Our day started with more beautiful views of Haifa and the surrounding area from the university's mountain-top campus. (See my blog photo for the day.) To the north is Akko and the Lebanon border and to the south is Tel Aviv. Dr. Udi Eran, professor of political science, provided a morning lecture on the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict. His framework of this multi-layered, complicated conflict was superb. Lunchtime was devoted to individual meetings...

We left Amman at 6 a.m. this morning to cross the border into Israel. Representatives from Haifa University were there to meet us around 8:45 a.m. Crossing the border was very involved, with several security checkpoints, change of vehicles, checking of passports, lengthy questioning, etc. As one would imagine, security is of utmost importance in this region. Our hotel in Amman had security gates and bag x-ray equipment at the entrance and all males were frisk...

Many of you know that I love Middle Eastern food and today was a culinary high point for me. After our morning lectures, we had a delicious lunch of hummus, falafel, etc. at Kafha, a "fast food" type restaurant in downtown Amman. And we just returned from a wonderful farewell dinner at Tawaheen A-Hawa, a beautiful outdoor restaurant with fountains and Bedouin tents. SIT staff gave all of us a traditional Arab headdress (keffiyeh) and Rafael de Sa and I enjoyed...

After a great breakfast at Hotel Bristol, we headed over to the SIT Office again for a morning lecture on Islam and Modernity. Dr. Mohammad Ryan, a professor at the University of Jordan, offered an informative talk on the latest philosophies and theories of how Islam and modern progression can co-exist. I learned a great deal, but I found myself wishing that I had a more in-depth knowledge of Islam. One key thought that he shared is that reasoning/thinking is ...

After a late night arrival on Wednesday to our hotel in Amman and a few hours of sleep, we started our first full day in Amman at 9 a.m. with a visit to the University of Jordan. This campus of 35,000 students consists of beautiful rolling hills and cedar/pine trees. Before our first lecture, we made a quick, unscheduled stop at the university's library where we observed their construction expansion. The librarians warmly welcomed us with cardamom tea and conv...