"We wish you a happy Arab/Christian/Jewish Christmas..."

This Christmas was the first Christmas I've spent away from my family. Though it was inevitable, it didn't make things any easier. Topped off with the fact that I'm in a non-Christian city which is practically devoid of any Christmas-related paraphernalia, this was slated to be a very different holiday than any I'd experienced thus far. It gave me a taste of what I would expect is the experience of non-Christians/Christmas-celebrators in the United States: an environment that is without any reminder of my childhood or religious traditions. I was, therefore, looking forward to a more Christmas-y atmosphere once I arrived in Nazareth.

Our trip to Jesus' childhood home started in Tel Aviv with Emily, Deborah, and I taking a sherut to Nazareth. After a two hour drive and another half-hour on foot, we arrived in the old city of Nazareth. We had made arrangements with Emily's former landlord to stay in Emily's old apartment for the night, located right in the center of the old city. It is also located next to the Fauzi Azar Inn, a wonderful hostel and old haunt of Emily's from when she lived in Nazareth. We dropped our things off at the apartment, had some tea at the hostel, and then headed out.

The old city of Nazareth is very small. It consists mainly of the souq/market and the Basilica, with some other churches, synagogues, and restaurants in the immediate surrounding area. We walked through the souq (there is nothing on the planet like a good, Arab souq), did a little shopping for souvenirs and gifts, and then headed down to the main square for the parade.

Now, the problem with going to the parade is that no one seemed to know what time it started. We were given numerous times ranging from 1:30p to 4:00p, but the consensus was that it would start somewhere in the 3:00-3:30p time frame. We decided to stake our spots at the City Square, which was the end-point of the parade. The atmosphere of the parade and the city in general was very festive and celebratory: lots of music; people dressed as Santa driving around the city, honking their horns and throwing candy; crowds of people in restaurants and cafés, hanging out and enjoying each other's company.

For those of you reading this through a feed (and anyone else), the picture gallery is here.

The parade consisted of floats, marching bands, bagpipe groups, a number of Scout troops, and some capoeira dancers. The capoeira dancers even broke into a spontaneous performance after they were done marching, which was very cool to see up close.



After the parade, we watched the fireworks and then went out for baklawa before heading back to the apartment and getting ready for church. We were hoping to go to mass at the Basilica of the Annunciation, but the tickets were already exhausted by that afternoon. So we took a chance and went down to the basilica to see if we could get in somehow. After standing around for a bit they started letting those of us without tickets in, little by little.

By the time we made our entrance, the service had already begun. We took our seats quietly, and joined in as best we could. The service was done primarily in Arabic, though the opening introduction was done in Arabic, Hebrew, English, French and Italian. The sermon, which was really more of a "Christmas is about peace between people" kind of message, was in all those languages plus German. With me being a non-Catholic and Julia and Deb being Jewish, the best I could do was explain what I could about Christianity while trying my best to remember the order of a Catholic mass.

After church we went out for a light dinner of various Middle Eastern salads, hummus, falafel, and pita and polished it off when some tea (and more baklawa). We then headed back to the apartment, curled up in bed to fight off the cold, and talked. After Julia and Deb fell asleep I went out and threw reindeer food on the street outside, then curled up in bed and went to sleep.

The next morning (which was almost afternoon, cause we all slept in) we headed back down to the square for lunch then walked around more, stopping by the Church of the Annunciation (not to be confused with the similarly named Basilica). The Church of the Annunciation is built on top of the spring that fed the well, the same well where Mary was when the Angel Gabriel told her she would be the mother of Jesus.

After leaving the church we then walked through the surrounding neighborhood a bit, including checking out the Moskubiyeh. The Moskubiyeh was an old Russian compound for Russian pilgrims which slept 1,000 people and included a school, hospital, and...something else. Nowadays, it's a police station, post office, and municipal building for the city of Nazareth.

We headed back to Fauzi Azar for some tea and company, then packed up the apartment. We then went out for sahlab (which is amazing) and headed back to Fauzi Azar as the owner was kind enough to give us a ride to Binyamina, where we could catch a quick train into Tel Aviv. I was the first to depart the train, so I said my goodbyes and headed back to the dorm for Christmas with my family via the magic of Skype.

So my first Christmas without my family was in Nazareth with Jewish friends surrounded by Arabs, and then opening presents with my family via webcam. I guess if you're going to break tradition, go big.