It’s a Small World

We’re sacked out in the ugliest powder blue Mitsubishi you have ever seen. James just flew out and we’re hanging around Tel Aviv waiting for our next set of friends to arrive. With all the traffic it totally didn’t pay to drive all the way back home in between. Plus we needed to try to fix the van.

We acquired this lovely Grandis yesterday and had only driven a block before we realized we had a substantial problem. The front vents only blow smoking hot air. Not warm or hot, but smoking hot. After trying every combination of puff, direction, temp, speed, we went back to Louis the rental guy and cried help. He did the same diagnostic routine we did and then said “but it’s no problem, just turn it off when you’re hot. Or shut the vents. That’s nothing to worry about”. We bumped off with unwilling hearts cause we had no idea what to say in the face of such a confident resolution. A few YouTube videos later we felt optimistic about fixing it ourselves and so the dash is coming apart in sections and screw drivers are poked here and there. I hope it works, cause if it doesn’t we’re gonna have some miserable days ahead of us. The only good news is that the rear AC works. It also happens to sound like a jet taking off….

Yesterday Fadwa, our hostess invited us for supper in Jericho. She and her sisters own a second house and garden there where they go for the weekends. (Thursday and Friday here) We are staying in the family home in Abu Dis. They were seven children and the three sisters who never married live on the second floor and rent out the ground and the third floors to people like us.

The ladies cooked us a traditional Palestinian meal: Rice and Chicken with potatoes, eggplant and carrots cooked together in a large pot then flipped upside down onto a pan and eaten “like cake”. There was a fresh cucumber/tomato/lettuce salad and plain yogurt to eat with it. Truly delicious! We ate fierce much! Conversation flowed and it was a wonderful relaxing time. The house was large and beautiful and the yard was full of fruit trees and a few vegetables. I can’t explain the relaxing aura. Fadwa and I went out in the evening to pick some vegetables and it was quiet, the mountains were dark outlines right out the back door and I wanted to stay there forever. They said they have an empty bedroom upstairs so there’s not much stopping me.

They told us their story as we ate. They have lived in Palestine forever and their father died in 1967 of a broken heart when Israel got their independence. Abu Dis, their home, was part of Jerusalem prior to that and when the fighting got bad their parents took them to Jericho for one week until the war was over. Then their dad decided to return with the family but since the infrastructure was destroyed they had to walk. It’s a long, hot walk and their dad, who was carrying the baby suddenly collapsed. Fadwa is the oldest child and she managed to beg a soldier to take their dad and the two youngest to Abu Dis while the rest walked. He was very unwilling as it was entirely against protocol but eventually agreed. They had to hurry because of curfew and when they finally got home the whole place was bombed. Not a single piece of their lives left. That was the last straw for their dad and he died shortly afterwards in the hospital leaving a young widow and seven kids. Fortunately he had put a deposit down on a new house earlier so they made their way over there and Fadwa went to work to pay it off. That’s the house we’re staying in. A tragic story, but it surely produced three lovely women! But their life is difficult. They aren’t allowed out of Palestine without a permit and even then it’s touch and go. I can’t imagine the indignity of that, being turned around at the checkpoints just because of who you are. They are well to do and have spent time all over the world, but can’t go to Jerusalem or fly out of Tel Aviv. They have to go to Aman, Jordan which is only 45 minutes from Jericho. So why are the Palestinians so much friendlier and jollier than the Israelites? I guess it goes to show it’s certainly not your circumstances that make the difference. We ended the evening with Sage Tea and to die for pastries stuffed with Walnuts and soaked in syrup.

On our way out of Jericho we stopped at a fruit stand to stock up on bags of delicious fruit. The proprietor asked Heath if he was married and when he affirmed he pulled out same scary looking potion and said “here, you need this. It’s for men at night. Two spoons every evening before bed”. It struck Heath so funny he agreed to buy it and we all had a good rollicking laugh over it. Near as Google Translate could tell it was only Madjool Dates and Palestinian Sidr Honey.

And so begins our next saga with new people. Until now I could always say that I’d be coming back to places in a week or two, but soon that’s over:(

Update: So I never really finished writing about the last 12 days we spent in Israel. Suffice it to say that it was a breathtakingly beautiful time where we made new friends and hiked and toured and it was good. For details you can visit our fellow travelers site at https://roadmaptomorning.com. Do take it with a grain of salt!