Galilee Day 1--Ups and downs, and angels for sheep unaware

In the early hours of Monday, October 6 we walked through the strangely quiet streets of Bethlehem to board a bus for Jerusalem to obtain a rental car.  Thankfully, we did start out early, because, as it turned out, streets were already being closed for a Formula One racecar event through the streets of Jerusalem, and we got out of town just as they were shutting the area down.  David had made contact with an Arab Israeli choir director living in Shefar'm between Haifa and Nazareth in Galilee.  We were driving north to meet with him and work with a couple of his choirs.

The drive up included a stop at the ruins of King Herod the Great's seaport city of Caesurea,

Kathy with BigFoot, sighted at Caesurea

great confusion driving around/through Haifa, and an abortive attempt to visit Akko (we did see funky "statue" of Napoleon at the top of the hill while winding our way out of a traffic jam.)   As it turned out, this was not our best travel day. Our initial weeks in Israel coincided with multiple religious holidays--the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, followed by Yom Kippur, Christian Thanksgiving, and the Muslim holiday of Eid al Adha (someone here likened Eid here as being the same scope to the Western Christmastide). Hot on the heels of these holidays, the Jews celebrate Sukkoth (Feast of the Booths) for a week.  All of these involve multiple days off and complications for anyone in need of groceries, banks, car rental, buses, travel, etc.  With some local advice, we thought we had fit this trip into a gap between the holidays.   Instead, we hit closures, huge vacationing crowds, and traffic snafus. 

It was the kindness of strangers that saved the day.  We were warmly welcomed by Rahid Haddad, the choir director of the Sawa choral program in Shefar'm (based in a Catholic community center) late Monday afternoon.  Visiting with him in his office we were refreshed with chilled bottled water, sweet green tea, and cakes. 

Rahib Haddad and David before the evening clinics

Rahib conducts several choirs.  This Monday evening it was the Youth Choir from 6-7:45 and the Adult Choir from 8-9:45.  As with the students at Dar al-Kalima, the reading of music is almost non-existent.  Rahib has worked hard to develop their ability to sing in choral harmony while maintaining an Arab tone;  he has dreams of developing choirs in five other cities.

Rahib is an Arab Christian with Israeli citizenship because he lives in an area that Israel won in the 1948 war that began the state of Israel.  His citizenship is a mixed blessing.  While he enjoys some priviliges not allowed the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, he is an alien to both Jewish Israelis and to his own less privileged brothers and sisters living under occupation.  He has been successful in setting up some collaborations with Israelis, Palestinians, and Arab choirs in the region, but has also experienced rejection. 

David's time with the choirs was enjoyable, and seemed to be mutually beneficial.  In their comments after the clinics, a couple of the boys enthusiastically thanked him for helping them grow, the overall attitude was that they enjoyed being pushed and challenged, and another said "you are so cute!"  (In her English, that meant he was energetic and fun.)    Adults commented that they enjoyed hearing the analysis of singing technique, and how the application of physical energy to their song improved everything.

By the time we were headed out from a late supper with Rahib after the rehearsal, it was nearly 11 p.m.  We had called ahead, but once in Nazareth (15 miles away), our directions simply weren't working, and the language barrier added to our difficulty.  It seemed we would be sleeping in the car that night. Finally we found a restaurant in the Old City with an owner who knew English.  He drew us a little stick map to the Fauzi Azar Inn--only a short distance, but many lefts and rights away.  We left the car and ran in and out through the quiet neighborhood. To our amazement, we found the small green door of entrance--and it was open!  Linda, the receptionist, was just about to go home (she had waited an extra 45 minutes for us);  she spoke English, she smiled, and checked us in.  We managed to retrace our steps back to the car, and with some further (though less) trauma, we made it to the parking car several blocks away, where the parking attendant had also waited for us to arrive--over an hour late--and greeted us cheerfully and pointed us back to the charming Fauzi Azar Inn for a short, but restful night.   The Inn was a family mansion from the Turkish Ottoman days that was renovated about a dozen years ago by a Jewish couple  that wanted to help revive the Nazareth Old City (they succeeded--and they also helped set up the backpacking "Jesus Trail" in Israel).  A very remarkable place that brought peace and closure to a challenging, but also rewarding day. 

Kathy and David the next morning at the Fauzi Azar Inn "little green door" entrance they crawled through the night before--much happier and ready for a great day in Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee area (next blog).