The road to the Holy site in Capernaum was closed by a big security gate with a sign saying This is a Holy Site, Be Respectful, No Picnics, No Weapons. This is the site of the feeding of the five thousand you understand. So I walked back up to the main road in the pitch dark in the hope of finding a bus back to Tiberius. I hadn't seen a bus on this road in the time that I'd been walking and I couldn't see anything that looked like a bus stop. So I decided to keep walking until I found a bus stop, and hoped that I didn't meet a bus speeding past me in the meantime. I came to one after I'd walked a mile or so and crossed the road to the bus shelter. The sign inside with the bus times was not in a language I could understand, so I opted to hitch while I waited for my make believe bus. About thirty minutes later, what looked like a 4X4 slowed down and pulled to the side of the road about a hundred feet from me, dazzling me in the headlights so I could see nothing. It just sat there, engine running, full headlights on. Nobody shouted, nobody got out and I wasn't for walking towards it uninvited. Eventually the car pulled away and I was left wondering what might have been. And still no bus. I was getting concerned that there might not be a bus and a was wasting my time with the thumb. So I did what we do when we've run out of options and I asked God to send me a bus or a nice person who would give me a lift. I knew that I could stay the night in the bus shelter and it might do me good, but I would prefer to get back to Sami's house and my bed in Nazareth, even if only because he might wonder where I was. No I don't have my phone. I carry on thumbing and wonder what's in store. After about another twenty minutes I glance round and see a car reversing up the road to me. Get in ! That's what I thought not what the driver said, not initially anyway. I did of course get in after we'd chatted through the window and he found he could help me. Here's who came to pick me up. Miki introduced himself by saying 'I work for peace, I want to help make peace'. We chatted as he drove : )
It was late when I arrived at Capernaum. The sun was setting on the Mount of the beatitudes but I still climbed up. My walk has been quiet a reflective and shown me many things. I've walked on old stone paths, through untidy crumbling villages, passed new buildings with high fences and barbed wire. I've walked past armed guards, piles of rubbish dumped on the path, barriers and felled trees and Entry Forbidden signs. I've been given directions through 'forbidden areas' by young people on quad bikes and young men who have any religion or none. All of it has been good but some of the things I've seen look very un-Holy.
I sat on top of the Mount and pondered, I could see lights across the sea and I thought about fishermen making a living in the dark, crowds of people and Holy sites. I can't say it was a spiritual moment, more of a searching for one which I couldn't find. I sat for a while in the dark and then stumbled back down the Mount by an unorthodox route. I passed a large upright stone standing and wondered who had stood next to it, but I didn't linger. I found the road to Capernaum and now for the first time my path had a paved walkway, clean smooth and straight, I wondered if the Benedictines had laid it and I was thankful for Holy sites and Holy people. It was now pitch black but the path ahead seemed straight and the pale coloured stone reflected some light so I could see my way. Here for the first time I met someone on the path. Someone carrying a light was walking towards me. I wasn't spooked, just curious. Until we almost met I could not see who it was. A young woman appeared with a torch and as we came together she smiled and said hello, I mumbled hello back, not expecting a stranger to speak a greeting and especially not a woman, I don't know why I didn't expect this. We passed without stopping and I wondered on her speaking my language and where she was going, there were no houses behind me that I could remember, but maybe she was going to the Benedictines, again I was thankful for Holy people : ) I walked more of the old track to Capernaum today. I was due to set off from Nazareth at 10.15, taking the bus first to Tiberius. The bus was late, very late, which is not surprising given the chaotic traffic in and around Nazareth. I stood with twenty or so other people at the bus stop on the main street, they all looked glum and I people watched. The traffic crawled passed us, not helped by people doing five point turns in the street or just pulling up on the road to chat. A polished white BMW pulled up at the bus stop and a young guy in a tracksuit got out, the buses now had to stop in the middle of the road. The guy had two mobile phones and he was busy, a couple of minutes late another car pulled up behind him, he went over and money was exchanged, and maybe something else. I noticed the star of David hanging from his rear view mirror. This is a Palestinian town, Jewish Israelis don't hang around here much. The guy got back in his polished BMW, scallywags in track suits are an international commodity it seems. The screen on the bus stop is supposed to tell you which buses are on their way, like the London underground but more complicated. 23, 48, 431, 7, 9, but the buses arriving had different numbers. I gave up looking at the screen and realised that everyone else had given up long ago. The buses are worth waiting for, they're like coaches with big luxury seats and free Wifi. But they're cheaper than a coach, they are very cheap, and they're run by the local council or municipality. There are lots of them, I guess because local people have to travel a lot to get work and they don't have much money. There are also lots of cars but they don't seem to be going anywhere. So I got to Tiberius on my bus, which took about forty minutes and then I walked down to the sea. I didn't know where the sea was when I got to Tiberius but I just walked downhill. If you walk downhill almost anywhere you always end up in the sea, it just takes longer in some places than others. The Sea of Galilee was calm, hardly a ripple. There was winter mist on the water and not much movement, just a few gulls with long beaks prodding around on the shoreline. I could see two men in a boat and it was good to see they were fishing. No trawl nets, no hydraulic haulers, no engine. Just pulling in their net by hand, working their way along it and picking out the fish. Some things don't change : )
Things I've learn't in the Holy Land: It's best not to wear a hat if you don't want people to think you're in someone else's religion. Wearing a beard can be a disadvantage for the same reason. Only the children and young people laugh, in public anyway. Most people wear black, they could do with wearing some rainbow colours to cheer them up. Robbing is not always against the law. It's good to learn how to say hello in Arabic if you don't want to appear rude. People at home may think that Palestinians are all Muslims and dodgy, but they're not they're allsorts and they're generally just like us - and we're only a little bit dodgy, They call themselves Palestinians because where they live used to be called that by everyone. The Holy Land has a lot of rubbish lying around in it. The people here don't know what cold weather is.
I loved this walk today, the way from Nazareth to Galilee. It was good to get away from the hullabaloo of Nazareth where I'd spent a few hours this morning. Good to head out. As I left town I struggled to find the right path, I stopped at a stream by the road where a young man was washing his car with buckets of water and a cloth. I asked him if he knew the path and I pointed to the map. He looked puzzled then smiled, he didn't know any English. I didn't know any Arabic. But we made each other understood and several minutes later, after we'd exchanged the usual Manchester United pleasantries he offered to take me up to where he thought the track was. So I helped him finish his car washing and we got in the car. Seat belts didn't seem to be needed and he set off up the road. Pointing out where he lived and saying 'Palestine beautiful yes?. He took me to where he thought the path crossed the road and pointed. I thanked him and he left. He put me on the path. Someone's done this walk before. Amongst the rocks tiny red poppies are growing, but also some big thorns in the many weed patches. The track passes through woods, around steep valleys and Palestinian settlements, it's a good walk and a pondering one, I've seen nobody else on the track which was just fine : ) After around a week's walking the trail takes you to Capernaum on the shores of Lake Galilee where Jesus met the fishermen. There's a boat and I'm keen to see it. I'm hoping to do good chunks of this walk over the next few days : )
The village of Cana, scene of the wedding feast. I'm sat on the hill opposite, pondering on how busy it looks over there and how much has changed. Cana now has a busy main road running through it with nose to tail cars and taxis. The calls to prayer have just rung out from the hilltop Mosques, really wonderful hearing the different calls, echoing round the hills. There's an olive grove to my left with lush green grass and very old trees. A man is tending a herd of goats, shewing them along with his stick as they munch on the grass. Cana is also on an old track between Nazareth and Galilee, which I'm walking during the next few days : )
Things I've noticed about Israel: they grow a lot of things here - every patch of ground seems to have something growing on it - apartment blocks, houses, fruit bushes, poly tunnels and vegetables - no golf courses. People go to work early, but they all fall asleep on the train. Lots of things are crumbly - like the roads and factories. They have guns - big ones. They have very loud church bells in Haifa - but I can't see the church. Just waiting for the number 331 bus to Nazareth. It's warm and sunny : )
I'm here now. We landed at 5am in Tel Aviv, and it was easier to get through immigration control here than the in the US, which says something. The girl in Passport control was very smiley and gave me a blue ticket, which I'll need to get into the occupied territories. I'd been in Israel for fifteen minutes when a man in a big black coat and a strange hat asked me to help him find somewhere, at least that what I think he said, he was speaking in Hebrew. I said 'sorry English' and he smiled. I think he was lost in his own country. Maybe I look local, although my flat cap doesn't seem to fit in with the big black hats, and my beard feels inadequate. The airport is built to look like Temple Mount - inside, with massive rough stone walls, huge sloping marble walkways and stone columns - all new like. There's no doubt that Israel wants you to know you've arrived in the Jewish state. Oh and the pastries and cakes are amazing, I've had two already. It was wonderful to see the sun come up on my first day, it rises hazily and slowly with mist lying around the concrete tower blocks in Tel Aviv.
Folks have been very helpful, up to now. I got a Sim put in my Ipad at the airport so I can connect to the rest of the world, and a security guy asked me if I needed help when I was looking gormless at the rail ticket machine, he got me through it and held the train for me. So I'm now heading north towards Haifa where I'll find a bus to Nazareth and I can begin wandering about. And to cap it all Israeli railways have double decker trains ! No sleep but happy : )
Looking down on San Francisco. I was on Potrero Heights for my Thanksgiving meal. It was good to see where I'd been today and to see the city from up here. I generally walk everywhere I go in the city, my place is centre left in the distance, next to the sky scrapers. I'd walked from there and around to the right then up the hill, about five miles.
I've walked all over this city, but I'm sure I've not seen everything. I've just seen what has been in front of me and around me. I've walked through Pacific Heights where the film stars live and I've walked through the Mission and Tenderloin where the film characters live. I've seen the city at night and in the mornings. I've walked along the waterfront, Fisherman's Wharf and the Ferry Building. I've walked around the Bay trail, past Fort Mason and the Golden Gate. I've walked past the AT and T where the Giants live and I've walked through the old docks where nobody lives. Through Chinese neighbourhoods, Japanese, Latino and mixed. The weather has been beautiful, I can see why people come to California. I have been very fortunate with the weather I'm told, it is going to start raining on Saturday, when I should be over the Atlantic on my way back to England : ) |
AuthorCommunity Priest at St Barnabas Church on the Moss Rose Estate, in Macclesfield Archives
September 2015
Categories |