Happy Places

There are a couple of places around me that every time that I see them I become happier. It doesn't matter what my previous attitude was, after seeing these places I am happier. Most of them are in nature.

A couple of places in Jerusalem, however, have a similar affect on me. They are in the middle of a big city and yet they bring such joy. The first is this mural:

Sometimes when I'm passing it I have to really focus to remind myself that it is just a painting.

The other spot is the umbrella avenue!

I hope these pictures bring joy into your life today too!

A Weekend in Israel

A weekend in Israel often starts with a very busy Friday. One must get everything ready for the Friday evening (shabbat) meal and often work hard to free yourself up to rest on Saturday.

My Shabbat meal was a grill-out with steak and salmon. I felt very spoiled.

My Saturday was not so typical - I went to Bethlehem to visit the church of the nativity. This church houses an Armenian, a Greek Orthodox and a Roman Catholic section.

It also has a couple of grottos, this one below is supposed to contain the holy grail. I know I should have been reverent, but I couldn't help but make Indiana Jones references. I was slightly disappointed that there wasn't a deep chasm between me and that door.

I was confused when I found this. It is one of the many columns in the entrance area. People would come up stick their fingers in all the holes and then pray. I don't know where that custom comes from.

Finally, I went home and did the traditional Shabbat thing - I spent the rest of the day on the couch sometimes sleeping, sometimes reading.

I Can Read!

I'm loving reading all the signs here that are written in three languages: Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Now, I can even read all three languages. The names sound slightly different in each of them though.

Yerushalayim, Al-Quds, and Jerusalem, for example.

I didn't have the assistance of Hebrew or English when I read this sign the other day though and yet I think I understood it! There's a market coming near my home, alas I've already missed it.

Back in Tanzania?

Since being here in Israel I've often compared the Arab culture to Tanzania. Now that I'm living in an Arab town I'm noticing the similarities even more!

They are warm and inviting. It is hard for me to leave my house without greeting all my neighbors. I might be heading out for a quick errand, but after greetings, invitations to food, trying 5 different salads and 3 kinds of meat, and being introduced to family from Jordan, that errand took nearly 2 hours.

They are perfectly happy for you to butcher their language, because at least you are trying! I have an 11 year-old and a 13 year-old neighbor who came out the other day as I was hanging up laundry. They taught me how to say each of my articles of clothing in Arabic and didn't mind that they had to remind me several times how to say skirt.

You also get invited to weddings even though you just met them the day before and you don't even know the bride and groom!

But here is where I can get into trouble. Israeli Arabs are not Tanzanians. Sometimes I make too many assumptions. A Tanzanian pre-invitation to a wedding is called an 'mchango' card. 'Mchango' means contribution. On this card you are informed of about how much you are expected to give towards the wedding, this is likely in addition to the wedding gift.

So, when I opened this invitation I immediately searched for the amount that I was expected to give, nervous that it would be well beyond my abilities.

With the help of Google translate I realized that no 'mchango' was expected. I was simply being invited to the wedding. This situation didn't cause an offense, thankfully. It was just a good reminder not to make too many assumptions.

I wasn't able to go to that wedding, but I am going to one this weekend!