Nazareth

On Tuesday we traveled to the city of Nazareth which is where I will be doing my internship over the next 6 weeks. Nazareth is about 2 hours North of Jerusalem and is the largest Arab city in Israel. I was excited to get a kind of preview of the city I would be living and working in this summer. It actually reminded me of some of the small towns I have traveled to in Spain. I knew that I would like Nazareth as soon as I was reminded of Spain, a place I love dearly. Plus, I get to practice my Arabic which is a bonus.
We took a walking tour of the Old City. The narrow streets, old churches, mosques and other old buildings were very charming. We stopped at one 200 year old house which once boasted a famous Lebanese poet that had rented a room there. It was interesting to tour the house because someone still lived there and I felt like we were intruding upon their space. One of my favorite things that we saw was the Church of the Annunciation. It was a beautiful old church with incredible mosaics, artwork and woodwork. While I was there, I took a moment to take it all in and say a few prayers.
I actually got to meet my landlord while we were in Nazareth. He joined our tour in the Old City. He was very friendly and told me about his family and how he´d take care of me and the other students living with him. I think he´ll be fun to get to know and a great resource in Nazareth. I can´t wait to get there and start my internship!