Azure Over Arizona

This Wednesday I woke up at 4:00AM and dragged myself to the airport to embark not on an international trip, but a travel-invoking journey none the less. For anyone who might not know, I'm the current Chapter President of Eta Beta chapter of Alpha Delta Pi at my college. Every two years my sorority hosts a large convention where delegates from all over the U.S. and Canada travel to meet in one location and participate in a variety of business meetings. My time in this officer position just happened to be such a year.

So I headed to Phoenix, Arizona not to explore a new country but a new culture nonetheless. A sorority convention is an interesting experience. First off, everyone's your sister. Clearly, that's the case being that it's a sorority convention, however it's interesting to watch the implications of that play out. Whether it's another collegiate-aged girl from Georgia, a professional-aged woman from California, or an older alumna from Maine everyone regardless of age, hometown, or whether or not you put sugar in your tea, still treats you like an old friend from the minute they meet you. It's sometimes off putting to combine an event with a lot of serious business and sisterly friendliness at the same time, but it's nothing less than the first and finest coming together.

Just one of the pools at the resort where the convention is taking place. I've yet to go to any of them though.

Our first day the only big item on the agenda was the opening banquet. I found some other sisters from the district my chapter is from and then proceeded to realize just why the first thing I always heard about the conventions and leadership seminars was the food. Every meal I've had here has been absolutely delicious. Plus as if hundreds of sisters and alumnae to talk to isn't enough, there's usually speeches and other things going on during the meals.

A selfie from my seat in the banquet hall.

A sister who was a previous Miss America pageant contestant was one of many speakers during our dinner.

We also have a sister in attendance who will be competing in the upcoming year's Miss America pageant.

This year the Eta Beta delegation consists of myself, our chapter adviser Clemence, and our financial adviser Mrs. Galentine. We also have an alumna from our chapter serving prominently on the international nominating committee for our sorority.  

Clemence and I at the opening dinner.

Eta Beta's representatives with our chapter flag.

I think Clemence has the best story by far though. She choose to travel to attend the convention with me this year because she's celebrating her 50th year as a member of Alpha Delta Pi. And not only that, but she was initiated on her chapter's 50th anniversary, so if her original chapter was still active it would be celebrating its centennial at this convention. Having Clemence with me makes all of the traditions within the convention seem all that more significant because of the additional milestones I'm excited she's celebrating on top of them.

One of the unique traditions our sorority has is that it opens each of its conventions with the Adelphean Processional, where sisters dress in all white and carry a flag representing each of the chapters respectively during the ceremony. I have to admit, my biceps got much more of a workout than I had anticipated with total flag carrying time being over 45 minutes. 

My roommate and I before the processional.

All the sisters preparing for the official opening of convention.

After that was a variety of different meetings. It's hard to complain about business though when it's balanced out with an amazing location and the nicest people. I've got two more days left in Arizona, and I can't wait to see what they hold!

Time to get down to business.

Inside the Dome of the Rock

قبة الصخرة

The location of the Dome of the Rock is holy for all three Abrahamic religions. Historically it is symbolic of a dozen things, but it exists daily as an ever present component of life in Jerusalem. Walking to campus every morning from the student village on Mount Scopus offers amazing views of this building. On the best day it gleams as a reminder of God and what people have done in this place but it can also stand as a reminder of how much there is still left to fight about.

Yet, despite being easy to observe, visiting the site itself is less obtainable. Although awe-inspiring, being a holy location for three major religions makes it a hot spot for politics and tension. Because of this tourism is limited to 7:30am-10:30am and 12:30pm-1:30pm but with no predictability on whether it will actually be open (except weekends are predictable, because it's not open for tourists on weekend). Additionally there will be long lines, lots of people, and intense security. Oh, and tourists can't actually enter the Dome of the Rock. 

Thankfully, I've never been one to really take well to the phrase "tourist". When in Rome, do as the Romans do.... So, when in Muslim holy places, well, go as a Muslim. It was something I had considered early on in the semester. I've studied Islam pretty extensively and in a variety of concepts. I know my shahada, can reference the Qur'an, and speak a far bit of Arabic. But could I pass as a Muslim in one of their holiest sites filled with security? 

It only took a Jewish holiday for me to build up the courage to find out. At a friend's Hannukah party I started a conversation with Elham, a local Arab student from East Jerusalem. I mentioned the idea of going and for some reason instead of calling me on my insanity she offered to accompany me! Only days later she showed up at my apartment, extra hijab in hand, and we took off to Al-Aqsa. 

The adventure started early. Within moments of stepping out of my apartment complex we managed to miss the bus. A random Arab man with a van pulled over not even a minute later and offered us a ride. Elham looked at me, said "you don't care for your organs, do you?", and climbed in the back. Arabic music filled the air as we headed toward Damascus gate.

The most nerve wracking part came next. First we had to walk past all the Israeli Defense Forces and then the local Arab security at the gate. Somehow, probably due to Elham's chatter in Arabic and my extensive attention going toward keeping my face as inconspicuously turned from people as possible, we managed to get into the area without questioning.

The Dome of the Rock was breathtaking. The golden dome that is so striking from even a distance was suddenly outdone by the complex as a whole. Everything about the place was beautiful. It was also nearly empty. Elham and I wandered the courtyard on our own as I just tried to take in as much as possible from the overwhelming experience. 

We eventually approached the entrance to the actual building. As we removed our shoes a guard approached us and questioned my legitimately by looking at Elham and asking her in Arabic whether I was a Muslim. I immediately answered yes in unfazed Arabic as Elham stumbled over her words in English and we entered the Dome giggling over the absurdity of the situation. Leave it to the legitimate Arab Muslim to panic. 

Elham and I taking a selfie outside the Dome.

Inside was just as impressive as the facade. We circled the rock or foundation stone that is the core of the Temple Mount. Dozens of stories from all the faiths circled my head as we walked around. Despite my understanding of what significant events supposedly took place here I somehow had no idea that you can actually enter the stone. A staircase near one side provides an entrance into a cavity within the rock that post visiting I discovered is sometimes referred to as the Well of Souls. Within the cavity I could hardly grasp the immensity of everything around me; I traveled across the world to study in Jerusalem and here I was literally encaved within this holy epicenter. There is not a doubt in my mind that I was living what was literally a once in a lifetime experience. 

A picture depicting the inside of the Dome of the Rock. There was scaffolding up when I visited so none of my pictures came close to doing it justice.

Standing in the Well of Souls.

The trip wasn't entirely mind boggling spiritual experiences however. We still just took time to enjoy the trip. Elham showed me around the Temple Mount complex trying to remember different pieces of historical significance from her childhood field trips to the sight. The second (and final) time we were approached in question of our identity Elham came through with flying colors reciting the Qur'an so fluently they never felt the need to move on to asking me to do it (الحمد لله). 

As we wandered around for the rest of our visit we stopped for a few photo ops and enjoyed catching bits of other visitors' conversations. We found quite a bit of enjoyment from Elham overhearing a group of older women say "masha'allah such cuties" as we walked by. We made sure to ask the next group of people to walk by to stop and help us take a photo.

Elham and I walking around outside the Dome of the Rock.

A shift in perception.... every day I see the Dome of the Rock from my walk to campus, now I could look out at my campus from the Temple Mount. (The Rothberg Building where I take classes is the building with the tower just above my hand.)

Although I acknowledge it may be a bit heretical, it was also an amazing experience being able to personally visit such a historic and significant site. I am so incredibly lucky to be one of few outsiders in the current era to be able to truly visit the Dome of the Rock.

Haifa in Brevity

The weekend before Christmas I woke up to my phone ringing. "Look outside, the weather's nice. Let's go to Haifa!" Noah announced over the phone. Within an hour we were headed to the Central Bus Station and on our way to Haifa. 

Haifa had been on my go to list for awhile. It has two of my favorite things: mountains and the coast. Plus as a bonus it also has religious significance as the center of the Baha'i faith. So we decided to take the afternoon to explore the city, take in the sights, and visit the Baha'i temple.

A front view of the temple.

The temple has an insane amount of beautiful gardens that wind up and down the side of Mount Carmel.

A picture Noah took of me walking around the streets of Haifa trying to find entrances into other parts of the gardens.

The Baha'i temple.

Me in the gardens near the temple.

Garden selfie!

We only had time to spend a few hours there, but the city was gorgeous and we enjoyed some amazing food and gelato during our mini adventure. Although we only got a brief taste, it was an awesome trip and definitely a place I would have loved to spend some more time exploring. 

Watching the sunset over the lower portion of Haifa from the gardens.

Guest Post: Noah Greene's Personal Insights on Celebrating Christmas in Israel

For those who are unfamiliar with Noah from my previous blog posts, he is an artist focusing in ceramics and glass while studying abroad at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. He is my go to travel buddy, constant partner in crime, good friend, and recently acquired roommate here in Israel. I didn't want to do a stereotypical "this is what I did on Christmas" post, so I asked Noah to compile something together to give everyone a different perspective on what went down during my holiday season in Israel. I hope you all enjoy reading the following post as much as I did! Additionally, I've included a few photos and captions at the end of the post that were not originally part of his blog.


So what’s Christmas like for a Jew? Well normally back at home this means a wonderful family meal at a Chinese food joint (traditionally they were the only ones open on Christmas). Growing up in the Big Apple means that I’m not totally clueless on the Christmas holiday cheer, but I was never privy to the personal side of the holiday. I never realized there was so much emotion invested in the decorating of the home, tree and planning of the presents and food. For me the Christmas holiday season meant great shopping deals for new clothes and art supplies (true jew at heart). Even for Chanukah (especially having grown older) it's less spiced up. It’s usually a quiet family affair and maybe if we get our shit together we’ll invite friends one night for donuts and latkes. This view of the Jewish holiday is from a Reform perspective I can’t speak for the more religious jews.

Lo and behold I became friends with a Winona (who is, despite some of her protests, pretty religious). This is a whole new world for me. Having pretty hardcore stereotypes of religious Christians (oops), I’m pretty eye-rolly at most of that religious stuff. I’ll blame 90% of my french heritage on the judgy side of myself and 10% on being a New Yorker. But being a relatively good friend, keep in mind I’m a moody artist, I was going to support my friend for this strange holiday. By strange holiday, I mean celebrating a birthday at the wrong time of the year.

The decorating starts in November. This I new, very much like advertisements for holidays such as the Thanksgiving decorations sold in May; Christmas starts early. Decorations usually mean blinky blinky lights and a tree. For poor college students said tree is 2 ft tall and plastic. Ours still turned out quite nice but maybe I’m being biased. Decorations don’t always mean red and green. We (Winona) also made sugar cookies a few days before. She did not put some on a plate for Santa, I’m pretty sure that hurt Santa’s feelings.

Nothing really happens until Christmas Eve though. Note to self you don’t wish people a “Merry Christmas Eve”, just “Merry Christmas”. Usually Christmas Eve is celebrated with a good meal and I’ve learned from YouTube videos some people get one present the night before. Winona and I had delicious pasta dishes at the Shuk and watched Shameless until 10:30. A little bit later Winona went to Bethlehem for something Christmasy (I’m not sure if it was for carols or mass?).

Now what I didn’t know was that she had been spending the better part of a few weeks getting a Christmas breakfast together. In which copious amounts of food (God bless her soul) was beautifully laid out for the four of us to stuff ourselves. I was feeling particular savory and had a whole plate of avocados and tomatoes while the ladies tucked into pancakes, fruits, a version of monkey bread and mimosas. Katie and Winona exchanged gifts. A Christmas nap was in place after that. Many episodes of Shameless followed.

The new view on Christmas was more “you had to be there to feel it” feeling. The anticipation is much more palpable then I thought. I suppose its more exciting if its the whole family, but our Christmas was rather chill and quiet enjoyable. No squealing or chaos, simply a few good roommates sipping mimosas at 9AM. When I’m not in a Jew drenched country I will try an attend a “true” Christmas. Now that I’ve dabbled my feet into this holiday I’m more curious to see more of it. I still haven’t gone to a church mass or anything like it so maybe a Christmas mass would be a interesting time to go.

Happy Holidays followers!

Noah's perplexed look while I drag him around the Christian Quarter of the Old City in downtown Jerusalem to look at Christmas lights late at night during one of the days of Hannukah.

My roommates Kati, Noah, and Leslie shaping Christmas cookies for me to bake.

Noah and I by our Christmas tree before going out for Christmas Eve dinner.

My friend Adrian and I in Bethlehem outside the Church of the Nativity during midnight mass on Christmas.

Noah sleepily admiring our Christmas morning breakfast.

How to Eat Donuts and Celebrate Foreign Holidays from an Outsider's Perspective

I know this news may shock you, but Israel is a predominately Jewish country. Another interesting fact: I am not Jewish. So, this is my first Hannukah, which I so aptly am spending my time in Israel for.

Usually I give some background for what my posts are about. I, however, am not the most qualified person to fill those who are unaware in on what Hannukah is all about. Thankfully Wikipedia is readily avaiable with their Hannukah page here for anyone who wants more (or more accurate) information.

What I can tell you about are my experiences regarding the holiday while here in Jerusalem...

From what I can observe, I love Hannukah. Taken mostly from a secular and historical standpoint I think it's super nifty. It's a time of reflection, meditation, and celebration regarding the miracle of the oil burning for eight days even though there was only enough oil for a short amount of time. However, the way it's celebrated is fantastic.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I really care about two things: friends and food. And Hannukah here combinds them both.

On the first night I joined a variety of friends in different apartments for Hannukah celebrations. My friend and classmate Rivka's father who is a rabbi flew in from New York and so she hosted a Hannukah celebration for lighting the candles on the first evening of Hannukah. Afterword, people reconviened at a later Hannukah party at my Jewish Arabic TA's apartment for more food and fellowship.

Everyone enjoying latkes as we were given a brief lecture on the historical background of Hannukah.

First night of Hannukah!

I am aware that this is probably greatly due to the fact that being international students we are all away from our home communities, traveling, and also just a part of college life in general, but as beautiful as the hanukiah lighting is, it can also be wonderfully shambly. 

My classmate Reeven lighting the Shabbat candles in a bar that used to be my Arabic teacher's old elementary school during our class trip to Nazareth.

On Friday night (Shabbat) my entire apartment decided to essentially desert me for the evening so home alone I decided to carry on my roommates' traditions. After much Googling to figure out the process I FaceTimed Noah as I lit the Hannukah candles for the first time.

Lighting the hanukiah and Shabbat candles even though I was the only one at home.

This is a picture of people gathered outside Jaffa Gate at the Old City celebrating the holiday.

If Hannukah wasn't already cool enough, there's one other great part. Since the holiday is celebrating the miracle of the oil it is Jewish tradition to eat lots of fried foods. In the United States I used to think the holiday was limited to latkes and chocolate gelt. However, it also means donuts. Lots and lots of donuts, or sufganiyot as they're called here in Israel. Let's just say Noah and I had to sample around to make sure we found the best ones. Which we did.

 Some of our favorite donuts from a bakery in Mamilla, a shopping district downtown.

I write this all in good fun, but it really has been great being able to add Hannukah to the growing list of new things I've gotten to experience during my semester abroad. I've really enjoyed seeing the wide diversity of people celebrating it all around me and it's hard to not be in a holiday mood with the year coming to an end. So what I guess I'm trying to say is...

Happy Hannukah!

Hebron: A Palestinian City with a Whole Lot of Politics

Welcome to Palestine!

Although the sign certainly appears ominous, I have only one reaction upon passing these signs: excitement. These are a fancy little addition Israel has added along the streets of Palestine warning when the streets enter "Area A" territory. Sorry for the quick history lesson, but it's important. After the Oslo II Accords Palestine was separated into 3 types of territories: Area A (only 3% of the West Bank) is under full military and civil control by the Palestinian Authority. Area B contains land which is under Palestinian civil control but under joint control by both the Israeli and Palestinian militaries. Area C, which is a majority of Palestine, is under full Israeli civil and military control. Passing those red signs warn that I'm leaving the jurisdiction of Israel. Frightening for my university, parents, and government, but by all personal accounts it's one of my favorite parts of "Israel".

This past Saturday was my second time entering into such territory. However despite going with a tour guide (for my own safety) this was much less tourist oriented than my first time crossing into Bethlehem. I was off to Hebron.

I went through an alternative tourism group who pairs travelers with locals who show you around the city. I was joined by a 30-something Austrian embassy worker from Tel Aviv and his mother. The three of us walked around the Old City of Hebron, through the market, and just enjoyed spending the day in Palestine along with our local guide who is a school teacher outside of Bethlehem during the week.

This is a picture of myself, the woman traveling to Hebron with me, a local shopkeeper, and our guide for the day.

The main site in Hebron is the Abraham mosque/church/synagogue. It's the city where Abraham lived and the mosque/church/synagogue is located on his tomb. Locally Hebron is called الخليل which means "friend" in Arabic because Abraham is considered the 'friend of God'. The building has gone through different phases historically between being a church, mosque, and synagogue. Now it is split between the Muslim and Jewish communities in Hebron.

The Muslim part of the site. Israel has created a checkpoint which you can see on the left where Muslims have to get checked before they can go into the mosque to pray. For "safety reasons" I'm told.

The synagogue side of the structure. On the left you see two IDF soldiers who stopped us from going any closer since we aren't Jewish.

Inside the Abraham mosque. Behind me is the mihrab and to my right is the minbar where the imam talks from on Fridays. It was originally Saladin's minbar.

After the mosque our guide briefly left us on our own so we could enter the kilometer or so of street that Israel had seized from the Palestinians. They welded all the shops shut and threw out the locals so that a few Israeli's could move into a settlement there. It was one of the most surreal moments I've had while traveling. The streets were deserted and there was Israeli propaganda posted everywhere amongst the few remaining signs and buildings that hinted toward the Arab life that used to exist there.

The empty Israeli controlled street in Hebron.

Standing in the deserted streets.

One of the shops the soldiers welded shut with Jewish graffiti next door.

What was even stranger is when a Jew did decide to walk outside they were accompanied by flocks of soldiers. In the photo below there are at least 13 soldiers just to accompany two Jews who were walking in the street. It's just a really weird thing to observe and wrap your head around. Also, Hebron is supposed to be Area A where it's illegal for Israelis to be, but yet they're controlling certain parts quite significantly.

I'm aware that settlers are not representatives of all of Israel or of the entire Jewish population. That would be like saying the Westboro Baptist Church represents Christianity or Americans. I don't mean to point fingers at anyone in this post, merely express what a strange situation I observed while in Hebron. What was even harder for me personally is that most of these extremist settlers in Hebron are actually Americans. Hearing a Palestinian tell me that I'd get to meet my fellow people while walking around was such a painful thing to hear. The fact that a part of my identity overlaps with these people despite feeling so polar opposite from them made it harder to accept their behavior.

The soldiers accompanying the two men walking around.

For lunch we visited a local Palestinian family who cooked homemade Arabic food for us. They had been living on a specific piece of property for years when a settlement decided to set up right on the edge of their property just uphill of them. The settlers blocked off access to their house, blocked their water supply, and in general tried to make life as tough as possible for the family living there. There was no shortage of horror stories of violence toward the family.

The IDF stopped us and interrogated us when we tried to walk near the settlement to get to the Arab man's house for lunch. A soldier collected our passports, asked us a bunch of questions, and just seemed obscenely suspicious of our desire to eat a home cooked meal. On our way out of the neighborhood the same solider had the audacity (knowing I was an American due to obtaining my passport) to tell me he'd be interested in a green card. 

The Palestinian family who provided us lunch is in the house on the lower left. The bright orange building is the settlers' apartments.

Despite the hardships and the tension in Hebron the locals are incredibly friendly and welcoming. It's hard to walk around without being welcomed into a shop for tea or coffee and the locals are bilingually chatty. They were amazingly good about putting up with my basic Arabic speaking skills and both encouraged and corrected me along the way. The driver who took us through the separation barrier checkpoint was so pleased with my conversational skills he even offered to drop me off in my neighborhood so I wouldn't have to catch a cab on Shabbat!

One of the most interesting locals I met was Abed Abu Muhammad. He is one of the few shop owners left near the Abraham mosque and near the Jewish settlement. Despite being offered lots of money he refused to leave his shop and home. He was literally born inside those walls and over Arabic coffee and conversation he was keen to tell me to look at the stone beneath our chairs. "See that rock?" he'd knock on the ground, "The stone is tough. Palestinians are tougher." He has been there so long Israel refuses to grant him permission to leave Palestine for travel because he attracts so many visitors. The locals refer to the Israeli checkpoint near his shop as "Abed's checkpoint".

Sitting with Abed, one of the few shop owners left after he invited us in for coffee.

Hebron is clearly a city of polarities. As much as my post swings bipolarly between paragraphs so too did my entire day. It was an exhausting trip full of emotional stories and experiences but also really amazing locations and people. Maybe it's not where the adverage person would spend their free time, but I'm glad I got the chance to.

What do festivals, annunications, and ugly sweaters all have in common? Nazareth.

For the final class trip in my program our colloquial Arabic teacher took us to her hometown of Nazareth to experience the Christmas Market there. Essentially, she released nearly a dozen students on the town of Nazareth to explore and immerse themselves for two days. 

The first stop was an old ceramics factory in the city. It was a third generation business and the owners gave us a cool cultural lesson on life in Nazareth years ago. They also provided us with a delicious local lunch and had a bunch of fun Arab-related clothing to relate to the little history lesson.

The guys messing around in traditional headdress (worn not so traditionally in this photograph).

Lisa and I trying out different Arab headdresses. I'm gender-bending a bit culturally and wearing the traditional male head piece.

After lunch we checked into our hotel which was originally an Arab mansion but has now been renovated into a guesthouse. We settled in and prepared for the main event of the trip: the Christmas Market. Hundreds and hundreds of people showed up for what was the opening night of the five day market.

The girls on the balcony outside the apartment at the guest house.

(From left to right: myself, Ilona [our TA], Kati [my roommate], Melanie, and Lucia)

My classmates and I ran into some festive friends in town.

As the evening went on more and more people filtered into Nazareth. It was the first night of the market and at 8:00pm the official opening event was going to start. Hundreds of people packed into the center of town to see the lighting of the Christmas tree and lights.

The crowd in front of me at the main square.

What came next was easily a highlight of my trip. I stood pressed against friends in the crowd grinning as we shouted the countdown along with the crowd in Arabic. All at once the town light up: all of the Christmas lights illuminating simultaneously with the giant Christmas tree. At the same time the Church of the Annunciation's bells began ringing. Amongst all the spirited cheers, lights, and bells, the town of Nazareth set off one of the best firework shows I've seen. Standing only feet from where Mary was informed she was going to have a son I stood next to people from all over the world as the sky filled with festive light and music.

 Fireworks being set off from the Church of the Annunciation.

After the celebration, being the rambunctious students we are, we headed back to our housing for the night to continue with heated games of backgammon and some casual conversation before an early bedtime. After all, we had another whole day to explore in Nazareth. On Thursday we woke up and our teacher took us through the Old City and to the Basilica of the Annunciation.

Shops all decked out for Christmas in the market.

A side view of the Basilica. The main entrance is on the left. 

Just a tiny part of one floor of the inside of the Basilica.

One of my favorite parts of the Basilica was actually the structure around it. There's a sort of walled alcove surrounding the Basilica that has unusual pieces of art all throughout. The church asked people from all over the world to create mosaics to hang at the Basilica of the Annunciation. The only rule was they had to depict Mary and something regarding the Annunciation. It was fascinating to see global perspectives and art pieces and was such an interesting and beautiful place to walk.

 The mosaics from Indonesia and Thailand at the Basilica.

Lisa and I walking around the area with the mosaics.

A funny note about the sweater in the above picture: I obtained this sweater on our class trip to Jaffa. When we were walking around my roommate Kati and I discovered the sweater in a little boutique shop while we had some free time. We later showed our new purchases to our teacher from Nazareth who was absolutely speechless. After explaining to her the American concept of 'ugly Christmas sweaters' she seemed incredibly relieved because of how hideous she felt it was.

Anyways, it being a holiday sweater I stashed it in my wardrobe waiting to pull it out for the Christmas market in Nazareth. I packed it in my bag and was so excited to pull off my new tacky sweater for the day. In case the photos don't do it justice, it is a heck of a sweater: there's wool, black mesh, sequins, and bedazzling all on top of one another.

The second morning my teacher came knocking on our door to see if me and my roommates were up and ready. Since my roommates were occupied getting ready I answered the door to be greeted by my Arabic teacher. The exact words out of her mouth were: "Sabah al-khair-OH-GOD! You're wearing that thing?!" when she saw me standing in the doorway in my beautiful sweater. Over breakfast anytime someone would take a picture she'd rush over to me saying, "I'll stand next to the one with the ugliest sweater!".

All I can say is, I don't think ugly Christmas sweaters will be catching on in Israel anytime soon. Still, I had a blast wearing it and the stories were well worth it. Plus despite being incredibly absurd and over the top, the sweater itself is starting to grow on me aesthetically... although my mother insists the only appropriate place to wear the sweater is by myself on a train downtown in the dead of night so that hopefully something will happen to me so no one with ever have to see the sweater again.

Me standing at a beautiful vantage point nearby the Basilica. Also a closer up look at my crazy sweater.

Rooftop view of Nazareth.

A panoramic from the roof with the Basilica on the left.

Nazareth was an absolutely awesome trip. I'm so glad that our teachers decided to treat us to a little holiday spirit and take us up north for a few days. It was an incredibly beautiful area and another amazing place I'm glad I got to explore in Israel.