Saturday was my last day in Haifa and in the Carmel National Park... Hilarious and confoundingly frustrating. We woke up and took a taxi to the hiking trail. We asked the (non-English-speaking) taxi driver to take us to Beit Oren Junction, which is where our trail began. Kajsa and I showed him a map with "Beit Oren Junction" stamped in bold letters right in the center. He was unbelievably confused, until we conceded that he could just drive us to the University, which was probably a two and a half hour walk from Beit Oren Junction.
"University???" He inquired with confusion.
"University," we insisted.
Our driver:
Finally--after minutes of conversing--our driver exclaimed, "OHHHHH. University!!"
Us:
Yeah. Sure. Not like we just said that.
We got to the University and by chance happened to run into some of the park rangers. We told them we were trying to get to Beit Oren Junction.
"Where???" the rangers inquired.
"Beit. Oren. Junction."
Rangers:
Nope. Doesn't exist.
IT. WAS ON. OUR MAP.
Finally--after minutes of trying to convince them it existed--the ranger had an epiphany. "OHHH. BEIT OREN JUNCTION."
AHHH.
He directed us on our 1-hour walk to Beit Oren Junction.
Walk walk walk walk walk walk walk.
We came upon this crazy fortress in the middle of nowhere with tons of wire and scary looking towers. I read a posted sign, and found out it was a prison. Obv took out my phone to take a cool picture. As soon as I snapped my camera, a bolted door to the fortress swung open. Three men in Kevlar rushed out and commanded that I delete the picture immediately. I've never felt more like a stupid American tourist.
I apologized profusely, turned away completely humiliated, then twisted back around and asked, "by the way... Do you know where Beit Oren Junction is?"
Worth a shot.
It had been hours since we'd set off to start our hike, and we still hadn't found the trail. We ended up at the same horse stable we'd passed the day before and asked for directions to Beit Oren Junction. They told us we'd pass some cows up the road then find it.
You may have guessed it.
No cows. Turned back around.
#done
We finally gave up on finding the actual trail and just made our way to Ein Hod, an incredible artist colony carved into the hill.
Ein Hod Artist Colony
Looking at life through rose-colored glasses
Cafe Ein Hod, where we had lunch
A beautiful mural
We spent about two hours in the beautiful town then made our way back to Haifa. We celebrated our successful trip then all but skipped to the train station excited to get home.
Lol, yeah right.
No lights. Shuttered up. Completely empty. Sabbath.
I inquired of a bus driver passing by when the first train would arrive at Haifa Station.
"Eight. Six." He shrugged. "I don't really know."
So done with this.
Another random Israeli person came over to give us more information. "Six and half. Eight. Four. Don't know." It seemed like a lost cause until the guy found out we were American.
"AMERICA!!??" He exclaimed. "I love America!!"
He started to list his favorite American things.
"New York! Pennsylvania! Michigan! NBA!"
It was like a scene out of Anchorman.
He followed us as we wandered to a bus station attempting to locate running transportation.
"California! Canada!
(That last one wasn't American but we decided to let it go.)
He finally left us alone as we jumped on a tram.
But then Ahmoudi (another Israeli friend) latched on. "America!!!!? I love America!!!!"
Me and Kajsa:
Our lack of interest prompted Ahmoudi to ask if we were lesbian (no, we aren't) and if we had Facebook (ohhh no, so sorry).
As a tram official hopped on the train to make sure riders had paid, our delinquent friend Ahmoudi slipped off. Thank God. The official checked my card to make sure I had paid the $2 fare (which, duh, I had) when he looked at me with a suspicious glance. "You didn't pay."
I swear, I went ballistic.
"I PAID. THE MACHINE BEEPED. I PUT IN MY CARD. I PUT IN FIVE SHEKELS THEN TWO SHEKELS."
"You mean seven shekels," the official smirked.
"I GO TO HARVARD. I KNOW WHAT FIVE PLUS TWO IS."
(K didn't say that last part, but I was thinking it)
I literally had tears in my eyes.
"I CAN SHOW YOU THE TEN CENTS TO SHOW YOU I PAID. I SWEAR TO GOD. THE MACHINE BEEPED."
I don't think the official was very familiar with hysterical teenage girls so he kind of just sidled away and left me and Kajsa alone with our frustration and exhaustion.
From the tram, we got to a running bus, and I finally-FINALLY-got home!!! Thank you, Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After ten and a half hours of sleep, I woke up to get to work. It was productive, and I'm about three day away from finishing my entire paper (!!!)
This is my last full week with the family (so sad), and I can't wait to enjoy it with them. I'm over halfway through my summer... Crazy!!!
With love,
Happy-to-be-Home Aubs
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