Casa Nova Hospice Nazareth

We gaan naar Bethlehem, waar Jezus is geboren,
en naar Nazareth waar hij lang heeft geleef!
We vieren feest in Cana, en gaan ook naar Bethsaida...

zo gaat Nona's christenkamp liedje.. en wij deden het eer aan hoor! In Jerusalem hadden we gehoord over een "Jesus Trail", een makkelijke hiking route vlakbij Nazareth, georganiseerd door een hostel. En omdat een weekendje in het Noorden, ondanks een hele lieve couchsurfhost, niet mogelijk was vanwege stakend openbaar ...

I arived in Nazareth in the hottest part of the day. Idit lives in Nazareth Illit, 2 km up the hill from Nazareth (it is the Jewish area, Nazareth propper is Muslim). So I 1st had an amazing falafel sandwich and then took the long and tiring walk up the hill. I had no Idea where I was going or what would be at the top when I got there but these things have a habit of working out.I walked and found a very plush hotel, I walked into the glorious airconditioning and got directions so I knew where ...

... We tried to talk to the Volunteer Coordinator there, because we had heard that there might be an opening to work with the babies. She pretty much screamed at us, saying that there's so many people on the wait list and that we can't just walk in here and expect to get a placement, etc. etc. Then Boaz did some sweet-talking in Hebrew about the kibbutz he used to be at which apparently softened her up. She took my number and said she couldn't promise anything, but she ...

... mir ziemlich schleierhaft, ebenso, wie schnell ich nach sechs Wochen angenehmer Sesshaftigkeit wieder zum Rucksackreisen finden werde.

Abgesehen vom Jesus Trail waren die letzten Tage vollkommen normal. Was aber jetzt einsetzt, ist das Ende der "alten Garde" hier im Fauzi, denn nachdem Thomas uns letzten Montag verlassen hat, sind ab morgen auch ich und am Freitag Annika und Sarah weg. Vor zwei Tagen erreichte ...

... da einem die ganze Zeit Moskitos um die Ohren schwirrten und die einzige P**son mit Mueckenspray nur ein billiges Waess**chen aus Thailand zu bieten hatte. Alt-Akko selb** ist ab** gut **halten und hat - um einen V**gleich zu ziehen - in etwa einen aehnlichen Charme, wie Lamu ihn hatte. Es ist alles noch klassisch-orientalisch mit vielen Ma**kten und kleinen Schwarma- und Felafel-Schnellimbissen geblieben. Zu besichtigen gibts hauptsaechlich Bauten d** Kreuzritt**, die d** Stadt ...

... grainy breads in our diet that we have been resorting to "stealing" the garnishes from the deserts! Kiwi fruit, strawberry and orange slices for decoration of other dishes make a tasty dessert. Our day began early with a buffet breakfast and our driver Mazen picked us up at 8.00am. We headed off to the most Northerly point we were to visit in Jordan, Umm Qais a Greco Roman City with spectacular views over the Golan Heights in Syria (in dispute ...

... It was great to meet her parents after hearing so much about them and the whole family was quite wonderful. They graciously offered to let us tag along on their proper tour. By proper, we mean having a guide who took us for a second tour through the castle. This one was dramatically more interesting as the eloquent and professional guide regaled us with all kinds of background, factoids, and history. We vowed to pay the extra bucks for a guide more often. Their ...

Today we were up and out; luggage loaded by 8:00 am. We had a bus-driver change today. Yesterday our driver was an Israeli named Shimon, today we had, and will have for the rest of our tour this week, a Palestinian driver named Usama. One reason for that is that we were to visit Jericho, now under administrative control of the Palestinian Authority. Doreen told us that as an Israeli, she couldn't go in with us to Jericho. We didn't know if that meant an absolute ...

... get out of the car and embrace the possibilities. So, here we are again, thirty-seven years later and still learning! Sometimes it's a stretch to let a situation develop with people who act or think differently than ourselves. It's so much easier to stay in our comfort zone. But why go to all the time and expense to travel to stay in that comfort zone? We agree that if we ever meet another Atef, we'll accept the invitation. Our first stop is ...