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.