When people think of the Middle East, they often think of oil, violence and war. But rarely do they consider what it would be like to live there.

Having lived in Haifa, Israel, for almost a year and a half, junior Dean Argaman experienced first-hand what the lifestyle was really like.

“It’s a completely different culture, from the holidays they celebrate to the language they speak,” Dean said.

Haifa is a port-city known for its beautiful beaches and rich culture. Because of the many different types of religions present there, religious tolerance is practiced, according to GoIsrael.com. This city combines nature and rich, religious history. Dean said that since his parents lived in Haifa before, they wanted him to understand his heritage by living in the Middle East.

“I wanted him to experience the different lifestyle of living there,” said Tali Argaman, Dean’s mother. “That’s why I brought him.”

Dean attended the school Leo Baeck, a prestigious private school in the area, that  his father attended. Leo Baeck schools started out by educating Holocaust children and set out to make Israel powerful in the world, according to the school’s website. There are multiple Leo Baeck schools in Israel. Dean remembers feeling nervous on his first day but was relieved by how friendly his classmates were.

Everything in school was in Hebrew which presented a challenge for him. The school placed him in a class that taught him how to read and write Hebrew. Leo Baeck was basically the same as FFHS except for students having different schedules every day, choosing two majors at the beginning of high school and having homerooms in which they learned English and science in, said  Dean. Leo Baeck had school sports such as soccer, basketball and volleyball. Soccer was the primary sport but only boys were allowed to play soccer for the school.

“I was that American kid, when the teacher said that everyone was really interested and asked me if I knew their friends in America,” Dean said.

Learning to read and write Hebrew was Dean’s greatest challenge at his new school. All of his classes were in Hebrew so he learned the language quickly but it still made every subject harder for him, said Dean. Hebrew is written from right to left and uses characters instead of letters, making it completely different from English.

“Hebrew was nothing like English,” Dean said. “Luckily, my parents had already taught me how to speak it growing up, so I (could speak)  it fluently. However, I still had to learn how to read and write to the point where I can attend school, which was extremely difficult. I felt like a foreigner attending school in the U.S.”

When Dean was not in school, he and his friends would play pickup soccer every day, the most popular sport in Israel. Teenagers in Haifa could go to the mall, grab a bite to eat, socialize and go to Carmel Beach, the beach closest to Haifa, said Dean.

Israel has a wide variety of food. Most restaurants serve hummus and pita bread as an appetizer. Israel has American restaurants like McDonald’s, Subway and KFC. Dean did not eat much American food while he was there. Dean’s favorite foods there were falafel and shawarma, which are Arab foods. Falafel consists of mashed chickpeas that are rolled into balls and shawarma is a lamb dish.

“In Israel, one thing that kids of all ages loved to do in their spare time is to play soccer,” Dean said. “My friends and I played at least four times a week. The entire country had a passion for the sport, completely unlike America.”

Israel makes headlines frequently and many U.S. presidents visit Israel. The Palestinians and Israelis are in constant conflict because of the sacred land of Jerusalem, said World History teacher Adam Herman. Even though there is a large amount of violence in Israel, Dean did not experience much at all. The few occurrences he remembers are a car bombing and a missile launching, which both occurred close to Haifa.

“The news makes you think that it is crazy strict and dangerous there but it’s not,” Dean said. “It didn’t feel any more dangerous there. It’s just a new kind of danger. There are psychopaths and school shooting here and terrorists there.”

Dean returned to this school at the start of second semester. His family wanted him to attend college in the U.S. and be able to finish high school with his friends here, Dean said. If he had stayed in Israel, he would have had to serve in the Israeli Army after high school.

Tali said that Dean now appreciates living here more.

“It’s what’s best for me (to be back) but sometimes I wish I could have stayed,” Dean said. “In general, I’m happy I came back, but I miss the friends I made there.”

Dean’s return was unexpected. He showed up at the Chicahauk Park in Southern Shores and surprised all his friends who did not know he was returning, Dean said, though most of his friends did not seem interested in his time in Haifa. Dean said that juniors Sam Eure and Hayden Dougherty were the most interested. They asked questions about living in Israel.

“When we saw how much he changed, we were flabbergasted about how much taller he was and how much deeper his voice was,” Eure said. “However, it was good to see that he had the same personality.”

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