sirens, and trips to the bunkers became routine. They say they're still often a bit on edge, still jumpy when they hear a loud noise. From their window they pointed to the restaurant, now rebuilt, where 23 people died in a suicide bomb attack, just barely a kilometer from their home. In the calm of that evening it was difficult to comprehend it all. Eli, their 2 1/2 year-old boy, certainly didn't. He is a beautiful, happy, charming kid who takes you by hand to his room to play with his trucks, giggles at you when you speak non-Hebrew and tells his parents "[they're talking nonsense]", and laughs uncontrollably at himself while bouncing a ball off his head for the 10th time. Nurit was so visibly happy to be seeing him and his parents again.
Our morning started early as we had a lot planned for the day ahead. First we headed into the city and found our way to the Bahai shrine. For people of the Bahai faith, this is a very holy site and many pilgrims visit it at least once in their lifetime. The Shrine of Bab is the site of the burial of the man who predicted the arrival of the messiah. The grounds are stunning with beautiful terraced manicured gardens winding a kilometer downhill. We learned a little more about this relatively new world religion - the basics are that it started in Iran in the late 19th century (where it has since been brutally suppressed), preaches equality of sexes, universal education, and other progressive ideas, and now claims the second most diverse following of any world religion. Afterwards we headed to the German neighborhood along the waterfront and had a great Mediterranean lunch of fattoush, kebab, and hummus in a street side café aptly named Fattoush. We headed back to assist in the preparations for the night’s planned camping on the beach. Very kindly, Neer had actually done most of the preparation already; we were really tagging along.
We arrived at the beach in the midst of some strong winds, but with team effort (even the kids were involved) we were able to get the tents up and protect them from blowing away. We spent the evening eating and chatting under the stars with the water gently lapping against the rocks just a few meters away from us. In the darkness of the night it is always easier to talk about the things in life that most excite and worry you. We told ghost stories, both real and imagined. We slept early though most of us spent a restless night. We awoke that day, the day of our fourth anniversary, on the beach with only the sound of the water and the birds and with the sun warming up the air. Nima presented me with a beautiful bouquet of wild flowers he picked up that morning and we walked along the rocks to a secluded cove. 
By the time we returned from the walk everyone else was awake. We spent a lazy day frolicking in the sun and in the water, playing smashball, and swimming back and forth with Nurit to a little island a short distance from the shore. By the time the evening arrived again, many of Michala and Neer's friends were arriving at the beach as well. Going to the beach on the weekend is a very popular activity in Israel. So popular that our car was boxed in behind other cars in the beach parking lot and it took almost an hour to coordinate an extraction. But we finally did and headed south to Tel Aviv again.
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