Going Back to Tel Aviv, Leaving Haifa

One of the few bus drivers working in Haifa, Sunday evening. If you look carefully, you
might be able to spot the large bag of sunflower seeds on which he is chewing.

A few hours ago, I made my way back to Tel Aviv from Haifa, as my duties as a university student beckoned. Few of the city buses were working. Many of the drivers as well as the operations staff had obviously not been able to show up to work. But after a long wait, a bus showed up. The central bus station was relatively empty. All the shops and information counters were closed, but there were long lines near the bays for the bus going to Tel Aviv. Train service from Haifa has been halted. Many people had obviously had enough of the rockets. They were going a bit further south to Tel Aviv and its surroundings. But I also saw a family heading for Beer Sheva, and one man who announced that he was heading for Eilat - literally as far away as possible from Hizbullah's katyushot. There were also many young soldiers on the bus, men and women, from various brigades and branches of the armed forces. I was unable to get on the first bus because there were so many people. The next bus, came 45 minutes later and it, too, filled up completely - people were standing in the aisle jam-packed. I was able to get on, and overall, it was an uneventful journey, especially given the large number of people, including young children, who were traveling on the bus. Very few people talked about the katyushot to each other, though every once in a while, acquaintances or relatives would call passengers on cell phones to ask for details of their experiences so far. My neighbor was coming from Nahariyah, where his sister's house had had its windows blown out, and his uncle had had his vegetable store destroyed.

My sister remains in Haifa.