Jerusalem->Nazareth-->Haifa-->Nazareth-->Telaviv

Jerusalem -> Nazareth 5th October 2006
Woke up at 7:00 am and after a quick shower he headed to the city centre to get a service taxi to Nazareth. At around 9:00am we were in Telaviv old Bus station and had to change to another taxi service to reach Nazareth. While waiting for the taxi to be full I decided to go into the station to use the toilets… which was not a good idea since for the second time I got lost in this crazy station that has like 2 or 3 toilets scattered around 4 floors and I don’t know how many square meters… one has to walk through a maze of corridors and stairs and to go back is hell… nobody can find the way at the first shot… so I was wandering around lost in the station for around 40 minutes and when I arrived the service had already left and Mohammed was waiting for me… to worsen things, the next service only got full one hour and a half later which made both me and Mohammed arrive late in Nazareth. And worst, I had to help prepare the restaurant for the second Ramadan night... happily it was the second time I was doing that and both me and Haitham had already a scheme to make things go fast.
By the time I arrived I was starving but since was Ramadan I decided to have only an Arabic coffee to get me going. Then it was time to wash the ground, clean the tables and prepare them for the guests. Then at around 16.30, we would have to start serving the first dishes until the very end when everybody would be done with dessert.
By the time we were finished, Haytham and his friends invited me to join them. They showed me a bit of Nazareth Ilit and we ended up in Alreda having a drink and talking. They were nice people to confirm the rule  and we had a nice evening together.

Nazareth/Haifa 6th October 2006
I went to the office early and started writing my update on the report… it was one of my last days to do so and I still wanted to go to the beach in Haifa that afternoon. I typed the whole morning, had lunch and espresso at the cafeteria downstairs. Continued typing and at around 15 o’clock I went home to get my beach shorts and I met Rula and Marlen in front of Tishreen.
We drove all the way to the Carmel beach and I went to a bath as soon as we arrived. The water is so impressively warm, so one can stay for ages there. As promised I showed some Capoeira moves to them and then we went to the chairs in the terrace and ate something and drunk a beer. It felt really good and these two women are fantastic.
Then, between going to the sea, chatting in the terrace and practicing Capoeira I met on of Haitham’s friends I was with the night before. He was with his family and they invited me for dinner, which I had to refuse since ii had already plans for that night 
Then, after a wonderful sunset we had a huge salad with some natural juice and we walked through the path that goes all across the beach all the way until the Le Meridien hotel almost and we went back… it was time for me to return to Nazareth since I had to meet Ana and her friends. At around 22.30 we arrived at Nazareth and the girls dropped me at home where I left my stuff and ran to Bayat where I found Ana together with some of her work colleagues. They have just finished a bottle of red wine, so we decided to go to some other place and chit chat for a bit. After discussion we decided to buy a bottle of red wine from the shop and head to my home.
So there we were, me, Ana, Dennis (an Irish volunteer) and two more guys that work with Ana. We had a really nice time together and reached the conclusion that we have already seen each other around before and we regretted that we didn’t meet before. Anyway I was decided to go to Haifa the next morning to get some final sun in my last day in Israel and Ana and Dennis decided to join me. Shortly after they all left and I went to bed.

Nazareth/Haifa --> Telaviv 7th October 2006
This turned out to be one of the days of my life, not because it was the last day of one of my lifetime experiences but because it was so emotional (no, I didn’t cry)…
Anyway, I woke up early so that I could meet Dennis and Ana in the Basilica and get the bus to Haifa. Once we arrived there (in the central train station) we realizes that it was some kind of holiday and the public buses were not working, so we had to walk a bit and get a service to the Carmel beach near the big Temple in the Hill. We walked up across a big street full of bars and cafes and it made me realize that I should have gotten a bit more out of my time in Israel… especially during the first week, during which I had lots of free time. After some time we got the service and we arrived at the beach at around 10:00 am. Basically I had 2 hours of sun and fun and then I would have to get back to Nazareth to meet Iyad and wrap up my work… the beach is phenomenal and I will never forget the time with Dennis and Ana there, especially the conversations I had with Dennis! So the time just flew until it was time for me to leave. So I left them looking to the beach and feeling already sorry that I wouldn’t see that in a near future!
I got a taxi to the station because I couldn’t risk loose the bus to Nazareth (the next was 2 hours after that). In the meantime the taxi driver picked another passenger and made a huge detour to drop him in some hotel in the top of the hill and to make it worse he was driving as if he had all the time in the world, which I didn’t have. So I told him to speed up when I had only 7 minutes to catch my bus and we were still in the top of the hill. Trying to rush we reached the station 1 minute after and I couldn’t see the bus anymore… he was entering the main road when I got out of the taxi running with my flip flops and waving and shouting at the bud driver… happily he heard me, stopped the bus and opened the door for me. I was the only passenger. One and a half hours later I was in Nazareth and I went directly to Life’s Headquarters where everybody was leaving… I didn’t have time really to wrap up so I went home, ate some fruit and spent the rest of the afternoon buying souvenirs and saying goodbye to Nazareth. Then I decided to go home again have a shower and head to the Basilica to pay a final visit. Once I arrived there I felt the usual goose bumps and I was very happy to be there once again and sad because I don’t know when my next visit would be… somehow I felt that part of me belongs there… really don’t know why… then a cascade of weird feelings followed… very strong, unexplainable feelings that just made me feel so odd that I felt like crying loud and clear like a little baby (maybe now I understand why I saw a girl a few days before doing that in front of the altar). I decided to control myself and I putted the rosaries I brought from Jerusalem in the Altar´s red cross craved on marble. That I knew by then would mean a lot to me in the future (it was already meaning a lot in the moment)…
I kept on controlling myself and the more I tried the more I felt like crying! My eyes got wet and a strong chocking pain installed in my throat… it was hard even to breathe… I decided to close my eyes… say thank you to God and I decided to talk to two Franciscan Monks that were there. One was Brazilian and the other Croatian… it was hard not to cry when I was talking to them, such was my state. I was talking about that place and how special it was…
After some time I decided to go to Alreda where a lot of people were supposed to meet me for a final goodbye, so I got out of the Basillica feeling that I should stay for some more time or maybe forever and went up the street without looking back. If I did I knew I would go back… and the odd feeling was still with me and with the same intensity… I entered Alreda and Mohammed automatically recognized I wasn’t good and asked me why… I hardly could answer him and told him I need lemonade and some time alone. I was alone for 30 minutes sitting on a table and writing some notes about what just happened while Mohammed putted the perfect music playing for my state of mind and spirit… it’s the most intense moment of my life until now and I realized it while I was living it and the best was that I didn’t know for sure why… what was the cause of it? I still don’t know, but every time I recall it I feel the same I did that very same day!
As soon as I was more controlled I told Mohammed what happened and he told me how jealous he was from me, that I was having such a feeling… and that’s when the first guests started arriving and the mood started to change… we had some beer I ordered my last hoummus there, I got some goodbye gifts (among them a beautiful Syrian handmade plate offered by Iyad) and I chit chatted for the last time with some of these persons that maybe some I will never see again but that made my time there very special!
After some hours it was 23.00 and I had to say goodbye, exchanged contacts and headed home to pack and prepare to leave to Telaviv and get my flight. I had a taxi picking me up at 00.00 and my flight was at 5:00 am.
It was a very sad moment, a very sad goodbye, so I feel I should have stayed longer.

Jerusalem->Nazareth-->Haifa-->Nazareth-->Telaviv

Jerusalem -> Nazareth 5th October 2006
Woke up at 7:00 am and after a quick shower he headed to the city centre to get a service taxi to Nazareth. At around 9:00am we were in Telaviv old Bus station and had to change to another taxi service to reach Nazareth. While waiting for the taxi to be full I decided to go into the station to use the toilets… which was not a good idea since for the second time I got lost in this crazy station that has like 2 or 3 toilets scattered around 4 floors and I don’t know how many square meters… one has to walk through a maze of corridors and stairs and to go back is hell… nobody can find the way at the first shot… so I was wandering around lost in the station for around 40 minutes and when I arrived the service had already left and Mohammed was waiting for me… to worsen things, the next service only got full one hour and a half later which made both me and Mohammed arrive late in Nazareth. And worst, I had to help prepare the restaurant for the second Ramadan night... happily it was the second time I was doing that and both me and Haitham had already a scheme to make things go fast.
By the time I arrived I was starving but since was Ramadan I decided to have only an Arabic coffee to get me going. Then it was time to wash the ground, clean the tables and prepare them for the guests. Then at around 16.30, we would have to start serving the first dishes until the very end when everybody would be done with dessert.
By the time we were finished, Haytham and his friends invited me to join them. They showed me a bit of Nazareth Ilit and we ended up in Alreda having a drink and talking. They were nice people to confirm the rule  and we had a nice evening together.

Nazareth/Haifa 6th October 2006
I went to the office early and started writing my update on the report… it was one of my last days to do so and I still wanted to go to the beach in Haifa that afternoon. I typed the whole morning, had lunch and espresso at the cafeteria downstairs. Continued typing and at around 15 o’clock I went home to get my beach shorts and I met Rula and Marlen in front of Tishreen.
We drove all the way to the Carmel beach and I went to a bath as soon as we arrived. The water is so impressively warm, so one can stay for ages there. As promised I showed some Capoeira moves to them and then we went to the chairs in the terrace and ate something and drunk a beer. It felt really good and these two women are fantastic.
Then, between going to the sea, chatting in the terrace and practicing Capoeira I met on of Haitham’s friends I was with the night before. He was with his family and they invited me for dinner, which I had to refuse since ii had already plans for that night 
Then, after a wonderful sunset we had a huge salad with some natural juice and we walked through the path that goes all across the beach all the way until the Le Meridien hotel almost and we went back… it was time for me to return to Nazareth since I had to meet Ana and her friends. At around 22.30 we arrived at Nazareth and the girls dropped me at home where I left my stuff and ran to Bayat where I found Ana together with some of her work colleagues. They have just finished a bottle of red wine, so we decided to go to some other place and chit chat for a bit. After discussion we decided to buy a bottle of red wine from the shop and head to my home.
So there we were, me, Ana, Dennis (an Irish volunteer) and two more guys that work with Ana. We had a really nice time together and reached the conclusion that we have already seen each other around before and we regretted that we didn’t meet before. Anyway I was decided to go to Haifa the next morning to get some final sun in my last day in Israel and Ana and Dennis decided to join me. Shortly after they all left and I went to bed.

Nazareth/Haifa --> Telaviv 7th October 2006
This turned out to be one of the days of my life, not because it was the last day of one of my lifetime experiences but because it was so emotional (no, I didn’t cry)…
Anyway, I woke up early so that I could meet Dennis and Ana in the Basilica and get the bus to Haifa. Once we arrived there (in the central train station) we realizes that it was some kind of holiday and the public buses were not working, so we had to walk a bit and get a service to the Carmel beach near the big Temple in the Hill. We walked up across a big street full of bars and cafes and it made me realize that I should have gotten a bit more out of my time in Israel… especially during the first week, during which I had lots of free time. After some time we got the service and we arrived at the beach at around 10:00 am. Basically I had 2 hours of sun and fun and then I would have to get back to Nazareth to meet Iyad and wrap up my work… the beach is phenomenal and I will never forget the time with Dennis and Ana there, especially the conversations I had with Dennis! So the time just flew until it was time for me to leave. So I left them looking to the beach and feeling already sorry that I wouldn’t see that in a near future!
I got a taxi to the station because I couldn’t risk loose the bus to Nazareth (the next was 2 hours after that). In the meantime the taxi driver picked another passenger and made a huge detour to drop him in some hotel in the top of the hill and to make it worse he was driving as if he had all the time in the world, which I didn’t have. So I told him to speed up when I had only 7 minutes to catch my bus and we were still in the top of the hill. Trying to rush we reached the station 1 minute after and I couldn’t see the bus anymore… he was entering the main road when I got out of the taxi running with my flip flops and waving and shouting at the bud driver… happily he heard me, stopped the bus and opened the door for me. I was the only passenger. One and a half hours later I was in Nazareth and I went directly to Life’s Headquarters where everybody was leaving… I didn’t have time really to wrap up so I went home, ate some fruit and spent the rest of the afternoon buying souvenirs and saying goodbye to Nazareth. Then I decided to go home again have a shower and head to the Basilica to pay a final visit. Once I arrived there I felt the usual goose bumps and I was very happy to be there once again and sad because I don’t know when my next visit would be… somehow I felt that part of me belongs there… really don’t know why… then a cascade of weird feelings followed… very strong, unexplainable feelings that just made me feel so odd that I felt like crying loud and clear like a little baby (maybe now I understand why I saw a girl a few days before doing that in front of the altar). I decided to control myself and I putted the rosaries I brought from Jerusalem in the Altar´s red cross craved on marble. That I knew by then would mean a lot to me in the future (it was already meaning a lot in the moment)…
I kept on controlling myself and the more I tried the more I felt like crying! My eyes got wet and a strong chocking pain installed in my throat… it was hard even to breathe… I decided to close my eyes… say thank you to God and I decided to talk to two Franciscan Monks that were there. One was Brazilian and the other Croatian… it was hard not to cry when I was talking to them, such was my state. I was talking about that place and how special it was…
After some time I decided to go to Alreda where a lot of people were supposed to meet me for a final goodbye, so I got out of the Basillica feeling that I should stay for some more time or maybe forever and went up the street without looking back. If I did I knew I would go back… and the odd feeling was still with me and with the same intensity… I entered Alreda and Mohammed automatically recognized I wasn’t good and asked me why… I hardly could answer him and told him I need lemonade and some time alone. I was alone for 30 minutes sitting on a table and writing some notes about what just happened while Mohammed putted the perfect music playing for my state of mind and spirit… it’s the most intense moment of my life until now and I realized it while I was living it and the best was that I didn’t know for sure why… what was the cause of it? I still don’t know, but every time I recall it I feel the same I did that very same day!
As soon as I was more controlled I told Mohammed what happened and he told me how jealous he was from me, that I was having such a feeling… and that’s when the first guests started arriving and the mood started to change… we had some beer I ordered my last hoummus there, I got some goodbye gifts (among them a beautiful Syrian handmade plate offered by Iyad) and I chit chatted for the last time with some of these persons that maybe some I will never see again but that made my time there very special!
After some hours it was 23.00 and I had to say goodbye, exchanged contacts and headed home to pack and prepare to leave to Telaviv and get my flight. I had a taxi picking me up at 00.00 and my flight was at 5:00 am.
It was a very sad moment, a very sad goodbye, so I feel I should have stayed longer.

Nazareth --> Jerusalem

Nazareth 2nd October 2006
I went early to the office and soon after Iyad took me with him to collect some food (fruit, vegetables, soft drinks and some sweets and rice) from some local stores and drop them in the place where our first Ramadan Night would take place. There I met Haytham and we stayed together the whole afternoon washing the floor, cleaning the place and preparing the tables for the feast. I fasted that day to experiment again the feeling and to try to understand better the whole concept that lies behind the fasting. I couldn’t fast in liquids though, so I guess my fasting was not real for them… but it was pretty real for me, specially for my stomach!
At around 16.30 around 50 poor families from villages around Nazareth would arrive to this charity dinner (or better: breakfast, because it was Ramadan and it was their/our first meal) to eat and listen to traditional folk music, since a musical band was hired as well. More or less by that time we started serving the food and my appetite disappeared because we were too less people serving and chaos was installed for some moments. And although I couldn’t speak a word in Arabic, it was nice to communicate/interact with the local people. Again I confirmed the warm heart of the Palestinian people.
Some of those people were eating avidly and one could see in their faces that this was a unique occasion and that going to the restaurant is not in part of their lives at all! It was nice to see them enjoying the whole dinner and the music and show afterwards… it was not just a dinner, it was a tribute to them… it was a dinner to make them realize that other people can see that they, as well have a soul!
Somewhere in the middle and when the chaos was no longer there, me and Haytham sat down and finally ate one of what I consider as one of the most deserved meals I ever had or will ever have in my life. After that I went back to the dinning room and distributed the sweets and Arabic coffee. After this both I and Haytham were exhausted, so we went outside to sit and chill out for a bit. In the meantime two of his friends from Nazareth arrived and we ended up having a drink together in Alreda. I met Mohammed there as well and got to know that he would be going to Jerusalem the next day as well (I decided in the afternoon that I would be going to Jerusalem for the next 2 days), so we arranged to meet the next morning so we could travel together. Went home shortly after… it was a very long and interesting day, but also very exhausting.

Nazareth --> Jerusalem 3rd October 2006
Today was traveling day again, so I packed my things (just two pairs of underwear, two t-shirts and the essential toiletries) and headed to the plaza in front of the Basilica, the place where I should meet Mohammed. He arrived a bit late and we decided to go to El Sheik restaurant and eat Hummus. It’s a breakfast that I knew by a previous experience would last, at least, until 6 in the afternoon in my stomach. After this we went to the bus station and got the bus to Haifa. It would take us one and a half hours to get there normally, but we arrived in just one hour because there was no traffic at all. From the station in the center of the city where we arrived we had to take a bus to the Carmel station and get a new bus from there to Jerusalem. Once again we got our luggage checked to enter the Carmel station. As the station is located just by the Carmel beach and we had 45 minutes free, we went to the beach and sat for half an hour under a palm tree. Then we went back to the station and got into the bus. There we talked, talked and talked and I asked one of the many soldiers that were there in the bus what does the tag he has in the left arm means. He was an Arab from the north of Israel and he spoke to me through Mohammed, since he couldn’t speak English. He explained me that he is part of a battalion that protects the wall being built in the Bethlehem and the badge represents that.
The trip to Jerusalem didn’t take long and I was very excited to go back there. I got a very good feeling about the city when I passed by on my way to Telaviv some days ago. We got out in the Bab al-Amoud station and went to one of the old city gates: Bab al-Amoud. I just arrived but I really felt that this is, was and it will always be a magnificent city! Vibrant with life, a place where different cultures and religions try to mix… people and goods everywhere, old great castle walls and gates, narrow streets… and something in the air, something that could almost be touched: Tension! Lots of tension in people’s faces, expressions and behaviors…
Sitting in the stairs that lead to the gates we talked a lot about the city and the people and religion and I observed the people… just observed. I was somehow dazed… Dazed as well by the sounds produced by a man playing a “primitive” bamboo flute. This really fitted to the environment and created a image in my mind that will never be erased. I decided to by 2 flutes for 20 shekels and I was admired when I saw “Made in India” craved in the flutes. It was funny though.
A bit later we decided to go to The Garden of the Tomb, one of the places where it is said Jesus was buried. At the entrance we got a leaflet explaining why the Garden Tomb (Jerusalem) Association (that takes care and manages the Garden) states that this is the real place of Jesus burial and bases in the Bible, says which proofs and historical places can be found of that in this place. In my way out I decided to buy some postcards in the souvenir shop to help them with the Garden maintenance, since they don’t charge entrance fee I thought it would be reasonable.
After that we went again to the Damascus Gate to meet Mohammed´s girlfriend that was already there waiting for us and we all headed to the Jerusalem Hotel that was quite close from that place. She wanted to have breakfast, Mohammed was hungry as well and I decided to smoke some Argheelle. I think I was addicted to this, not for the vice itself but for the environment in which I was… I felt good smoking that thing… I felt t hat was something I needed to do and since I liked it, it was perfect.
After a couple of hours there we left and met a girlfriend from Mohammed’s girlfriend and we drove together to Café Illel. We have to be checked to enter that place; since they are afraid of the suicide bombers… it sucked again… The girl with whom we went was a Yoga instructor and so she convinced me to have natural yoghurt with muesli… after that me and Mohammed left them and walked towards the Old Jewish Quarter of the city where we were supposed to meet Sharon, a girl friend of Mohammed who would host us for the night. She lived in a very narrow street (like all the streets in that quarter) and her house was on the 1st floor… typical house from historical old parts of ancient cities, I liked it. There was Romi as well, a girlfriend from Sharon. Between talking, candle light and listening to music I fell asleep in the sofa… was a great but long day… again too much to see and to much feelings in to less time!

Jerusalem 4th October 2006
We woke up very early (7.30am) and left immediately because Sharon had to leave for work. I just had time to wash my face and teeth and we left the house. We rushed through the old Jewish quarter, where I felt a lot of indiscrete looks towards me and Mohammed, and had breakfast in a fancy Bakery/Café where I had a croissant and an espresso. The croissant was delicious!
After this we headed to the Damascus Gate to start out tour throughout the city and the historical/holy places. We roamed around in the old market and headed to the old Christian quarter in direction to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It’s a magnificent Church with two levels up and two more underground levels… it is really hard to describe it and one should definitely pay a visit to this place. Right in front of the entrance you can see “Jesus´ Tomb” and one can always see people there scattering rosaries around its tomb (there is always pine oil on it) and saying/singing some prays. Inside it is normal to find people crying like hell without no apparent reason. I didn’t spend much more time there because I had limited time and in the end I decided to buy some rosaries as well and do the same ritual in Jesus´ Tomb, so I knelled and mixed the rosaries with the pine oil and prayed for a bit on them. Made it with four rosaries, one for me and three more for offering.
From there we went to the Jewish quarter in direction to the Wailing Wall. I was trying to see the most in the less time possible, since I had to leave that same evening to Nazareth. It made me feel a bit weird because I don’t like to see things (in this case monuments and/or holy places) just to say I saw them… I like to feel them and to reflect about them. But since I really didn’t have the time and there were things that at least I wanted to be able to say: “I’ve been there once!”, I did it and as I told we rushed to the Wailing Wall… its in a place where Muslims mingle with Jews and its hard to see where a quarter ends and the other starts…
Once we arrived there, we found a “checkpoint” with guarded arms and more metal detectors… they looked to us as if we were suspicious… which we were because Mohammed is Arab and for that he is suspicious. And because I am with him, I automatically became suspicious as well… Anyway we decided to tell them that that we were both Portuguese and they bought it. I showed my passport and Mohammed told he forgot his. They looked to us with a suspicious look and let us in… trust is a thing that seems not to exist in abundance in this city, especially if you are not a Jew…
The wall was a disappointment to me and turned out to be the least appealing of all the places I visited there… seemed somehow fabricated… so I took a picture and went away. Didn’t even felt like touching the wall…
We were going to try our luck again now and see if we both could enter al-Aqsa Mosque. Surprisingly it’s located just above the Wailing Wall… everything is mingling here, only the people don’t… which is a pity! I am sure that if they putted the extremist issues apart everybody could live together and in peace… which a Great city Jerusalem could be… even greater than what it is!!!
On our way to al-Aqsa, and still some large meters away, as the streets seemed to get narrower, some people sitting on somebody’s door asked me in Arab if I was Arab… to which I replied no in English. Then they told me and Mohammed that we couldn’t go further because as it was Ramadan only Muslims are allowed to enter the Mosque…
We got disappointed and frustrated and decided to try our luck again by taking another street route to the Mosque and this time I replied that yes I am Arab to the next people in the street who made me the same question. But to enter to the Mosque plaza there were some security people to whom we decided previously to tell that I am Arab. They doubted of it of course and we need to make up a story in the moment that we were relatives and that I was living in Portugal and that my parents didn’t made a good job teaching me the basics of Islamism and like by miracle (or because they were tired of us) they let us in. it was amazing inside and I felt like a complete stranger because everybody was there because of a holy reason and I was just as a “tourist”, but it felt good… the place gave me a good feeling! In the stairs to the mosque there was a old man taking photos with a Polaroid and he took 2 of me… it is part of the rare repertoire of photos I have from all of my trip to Israel/Palestine…
With the fuzz and excitement and going around the garden, me and Mohammed took an exit of the complex and started walking to one of the gates of the city. Soon after we realized that we didn’t go in the mosque… stupid…so stupid!!!
Anyway off we went; because the time is limited… we got out on one of the old city gates and went around the wall until we find the next one. There we decided to get lost in the city and we decided to play a game: before the next intersection one of us should tell which one to take next. I started with 3rd on the right… and so on. It took us no more than 15 minutes to arrive to the Damascus gate… we were laughing because if we wanted to reach there in so less time we wouldn’t have done it for sure.
Then and from there we decided that was time to sit down a bit and get some rest before the journey back to Nazareth, so Mohammed suggested the Ambassador Hotel which turned out to be the perfect choice. Located in the top of one hill, the view towards the city was amazing and we had tea and smoked arghellee the whole afternoon (because during this time we decided to stay there for one more night). Around 18.00 his girlfriend met us and we went to a restaurant nearby to have breakfast J
There we got to know through a friend of hers that there would be in East Jerusalem a concert by a local hip hop band and a Capoeira demonstration. And well, we decided to go there, so after dinner we took a bus to the University where the concert was. In the bus everybody was looking at me like as if I was an alien (feeling that I was more than used to by this time…).
The concert was funny. The band was amateur and they were singing about Palestine and all the problems that they are facing there mixed with some revolutionary mottos… in the end there was the Capoeira demonstrations in which I took part as well and soon after we left with the brother of Mohammed´s girlfriend. We all went to his place where we three slept, not before smoking the best arghelle I did during my whole stay in Israel. The tobacco was from Jordan and had a smoother taste compared to the one I got used to. Was wonderful… but soon I went to bed because I was so tired… and next morning we were heading to Nazareth.

final update to come this weekend

The last and one of the most exciting updates about my last days in Israel is to come this weekend...
To be continued :)

More Nazareth & Ramallah

Nazareth 26th September 2006
As usual I woke up, ate something and went to the office to continue writing my stormy report. So, between thinking and typing, and deleting and retyping, the lunch time arrived and with it I went with Iyad to get some food donation for the Ramadan nights and store it in the distribution place. It was very hot outside, and although it was not too much stuff, it was enough to make me sweat a bit more. In conversation, we decided that I would be going to Ramallah this weekend to get to know a bit more about Palestine and to talk to a Brazilian TV reporter that wants to know a bit more abut LIFE and its work in Palestine. The rest of the afternoon I continued typing in front of the computer and Heymath, the owner of the building cafeteria invited me to join him and some friends to smoke arghella in a very nice cafe called Casa Palestina. Among arghella puffs and sips of red wine we talked a lot about the Palestinian problematic, about the similitude of the southern European and Arab cultures and about one thousand other different things.
It was a very nice evening, wonderful place and nice people. Hope I can repeat it again soon.

Nazareth 27th September 2006
It was another writing day, so as usual I ran to the office still sleepy. Had to be on time today once I am keeping Haymath's keys and had to open the office at 9:00.
It was a hard writing day because I had to put in words all the feelings and emotions about some keys moments from my WB trip and although I just managed to write a page by the end of the day, I was quite tired. Eating the Hummus at around 10 am was not a good idea either (although it was delicious) because it made me more sleepy and slow.
At 13:00 I went to the Basilica to wait for Ana and guide her to the office so she and Iyad could speak a little bit. In the end she didn’t show up because I got to know later that day, she didn’t see my note.
Went back to the office and tried to write the rest of the afternoon. Made a break at 17.00 and went to the Basilica for some minutes. I didn’t even eat before 18:00; it was such a strong Hummus! Stayed until 19.00 in the office and went back home, where Ana later met me and dragged me to Alreda. We were talking a bit more about our projects and got to know each other a bit better. After that I showed her the Casa Palestina, where we smoked arghella and went home by 1.30 am.
It was a long, hard day and I was glad I finally could go to sleep. The next day I will have to wrap up some stuff and prepare my things to leave to Ramallah.

Nazareth 28th September 2006
Day started early again and I continued updating my diary. It's very time and brain consuming to write about this strong emotional experiences… so I spent all the morning writing until I went to Mary's Well to pick up Ana, so that she could meet Iyad. I was for half an hour in the sun waiting…it was so hot! It was a relief to get back to the air conditioned and write again, at least for the next minutes, before the brain starts asking for more coffee in order to work.
Wrote the whole afternoon as usual, visited the Basilica, went to the internet café and headed home. Had to prepare my stuff to depart in the next morning and went to bed early after talking to Suheer (the woman that would pick me up the next morning) because I would have to wake up at 6 am.

Nazareth --> Ramallah 29th September 2006
Woke up at 6 am and had a quick shower while preparing some Arabic coffee to keep me awake. At 6.30 Suheer called me to check whether I was awake, which I was. At 6.50 I was in the meeting point, in front of the pharmacy near my house. At 7:00 she arrived and we headed to the headquarters of YMCA, where an Arab Christian organization (Sybell? name it right here) is located. There was a bus waiting to take me and fourteen more girls to Ramallah. Apparently a paradise for any man, but a piece of heel as well when some of them started singingJ.
The trip was very fast and smooth. We didn’t have any problem; even in the checkpoints they never checked our ID's or passports. That was a relief and it was funny to see how the soldiers present a clear dichotomy in their way of thinking and acting. I am sure if it was one girl and fourteen guys in the bus we would have had a lot of problems!
Before heading to Ramallah we stopped in a small village nearby, Jifna, where our Hostel was located. We dropped our stuff, had breakfast and got to know that another group of young people whom we were supposed to meet that morning couldn’t do it. So we hanged around in the Hostel until lunchtime and ate at a local restaurant. The restaurant was very modest but had a very nice fresh shadowy terrace full of fans blowing. Everybody was so hungry and tired by this time because of the trip and the heat, so we hanged quite a while there. It was very nice because I got to know a lot of these people during this lunch. All of the people here, both the people in the group and in the village are Christians Arabs and besides the fact that they are Christians I don’t see major differences between them and the Muslim Arabs. Exactly the same people, the same culture with different religious believes. Although some of the girls told me that sometimes it is hard for some Christians to live here because they are the smaller minority and a lot of them emigrate to some European or North American country.
After this we left to a bus tour across Ramallah. We passed by the University, the Parliament, the place where Yasser Arafat was "living" during his domiciliary prison, the main square with lions scattered around a roundabout and some main shopping streets. We headed then to one of the main churches which host one of the biggest Christian communities in Ramallah and we heard a History Professor in Bethlehem University talk about the Christian history and important spots in the surroundings of Ramallah. We had dinner there afterwards (pizza: not very traditional but it was good for a change) and interacted with the young people of the local Christian group. One of the girls I met came from Los Angeles a couple of years ago and she was talking about the adaptation problems to the West Bank reality and different type of life and culture. We then headed to the Theatre where we saw a nice play, performed by some theatre students of the local university. The play was a satire that focused on the problems of the current reality in the West Bank and although I didn’t get a thing of what they were talking (the plays was of course in Arabic) I think I got the message out of it because all kinds of art have a universal language.
After this long day I was feeling really tired, and by the time the theater play was over (around 22:00) I just wanted to go home. I realized by then that I was wrong and that we were going to one of the very famous Ramallah roof top Cafes. So the driver drove us to the center of the city and we entered an old building, went up the stairs and reached the café. I would never have guesses that in that old building such a nice café could be hidden. It had a very clean, neat and modern look. There was a flag of Portugal side by side with the Palestinian one (the waiter explained me that it was a remain from a Portuguese friend of them during the World Cup) in the inner part of the café and outside there was a nice terrace where we all sat, drunk something and smoked argheelle for the next couple of hours.
Before leaving this place, two of the girls asked me if I wanted to continue the night with them and some more people from Ramallah. I thought it will be a nice chance to get to know more about the city and about its other side of life, so I accepted the invitation. We then separated from the main group, which went to the hostel in the bus and we went by car looking for other open club to continue the night. We passed by three nice places, but unfortunately they were all closing or completely empty, so the guys decided to show me the fancy area of Ramallah. They made me a tour around the rich neighborhood and it was really surprising to see that there could be so many, nice, big and luxurious houses in a city facing so many problems…
On our way out of the rich quarter, my final incident in the West Bank: right at the entrance of a roundabout, we got stopped by an armored Israeli army jeep. They ordered us to stop and started inspecting our car, maneuvering a spotlight from the interior of their jeep. Everybody was kind of nervous and feeling bad because they “putted me” in this situation…they were feeling responsible in case something bad happened… and it was incredible but I didn’t feel nervous at all, although one can notice a huge, odd feeling growing of being helpless and at the hands of somebody else will and mood… it is outrageous! Anyway, I raised my hands slowly so that they could see them and after 1 minute passing the light from left to right and from right to left in our vehicle they made us a sign to return back. We were free to go again, so we reversed and used another way to get out from that quarter… this ruined the spirit and the rest of night, so we headed to Jifna. It was better to go to sleep and although this kind of situations are not very desirable I was really happy that it happened to me, because the things that one feels in these situations are priceless!

Ramallah --> Nazareth 30th September 2006
The day started at 6.30 am for me since I slept in the ground of the Hostel living room in the top of two thin mattresses due to the high temperature that our rooms had… and because it was too early to do something and the television was broken, the only thing I could do was wait for the breakfast to be served. Finally at around 8 am, both the food and people started arriving at the breakfast room and I could finally eat. We were there until 9.30, hour at which we departed to Ramallah. Once there, we had one and a half hour to roam around the city and do some shopping. I felt a bit weird since everybody looks at me and right away identifies me as a foreigner and just wonders what the hell is another foreigner doing in Ramallah… although this happened in all places I visited, I still didn’t get used to it and think I never will. So, I visited the city center together with Suheer and entered a few shops in the main streets checking for some souvenirs. I had always had the feeling that things for me were overpriced, even though I decided to support the local economy and bought a few bracelets from a shop. After that was time to get into the bus and head to Taybeth.
Once there we visited the local church and the small Christian “Hostel” the local parish runs. It’s a building with the shape of a dove located in one of the hills of the town and it has a great view to the plain just in front of it. The restaurant is in the ground floor near a big fountain that creates a very fresh and refreshing atmosphere. He had lunch there and chatted a lot. Was nice to get to know something more about some of the persons with whom I was traveling. After lunch we visited a small ceramic factory where they make the “peace doves” which they export together with the peace candles and olive oil to hundreds of churches in the world. It is a project started by the local priest and the money is supposed to fund the parish and some of their initiatives… quite nice idea I have to say!
After that we visited the ruins of a millenary church… nothing special most of the people say, but I loved it, I just loved it…only some walls were still standing and a small part of the original mosaic floor was there… a place full of history and feelings…
From there we headed to the Taybeth beer factory where we had a guided visit through it and got the chance to taste it (although I did it before already). Then we met the founders and owners who told us about the difficulties they faced to create an alcoholic drink factory in a region that is mainly Muslim and that faces all the economic sanctions imposed by the US and UN.
From there we went again to the main church of the village and had a chat with some people from the parish. Soon after we departed from Taybeth in direction to Nazareth and had no problems at all in the checkpoint.
Once in Nazareth I decided that I would go to Alreda just to chill out a bit and maybe visit Casa Palestiniana to smoke some Arghelle. Once in Alreda, I ordered the home made lemonade prepared by Hannen and started writing some notes and thoughts. I invited Mohammed to smoke some arghelle, but he could answer me just in one hour, so I ordered one glass of red wine and just sat there writing and listening to Arabic music. After some time, Hannen offered me a dessert made of milk and flour… it seems that she hit the point, because I had stomach ache for the past two days and that was more or less the remedy that my mother used when I was a child. And in fact, it did work this time as well… it cured my stomach ache. In the meantime Mohammed disappeared with his boss somewhere and I decided to go home. Was a very long day for me and I have to admit that that night I really appreciated my bed.
Don’t know why (actually I do), but life in the West Bank is always very intense…

Nazareth 1st October 2006
The day started early with a phone call from Mohammed. He was asking if I wanted to join him and the Alreda staff and go to Haifa to the beach. I didn’t hesitate and said yes and half an hour later I was more than ready in the meeting point waiting for them. Soon after they came and off we go! The journey begins again… and I was so happy because I would be going to the beach just for chilling.
After an enjoyable trip composed by a mix of laughter and Arabic music we finally arrived at the Carmel beach in Haifa. It was marvelous… the sea was a mix of green with blue and the sand so thin and clear… I went directly to the water after setting up the table and preparing the barbeque. That was the advantage of going with the cook of Alreda. We had very nice traditional Arabic food. The rest of the afternoon we spent between smoking arghelle, swimming and talking. I played quite a lot of capoeira in the beach, what was very nice as well.
Unfortunately, was Kipur (a holy day for the Jews) so we have to leave the beach at around 15 o´clock. It is said that they stone people who are on the streets between 17 or 17:30 of that day and the next morning (correct me if I am wrong). And as we didn’t want to check whether this is true, we just headed to Nazareth again. As Nazareth is 100% Arab, we didn’t have this problem there, which was nice. I took the rest of the day to rest, write some notes about the past days and visited the Basilica. I got used to do it regularly and felt really good to thank God that everything was going ok until then.
Then I went home and had a shower to take the dry salt in my body. After that and as I promised to visit the Alreda crew, I rushed to Conte and quickly checked my emails and chatted with some friends and my family. On my way to Conte I had a surprise. I saw a girl with whom I went to Ramallah sitting in Tishreen and decided to go in just to say hi. Once there I met as well Rula and Marlen (the two girls with whom I got along better) and they “forced me” to join them for a drink. The drink prolonged itself and after that one we decided to have a cocktail in Dandana, the new place just across the street. We had a very nice time and stood there for almost two hours… and the Alreda crew was expecting me… so around 23.30 I decided to leave and say at least hi to them. They were not expecting me anymore and soon after I went home. The next day was working day!