Where to begin? With Ping Pong

In Haifa, I am living in the Abba Hushi dorm/absorption center. I say dorm/absorption center because it is an absorption center for immigrant students. The palce is awesome. It is filled with young people, mostly Ethiopians and Russians, though some immigrants from Latin America and France and elswhere and a handful of immigrant students and volunteers from North America.

The Ethiopians living here do not appear to be impoverished or destitute or hopeless, the people of the periphery we were supposed to be helping. Rather, they are well-dressed, speak excellent Hebrew and seem delighted to be going about their business. There is a Ping Pong table in the building's common room and the Ethiopians congregate around it at all hours of the night. They are very good, I lost decisively, 21-10, in my only game. Josh however had a table at his house and has notched several victories.

We haven't fully figured out what rooms we are living in and to quote Equalizer, we are still "living on a suitcase." But the location of the dorm is great, though it appears to be in a crummy neighbourhood, there is a nice shopping area right nearby, and in the other direction, Ben Gurion street, with tons of restaurants and cafes facing the stunning Bahai Gardens.