The Road to Nazareth

We’re on the toll road, Route 6, driving to Nazareth on a beautiful sunny day in Israel. I think I’ve just about forgotten what rain is like. 

We’re cruising along the western road, staring at the parking lot on the other side of the divide. Eastbound traffic is backed up for miles and people are actually standing outside of their cars in frustration. The line is not budging an inch.

Eloise and I have escaped from Jerusalem and have hitched a ride with Amir, a wonderfully spoiled, fun loving guy from Nazareth. He’s utterly delightful, and I giggle as Eloise shamelessly flirts with him. He drives his sister’s Land Rover, blasting House music from the speakers.

A word about the toll road. It’s very efficient. Get a standard Easy Pass device installed on the windshield and rather than wait in line at a toll plaza, just pass underneath cameras that signal the device to charge the drive for the mileage driven. Get the bill in the mail a few days later. It’s quite ingenious.

We’re planning a fun-filled weekend in northern Israel. Eloise and I will be staying with a family that has been friends with her family since 1912. It’s a friendship that started with Eloise’s great-grandparents. The family we’re staying with relocated to Israel from Switzerland a few years ago and settled in Nazareth.

I love Northern Israel. I can breathe here. Beautiful villas with bougainvillea spilling over balconies share the street with shacks built on concrete blocks. The Jezreel Valley is plush, with forests lining the highways, and field of sunflowers waiting to bloom next spring.

I had coffee and cookies with Edna Dashevsky last Monday at her office on the fifth floor of the Ministry of Education. I love Edna, with her soft voice and graceful presence. She showered me with kindness and told me all about the news in the family. Itai got his hand out of the cast, but he can’t make a fist yet. Yoel is on vacation for one month but is already itching to go back. Edna is swamped at work, but excited to have received a beautiful work of art from a local artist for free. She made me speak as much Hebrew as I could, encouraging me to try. I could get coffee with her every week if it were possible.

We just past my old friend, Tel Megiddo, and I already feel nostalgic about the place. Israel is a part of me, most especially because of my time spent in the dirt and dust of the Late Bronze/Iron Age Period there in Megiddo.

“Anything crazy and stupid, I like” – Amir

Freedom! We’ve broken out of the traffic jam and Amir is nearing 180 km/h with Nazareth in our sights. 

I love that I’m forced to be independent here in Israel and to be a friend to people around me. Just listen and watch different interactions. I have so much to learn still and only five weeks left. Another deadline.

I’ve also become personal assistant to Rabbi Emanuel Gentilcore, who is head of the VISA program (Visiting Israel Students Association). I basically publicize talks on Science, God, and Judaism, making prints of posters, posting them in the dorms an don bulletin boards all over campus. We even have Facebook event reminders. I rather love project coordination; it fits my obsessive personality.

For now, though, I’m going to enjoy Northern Israel and study Hebrew – figure everything else out later.