Michelle's Wedding

The last stop in Haifa was the wedding of Mordu's friend and former roommate, Michelle, at the Dan Panorama hotel. It was pretty dark so I didn't get too many good shots, but here are a few:

Reception at the Dan Panorama. The background color rotates between blue, purple, and red.

Nostalgically recreating that early 90's "laser" style school portrait:

All set up for wedding and reception. The wedding was called for 6PM so Mordu and I showed up at the hotel so we could clean up and be ready by about 5:30. We didn't quite get the memo on Israeli weddings; the huppa (wedding ceremony) began about 7:40.

That's ok, I amused myself by trying to take pictures of the night skyline out the window. Then I took more pictures of myself reflected in the glass:

And of the DJ's red computer for Jonah.

And, of course, the food:

Ok, wedding is beginning. But this guest doesn't care, he's going to start dinner NOW (as the family is processing in through that doorway behind him!):

Here comes the bride. Sadly, this is the most focused picture I got!

Masada Street

One of my advisees at the Writing Center, Rea, is Israeli and told me I should meet his friend, Ido, a PhD student at Bar Ilan University who studies the social history of psychedelics. He lives in Masada Street, in what he describes as the "Arab Intellectual/Hipster" neighborhood of Haifa. He graciously invited us over for lunch and conversation. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture with him in his apartment, but we took a few pictures on his street.

Food stand at the end of the street:

Zebra cafe:

Street sign in German. (?)

Ido's apartment building:

Laundromat called "Brain Wash":

Wall art in a back alley:

This picture taken in the "Carmelite," a subway that runs up and down the mountain. Mordu's shirt fits right in:

Here comes the train:

Bahai Gardens

Last Thursday, spent the day in Haifa, touring the Bahai gardens, visiting a new friend who lives on Masada Street (the trendy "Arab Intellectual/Hipster" part of town), and attending the wedding of Mordu's friend Michelle.

The Bahai Gardens in Haifa are an elaborate setting for the tomb of the religion's Persian founder, the Báb (literally "gate," most likely cognate, I suspect, with the Aramaic word "baba"). They cascade down Mount Carmel toward the Mediterranean in a series of 19 beautiful and immaculately groomed terraces, one each for the Báb and his 18 disciples. The garden circulates water in a series of fountains and is lit 24/7, by the sun during the day and by numerous lights at night. The tomb, which until about a decade ago was a simple rectangular building, has been recently encased in a grander structure with godlen dome and marble arches with inlaid tiles reminiscent of the Taj Mahal (an even more famous tomb).

View of the gardens from above:

One of the lovely terraces, this photo gives you a feel for how you really are on the side of a mountain:

Water circulates through a channel on the edge of the stairs:

 Two other visitors on our tour, Eric and Bruce. We were all late for the tour because we  made mistakes on the various buses in Haifa, and ended up sprinting a good quarter mile together to make it in time (tours given only once a day). The sprint accounts for our unfortunately shiny appearance...

Now we've descended several terraces; this view still looks down. (Views looking uphill didn't work well because I was shooting right into the sun.)

Recently constructed building for the Bahai archives. I wish our tour guide had more information about the architectural choices made in the garden. The tomb itself looks Islamic-inspired, and this is obviously neo-classical.

This is about as close as we could get to the Báb's gold-domed tomb which was gated and locked on the afternoon we visited:

One of the lower terraces:

Another view of a lower terrace:

"It's my industrial strength hairdryer; and I can't live without it!"

I'm not sure why this amuses me so much...it's a gallon (4000 סמ''ק) of conditioner!

The case of two Mordu's

Mordu woke me up this morning. He called gently across the room, "It's 11AM, Rachel, you might want to get up now." I had been dreaming and in the dream Mordu had been telling me something else (what it was I can't remember). In my half-awake-half-asleep state, I was confused about which Mordu I should listen to. If I did what the wakeland Mordu asked and woke up, I would be irrevocably foresaking the dreamland Mordu who, after all, had the prior claim on my attention. So, reasonably, I went back to sleep. When I got up 30 minutes later, I told Mordu that it was for his sake I had gone back to sleep.