Orientation Week

Another eventful week, we mainly spent it at orientation. Which started last Sunday and today is the last day. The orientation was really amazing it is for the new group coming to service at the Baha’i World Center. It consists of about 40 people from 17 different countries. We are very thankful that it started on Sunday because the girls were off school so they were able to attend the first day and got to bond with the group. I cannot really do justice to explaining the spirit of this group mainly youth leaving their family behind and coming to a totally strange land to service. But I can tell you I have never meet such a radiant group of people in one room. Most of them will be here for a year to two years. We are looking forward to get to know them better. Couple of night ago we had a dinner together for the entire group at one of the families serving here. It was at the roof of the building as the roofs are flat here. The place had clear picture of the shrine and the Universal House of Justice building at one end and the sea at the other end. We all had so much fun, games, great food, and the kids specially got to see everyone again.

We also had the privilege to attend our first Baha’i Holyday here which was Friday night the Martyrdom of Bab observant at about noon. The program was wonderful the prayers were out side the visitor’s center and at the end of the program near the shrine of the Bab.

Saturday (Yesterday) was the first day of Baha’i Children classes. As you can see from the picture they had a great time and getting to meet many of the kids. During the Children classes Naim and I went home fixed lunched and went back picked up the kids and went to Akko to visit the shrine of Baha’u’llah. Many of the friends were there and we had lunch at the visitors center together and by the time we got back it was time to fix dinner and go to sleep.

I need to run to go pick up the girls. We just wanted to let you know that we are still doing well and thinking of you all.

First day at Baha'i Children Classes

Buying a car -- simple? Noooo.

This is the first time I’ve take out to post. I've been working since a few days after we arrived, even though we have not had our "Orientation" yet. In theory you are not supposed to go to work before that, but they needed me to start and there is so much to learn to become productive here. The amount of work to be done is really overwhelming. I am really looking forward to helping out.

Things are very busy here, and there is little time to even think with all we are doing to try to figure out to get settled. Right now one of the projects is "buying a car". You wouldn't think that would be very complicated, but trust me, it is amazingly more difficult and time-consuming than it is in the US. Since Baha'is have a tourist status in the country, there is certain paperwork that has to be done and go through many different offices. Fortunately we have been getting lots of help from staff at the Baha’i World Centre, or it would take forever.

Anyway, we started the process of ordering the vehicle and today I have to go give them my passport and drivers license so they can bring the car through customs -- which they don't do until AFTER you have paid and given your papers. After all that, it should take 1 to 3 weeks to actually get the car -- and they will keep my license and passport the whole time!

We are settling down a bit. Our shipment came. It is wonderful to have our things, but our little apartment is stuffed with boxes and everything is everywhere. Slowly we are finding ways of organizing. Our A/C has been fixed after a few days without, and our fridge as well (after loosing all the food), we have a washer and dryer now (ahh, to have clean clothes!!) and now we know that we can't turn on everything electronic in the house at the same time -- dryer, stereo, and microwave -- or the main fuse blows and the lights go out. :-) So we are learning how life is here and getting used to it.

It is really wonderful to be so close to the Baha'i Shrines and Gardens. Yesterday Yasmeen and I took a walk and found that about 1/2 a mile from our flat there is a raised pathway behind the mall and hotels at the top of the mountain where there is terrific view from the mountain ridge over Haifa and the bay. A little later, after dark, we returned with May and Nadia to show them the glowing city below us. We continued on further down that path and arrived at the top of the Baha’i Terraces, with the pathways down the mountain all lit up like strings of pearls, and had a breathtaking view of the golden glowing Shrine of the Báb in the middle of the terraces.

Greetings to everyone,
- Na'im

2nd week

My wish for things to slow down did not come true and there are no signs of things slowing down any time soon. This is my first time at home alone for couple of hours and I have the chance to write. A friend that is working in the same department with Naim has been giving us a ride every morning to school. He has such a positive attitude and the girls love to talk to him on the way about their day and what is going on. Na'im and Payam are taking the girls to school this morning and I will follow soon.

So much is going on just with the girls school, I am not sure where to start. The main thing is they still have their positive attitude and are still smiling. They both had a night where they cried while we were putting them to bed and were asking to go home, but most of the times they are very happy. The school is so different here with so much work and preparation... not to mention buying the books, suuplies and getting the books all re-covered with decorative paper (everyone does that here). The day-to-day responsibilities are a lot. They have so many books. They also don’t leave anything in school so every day they have to take with them the books they need for their schedule for that day. They are using the muscles they built in their Karate class to carry the bags up the stairs to get to school.

For the girls it is all new and they are learning both Arabic and Hebrew at school. I asked Nadia the first day how her class was. She said not bad. I said what was the hardest part?. She smiled and said I spent all day trying to keep my eyes open in class; the teacher talked all day and to me it sounded like bla, bla, bla,.. and I did not understand a word. Then, Yasmeen said it is bad enough that I am trying to learn Arabic and can't understand it, my Hebrew teach talks only in Hebrew and then to be nice she explain few things in Arabic and I have no idea what is going on. The good thing is they both really like their classmates and their teachers. The other kids in their classes have been really supportive. And, the Baha’i friends have been life-savers. Two moms especially have been taking care of us and helping a lot. Both moms have kids Yasmeen’s age plus other kids. One of them lives couple of minutes from the school. The girls love to go to her house all the time. Things would have been really tough if it was not for them.

I guess you figured out by now that we still do not have a car. Buying a car here not as easy as going down to the car dealer and giving them money and picking up a car. Ohh no, we had to wait for our visa and then we had to wait to find an agent who can speak English and then we figure out which car we want and pay the money then we wait two weeks at least to get the car from the port. I can’t believe I said it but, when Naim asked what car we should get, I knew exactly which one I wanted when we went to the dealer... but I had my priority straight and my choice was the one we can get with shortest wait. We are almost there Naim is paying for it today and hope to be able to have a car in about two weeks.

Now about the move. I think I said before that the area we are in is really nice however, to be close to the other friends, the kids’ school and work we were thinking about moving closer. Couple of days ago I took the girls to school and went to meet Naim at lunch. How I got there I will tell you later. We were suppose to discuss if we wanted to move or stay where we are and I was going to update him on other flats (appartments) that I went and saw the day before. The conversation was very short because we received a phone call 10 minutes after I got to his office saying that we received our household shipment from the US and we got the visa and that it will be delivered in an hour or two to our flat. So, we had to run get a taxi and arrange for someone to come and pick up the furniture that we already had in the house so the movers can move our thing into the house. Fortunatly everyone was so helpful and came through for us, so that it was possible to coordinate everything at the last minute. The short version is we made it and are still alive. The furniture is in the house but I will not get into the detail of how we got the large furniture up a narrow stairs into a small doors with no elevator. But with a miracle all things are in the house.

The house is really starting to look nice and looking more like home. The girls were so happy last night to sit and eat dinner at our dinning table. We got the washer and dryer working. Nadia slept in her bunk bed and wake up with a big smile. Yasmeen put her music box (the one Nesreen gave her) to go to sleep.

After school almost everyday we have private tutor that works with the kids mainly on their Arabic. Saturday is the only day they have no school or tutor since we will be starting Bahá’í children classes in a week or so. To make up for all the study we been more flexable with ice cream, chocolate and going out more often to beach or mall or other things that they enjoy, whenever we get the chance.

Last thing I want to tell you about is how I made it from the kids school to Naim’s work. I found a gate that leads to the Baha'i terrace gardens next door to the kids’ school gate. After I dropped them off and talked a little to the teachers I went down the street to the the gate and walked in from Abbas street for those of you who were here before. It was early in the morning. It took me about two hours to get to Naim’s work at the CST building. If there is such a thing as heaven on earth it would have been that walk. It is amazing how you could get out of the crowded school and noise of the city, and within a minute be into the gardens of peace. Half way up, when I had a clear view of the Shrine of the Bab, I sat down two terraces below; the sound of the water flowing and the birds singing was breath taking. I brought a book to read but could not pass the first page because every time I started reading I heard an amazing sound that made me I look up and see different type of bird... so close, so real. I sat there and ate my Man’o’sha that I brought from home with a bottle of water and then continued my walk. In my mind I could really see my dad at every part of that mountain.

I guess this post is long enough to make up for not writing for a several days. Please email us and keep us updated with things at your end.

Our girls started school

Monday was the first day at school for our girls. The first few days were just fun and activities which was perfect for the girls, as it gave them the chance to meet the kids in their classes and get to know them prior to the start of serious studies.

They spent the first two days playing and attending different plays, games and fun activities. The second day I voluentered to help at the school and was around helping with the lines for the different activities. We spent last night finishing getting ready for school and getting the books and the notebooks ready.

For the friends with kids in the United Stated, just wanted to let you know that getting ready for school took on a whole new meanining here. We got a list of items needed including the books, supplies, and special notebooks. Then we had to cover every single book and notebook with a paper cover.

The kids take everything with them back and forth from school every single day... all their books too. Many classes have several books and notebooks, and it has been a chore just to figure out what they need to take every day for each subject. We're still figuring that out!

So far things are going well, but we will see how things go over the next few weeks when they really start studying.

Our 1st Week

Well, we made it our first week here. We are hoping things will slow down a bit. We spent this week running around and getting things done, like paper work, shopping for car, registration/uniforms/supplies for kids’ school, etc... Not having a car makes things a bit harder, however the community been amazingly supportive.

We spent some time yesterday visiting the school and meeting some of the kids’ teachers. The school is very organized, and the teachers and principle are very supportive. The kid’s will be starting school on Monday.

Last night three families arranged for us to ride with them to the beach and we all had dinner there with them and their kids. All the kids had a great time. The beach is only few minutes from where we live. With the Shrines, the mountain, beaches and good friends, it helps make the transition easier.

One of the things I miss is having a dishwasher, and I have been trying very hard to figure out if I can fit one into my small kitchen. No luck yet but I am sure with time I will find one that will fit as I am desperate. I never realized how hard it is not to have a dishwasher and how long it takes to wash dishes by hand.

We took so many things for granted while living in the United States. As much as I love having my window open and having fresh air I still wish I had my nice air conditioning with the constant temperature throughout the house. Here we have the AC unit only in the living room so we have to have a path of fans to direct the cold air traffic to our bedroom. And I will not dwell much on the clothes washer and dryer, as we hope to be getting our shipment next week and we will have our washer and dryer.

We actually have a small but strange (to us) washer from Germany. However, the labels are all in German and the manual is in Hebrew. Naim used Google to translate the labels from German to try figure out how to use the washer, and nothing matched up with the familiar cycles of US washers. But he tried it out and after about 2 hours it finished a wash cycle, so today was the first day we were able to wash clothes. Also, last night May was trying to bake some potatoes in the oven but did not have enough time to figure out how to turn the oven on, so that will be a project for this next week. 

Thank you for your comments and the emails. We will try to keep you updated and please send us email to let us know how things are going at your end. We still have our email at daystar9.

Well, it is 1 am at my end, way passed my bed time so I better go get some sleep.

First day at our new home in Israel