Arabic trip to Nazareth

On Tuesday, the Arabic students went to Nazareth for the day. We saw quite a bit more than the Church of the Annunciation, which is the only thing I really got to see the last two times I went to the city. For photos of the Church of the Annunciation, refer back to this post.

Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation:

The Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, also known as the Church of St. Gabriel or St. Gabriel's Greek Orthodox Church, is an Eastern Orthodox church inNazareth, Israel. Likely first established in Byzantine-era Palestine, it was rebuilt during the time of the Crusades, and again in the 18th century under the rule of Daher el-Omar, the Arab governor of the Galilee.^[1]

Known colloquially among the Arab citizens of Nazareth whom it serves as Keniset il-rum,^[i] the church is located over an underground spring, which according to Eastern Orthodox belief is where the Virgin Mary was drawing water at the time of theAnnunciation.^[2][3] Water from the spring still runs inside the apse of the church and also fed the adjacent site of Mary's Well, located 150 yards (140 m) away.^[1][4]

(from Wikipedia)

(this is right over the spring)

Ottoman houses:

Many of the Ottoman-era mansions have been turned into restaurants and/or nice hostels.

 (L: the first sign i was able to read in Arabic on my own ^_^)

(Ottoman-era door big enough for camels, but the mini door in the middle was intentionally small so that visitors would be "weakened" upon entry, giving the host an upper hand)

(face!)

(some European influence in one of the Ottoman-era mansions-turned-into-a-hostel)

(Catholic) Church of the Annunciation:

While the Greek Orthodox believe that Gabriel came to Mary at the well, Catholics believe that Gabriel came to Mary at her home to tell her that she will give birth to Jesus.

There are four layers of churches at this site: 1) Byzantine: ~4th century, destroyed in 7th after the Muslim conquest of Palestine; 2) Crusades: ~12th century, destroyed in 1260 by Mamluk army; 3) Period of Dhaher al-Omar: ~18th century, demolished in 1954 for the... 4) Most recent version: 1969, designed by Italian architect Giovanni Muzio. 

(reminder: more photos in this entry from a couple weeks ago)

("Doctor ____ would you trust?")

(yes, it is massive)

(apse to the right)

(site of "Mary's home")

(Byzantine-era mosaic floor)

(you may be able to make out Byzantine flower murals in the center of the photo, with remnants of the church from the period of Dhaher al-Omar around it)

(this is the second floor, which is a Catholic church; the previous photos were from the first floor, which features the layers of churches over time)

(tilt your head right; this is a close-up shot of Japan's Mary and Jesus mosaic... it is notable because of all the inlaid pearls on Mary's sleeve... there's another mosaic that we didn't have access to which has diamonds on the sail of a boat that features Cuban immigrants to the United States)

Church of St. Joseph: (<much better photos on the hyperlinked site)

I didn't post any photos from this little side church last time, so here are some. It is quaint and often overlooked... our tour actually skipped it altogether, but a friend and I stepped inside for a bit.

First, this neat sculpture was in front of the Franciscan Convent, which is between the Church of the Annunciation and Church of St. Joseph:

(i hope you can read the text; let me know if you cannot)

(neat stained glass in the organ)

"Synagogue Church":

The Synagogue Church is a 12 C AD Church , built by the Crusaders. According to tradition, the church was built above the original location of the Roman period Synagogue where Jesus first learned, prayed and later preached as a young man. (from biblewalks.com, emphasis added)

(it was a very simple space; there are better photos in the hyperlink above)

White Mosque:

The White Mosque (Arabic: المسجد الأبيض‎) is the oldest mosque in Nazareth, Israel^[1]and is located in Harat Alghama or the "Mosque Quarter" in the center of Nazareth's Old Market.^[2] Its exquisite pencil-shaped minaret,^[2] cream-coloured walls, green trim and green dome are just one example of the Ottoman architecture common throughout the city. 

(from Wikipedia)

(L: the mihrab)

(area for ablution)

and finally! al-Sadaqa baklava in action: (<this hyperlink has close-up photos of each kind of baklava, which is delightful)

(baklava frying...)

(the hairy ones (here filled with goat cheese)!)

(my new friend Amer S. Ha rolling out 20 layers of filo dough for new baklava pieces with pistachio filling)

Video of him rolling it out (it started about a foot in diameter then grew, grew, grew):

Video of him filling it in:

(scores of choices!)

(bought a tray-full to take home for my roommates... got a few pieces of Qatayef for Ramadan as well)

P.S. I'd like to post some photos of my beloved roommates, but the ones I took don't have Marwa in her hijab so I can't post them. Soon, though! On a related note, as I was uploading photos for this post slash studying for my midterm, Marwa came in with plates of her homemade cheesecake for me and Maria. 

Aww! Today, we had an Italian lunch a la Giusi and an Arabic dinner (broke fast) a la Marwa. I think I'll contribute by making a Japanese curry that I brought with me from the States (no Korean ingredients here!)...

sad and gangster faces on campus

On my way back to the dorms from class, I saw this guy crying. I walked over to console him by taking photos of his tears:

(Seth: you'll be happy to know that i captured a string of photos so scrolling through them becomes a tearful stop-motion :))

While my mom and I were laughing over the phone about PSY and his "Gangnam Style," I found a angry-sad panda below me. He didn't approve:

Maria and I strolled around campus later that evening since it was so nice outside... but ran into some of the meanest cats in town:

(what eyes they have!)

But it's all good because I get to shower and use my hooded Barcelona towel :D. It looks large in the photo, but it's designed for maybe a six-year old child. Maria got a Spiderman one. They were the only large towel options at the time...

first week learning Arabic in Haifa

Hello! السلام عليكم

I had my first full week of intensive Arabic classes at the University of Haifa. We had our first quiz yesterday, which covered vocab, linking letters (6 of the 28 letters don't connect on the left side and the others have four forms: independent, initial, medial, and final), matching words according to gender, rearranging words in a sentence (e.g. as in Hebrew, there are construct chains and the verb tends to come before the subject), possessive endings, and some conjugations. We're learning Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), which is the written form, but have been picking up some spoken Arabic along the way as well. I love learning Arabic. It is such a beautiful language. Our textbook's in Hebrew, which makes things even more interesting...

(sorry it's sideways; tilt your head left)

For those who are curious, here's the Arabic alphabet (image credit: school-portal.co.uk). Read it from right to left. The letters shown are the independent, initial, medial, and final forms, with the phonetic value at the very left.:

If you can help it, avoid taking a bus from Jerusalem to Haifa on a Sunday. Oh my. I saw the ugliest face of Israel that afternoon. Since the buses are first come, first serve, people elbow and shout their way through. I saw men and women of all ages push and scream at each other in order to get on the bus. Yikes.

There are about 50 people taking intensive Arabic at Haifa U. this month and about 170 people in a modern Hebrew ulpan. Folks are from all around the world, and I've met people from at least twenty countries so far. In my elementary Arabic I class, there are two American college students, a Swiss law student, a German high school religion teacher, a Korean married couple my age, a Korean high school senior who attends a prep school in Boston, and me.

Our dorm suite was pretty darn disgusting when I first moved in. There was trash all around the kitchen, the kitchen faucet was leaking so mildew coated the sink, and the fridge was full of moldy food. I bleached the heck out of the kitchen and threw everything out. When I took a shower my first night, I smelled toasted pine nuts... from the random pine nuts strewn across the shower floor. I'd love to hear stories you come up with to explain that...

Maria (Seth's roommate in the States!) moved in the following day and we met our suitemate Marwa, a sophomore studying computer science at Haifa U. She's Muslim and from Nazareth. She goes home every weekend, as most Israeli students tend to do (my roommates in Jerusalem did that as well). That night, she invited me and Maria for tea and cake, which was sweet. :)

The following night, Marwa invited us to have some cheesecake that she made for Ramadan. It was delicious. I brewed us some tea and Giusi walked in the door. She's our other suitemate, a lawyer from Roma, Italia. The four of us had a lovely evening learning about each other. It'll be a fun month, with such great roommates and so many languages in the flat.

Haifa is nice because it's right on the coast. There's a nice view of the water from the university campus, and I'm eager to hang out on the beach. Maria, Giusi, and I are hoping to make it down there tomorrow. It's shabbat, so we'll have to take a taxi.

Yesterday

Yesterday, the Arabic students + Maria went on a Haifa tour. We saw the Baha'i Gardens, the Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery, Haifa shuk (yay for shuk produce and a full fridge!), and Wadi Nisnas. I didn't take many pictures, but I'll go back and take more to show you. Wadi Nisnas is particularly interesting because, according to our guides, Jews, Christians, and Muslims have coexisted peacefully together in the neighborhood since the very beginning. Each December, they have a celebration of all the holidays ("Holiday of Holidays Festival"). There a lot of cool street art in the area.

Baha'i Gardens:

(do you see the Shrine of the Báb in the middle?)

(me and Maria!)

 Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery:

 

(recall: 1 Kings 18... contest between YHWH + Elijah and Baal + Baal's priests on Mt. Carmel. According to a newspaper clipping we saw on the wall of the church, the church was built over what was believed to be the grotto of Elijah the prophet. A service in Italian started when we were on our way out.)

Today

I slept in. No classes on Fridays! After spending an entire afternoon working on Arabic homework, I went out to join the shabbat dinner. It was nice: songs (someone played his ukelele and another his guitar), lots of food, prayers, and new friends. I ended up getting to know two Japanese students who will be staying in Haifa for the entire year, learning Hebrew and Arabic. One wants to study modern Hebrew literature written by Arab Jews, which is difficult to do in Japan. Interestingly it was 9/11 that spurred this interest. Fascinating. The other is a Japanese Christian... the first I've ever met. Considering how less than 1% of Japan is Christian, quite an encounter. They were both very sweet and nice to talk to. 

ليلة سعيدة‎

good night~

a different pace

I had my last Biblical Hebrew lesson on Thursday morning. Besides that and grocery shopping, I've stayed in my room for much of this week. It's been a lazy time, full of long naps, Olympics watching (mostly fencing, let's be real), streaming romantic comedies on Amazon Prime, and eating homemade food plus ice cream. Lots of ice cream.

Hm. This may sound like I'm depressed, but I'm not. I move up to Haifa on Sunday, so this has been my last week in Jerusalem. Rather than hustle over to the Old City to take in as many of the archaeological and holy sites as possible before leaving, I decided to become more of a hermit and enjoy some relaxed solitude in my room instead. I don't regret it. (I promised photos of the holy sites in the Old City, so I will post them in the near future.)

I keep my balcony door open throughout the evening and night starting at around 17:00 when the air cools down dramatically. I will miss Jerusalem weather--while it may be hot during the day, one gets used to it (at least it's dry heat), and you can always count on a cool evening. I've slept incredibly well in my room all month without ac (actually, with a blanket over me!).

Since I've indulged myself in an erratic sleep schedule, I've usually been up in the early am's. I let the standing fan rotate the cool night air around my room, and lounge on my foam bed with my laptop propped up and open to whatever I happen to be reading or watching. I make myself some brown rice green tea I brought from home (the quickest way to feel at home, perhaps) and/or slice myself a generous portion of an ice cream cake I bought the other day on impulse.

I finally got in touch with my mom via Skype today, after a two-week hiatus. It was wonderful to hear her excited voice. Talking to her was grounding for me. Too often, when I am far away, blessed with these trips abroad, I lose touch with roots. I don't necessarily mean ethnic or cultural roots. I'm talking about the real, inexplicable things that ground me, that remind me of who I am underneath all of these flitting experiences. Talking with her reminds me to stay in closer touch with my brother and to keep my petty concerns about x and y in perspective.

These days, I find it easier to slip outside myself and not be fully present, regardless of where I am. It's too easy to let an experience go by. I may notice something special in a glimmer of a moment and relish it, but it's unfortunate when I witness it all by myself. It's so much better holding it together with a friend. That is why I like to sketch and linger in certain atmospheres... it helps me to take things in more slowly and the sketchbook becomes a kind of companion (plus a means of carrying back the moment to a real person back home). Admittedly though, my sketchbook hasn't been filling up very much... I let it get forgotten on my shelf. Especially in Jerusalem, I get shy sketching people, since it feels like cultural voyeurism and I feel guilty for wanting to capture someone because of how foreign they are to me.

I wanted to be more present during this summer in Israel, in part because of some insistent hope in the holiness of this land... I wanted to experience some significant connection to the history and narratives here. As overly sentimental as it may seem, I must confess it.

But living in Israel hasn't been some kind of "life changing experience," as it can be for some others, and that's okay. The more I go to the holy sites and experience the touristic atmosphere, the more distant I actually feel from my faith sometimes. It seems so at odds with the Jesus figure who walked the dusty roads and healed people. I have conflicting feelings about ritual spaces and practices. There is a church at nearly every single holy site. Many of them are quite beautiful. I especially love the ones that have sought to embrace its visitors on an international scale. At the same time, I've rarely felt worshipful in those spaces because of all the camera flashes and tourist groups bustling about. It's tough, since access is important, and I'd love for all people to be able to visit these sites. I just have to accept that a consequence right now is a lack of quietude. I also can't shake the fact that so many of these sites are holy by tradition more so than historical truth, since the latter is so shaky to confirm. Sometimes, I wish I could just blissfully sink into ignorance about that and just revel in being in these biblical places.

the kindest subletter

I just got a phone call from Idan, my subletter in Jerusalem. I've mentioned my roommates Alex and Avi in previous posts. They are very kind. Alex already moved out, actually, to re-join the army as a physician in training. Avi is hard at work on his dissertation every single day.

But I was so moved by Idan's kindness that I wanted to create a post just about him. He calls me occasionally to check in and make sure that I'm okay. At first, I was on my guard whenever he called since I've had some really negative experiences with subletters, but over time, I've learned to trust his sincerity. Once, I mentioned that I temporarily moved the desk closer to the overhead light to get more light when I worked. He called one day to ask if I was home, and when he came inside, he gave me a desk lamp. He had bought a brand new one for me.

In the bathroom, he left me shampoo, soap, and laundry detergent. In the kitchen, he left me dried beans, pasta, and rice. Just now, he asked me what I've been up to now that I'm back from Tiberias. I mentioned that I've been staying in more since my school friends have returned to the States and I'm running low on my grant monies. He urged me to use the meats he has in the freezer. He insisted that eating his food would help him, since he'd have to carry less when he officially moves out of the apartment at the end of the month.

Even from the very beginning, he and his girlfriend Karney met me at the light rail station to lead me to the apartment. They've been so responsive to questions. Karney even gave me a map when I first moved in. Now, I regret not calling them up over the past month to get to know them better -- I wanted to give them space since they had exams.

Idan's (and Karney's) sincerity and simple kindness move me to a moment of silence. It's kind of sad that this experience is so notable -- how wonderful it would be if it were the norm. After I hung up and put the phone down, I sat very still and lingered in my gratitude. I have been so blessed in so many ways this year. The Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-28) is on my mind, and I pray that I may be mindful.

contentment found at Nisan's

Romanticizing cafes is pretty cliche, I know. But there is something so soothing and grounding about finding "the cafe(s)" in your city. You feel at home and know that it is (they are) now your beloved, regular place(s). I had only really found them in two cities: In Madrid, it was Alameda on rainy days. In Philly, it was Higher Grounds in the mornings, the outdoor patio at Arbol Cafe on sunny days, and Chapterhouse in the late evenings. There was a plethora of amazing cafes in other cities I've lived in for a summer or more, but an amazing cafe and "the" cafe are two different things.

I found mine in Jerusalem today: Nisan's, just outside of Mehane Yehuda Market.

I was initially drawn inside by the sacks of spices, grains, and homemade pastas by the entrance. Once I walked inside and saw the glass jars of coffee beans, bowls of loose leaf teas, and little wooden square tables in a nook, I had to stay for a while. I asked for their best tea that's non-floral and non-fruity, and the lady gave me a nice, smooth black tea. An hour later, I ordered a cappuccino as well, which was creamy and delicious. Each mug came with a round sesame cookie which had a slightly sticky, chewy consistency.

I sat in a corner facing a booth, where a happy-looking older gentleman sat down with a coffee and newspaper. At one point, he went out for a smoke, but came back and continued to drink his coffee and read his newspaper. He reminded me so much of a content version of ahpa that I included him in my pictures.

The cashiers behind the counter were friendly and relaxed. The stream of people going in and out was slow and steady. It was funny to listen to the assortment of familiar songs from the radio station, ranging from Nicki Minaj to Gotye.

(teas)

(grinding coffee beans)

I stayed for a few hours, happy.

P.S. I also bought a sweet poster of the aleph bet on brown paper at the Israel Posters Center. This is a digital version of it.