There are summer storms in Haifa

That's right! I live in Haifa now. And my first day we had an all out summer thunder storm. I have never seen it rain so hard while I was wearing short-sleeves. Haifa is only 2 hours from Jerusalem but I can see that I will be having to adjust to some difference in weather.

I have to keep this short because our living room looks like a tiny village made of boxes and suitcases and we are hosting dinner tonight. Which I also have to help cook for. But basically, moving was not as terrible as I feared it would be. This was mostly because my adopted brothers, Eli and Shlomo, are the most wonderful people in the world. Rafi, Barak, I love you, but you should be warned that I am holding you to a much higher standard now. Yesterday I went and rented a nice Chevy van and drove back to Efrat where Eli helped me move the ridiculous amount of material possessions I have out of their attic and into the car. He helped me arrange it all so that I actually got everything in and then he came with me to Jerusalem to pick up my bed from my old apartment. Which he then spent another 30 minutes helping me secure to the roof. This is even more impressive because he was 40 minutes late for class. I then dropped off Eli and picked up Shlomo, who drove to Haifa with me. We almost lost the mattress at one point, got in a small fender bender at another point, hit rush hour traffic in 2 different cities and then I got lost coming into Haifa. But I was with Shlomo, so it was more funny and ironic then annoying. Then we got to Haifa, where my roommates and my friend Marnina (as well as her brother) were waiting to help us lug all the stuff up four flights of stairs. At this point it was almost 7pm and Shlomo wanted to get home so we tried to find the bus station, failed, and then drove to the other station near the beach where I waited with him until his bus came. The boy wouldn't even let me buy him dinner.

So, sof sof, I have an apartment, I can unpack my things, and start a new life in Haifa. I miss my Efrat family already but will be headed back there next week for Rosh Hashana. In the meantime there are all the small apartment things that have to get fixed, painted, replaced, or bought. So I imagine it will be a busy week.