Notes from the Sabbatical Journey (2004)
of
It is
Friday afternoon (June 11) at 5:00 p.m.
Jordan and I made it to Tel
Aviv OK yesterday. All in
all, it was a pretty uneventful trip. You would have LOVED flying in and
out of Switzerland ... it is GORGEOUS! You also would have loved flying over all
the islands in the Adriatic Ocean on our way to Israel. We got our car (a boring Hyundai Elantra) and drove up to Mar Elias in Ibillin (northwest of Nazareth).
We had a few driving detours,
but nothing serious. We got
to Ibillin around 8:00 p.m. We were expecting that they'd
already eaten dinner, but it turns out that they were sitting in a garden
behind the guest house just starting their meal. Abuna was
there along with about 8-10 other people.
They were seated at a long
table underneath olive trees with several candles burning. They seated me next to Abuna while Jordan sat down with some others. It was a most EXTRAORDINARY
evening. All the while I
thought this was an every evening kind of gathering when in fact it was a bit
of a going away party for Abuna (who was departing
the next evening for India) and a Swiss couple who are helping start a
"Peace University" on the campus. Our good fortune at being there on
that particular night was absolutely extraordinary. The down side of the trip so far is that
Jordan is sick (though he seemed to be enjoying the trip immensely, otherwise).
By the end of dinner (where he put his head on the table and fell asleep) he
was not feeling well at all. By morning when I looked in, his temperature
was up (approx. 101-102) and he still felt pretty rotten. It's now 5:00 p.m. and he still
isn't feeling much better. Pierre (Swiss couple) is at a homeopath's
in a neighboring village right now and is trying to get something to bring back
to help. If
Yesterday we went to the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre--supposedly the holiest site/spot in
Christendom. It has to be the
oddest "holy site" I've ever seen. Well, we've got places to go, people to
see, salesmen to brush off (Jordan's having a great time haggling).
We've
been in Jerusalem since Sunday evening.
It's Wednesday (June 16) at
12:30 p.m. right now. We were
going to go to Neve Shalom this afternoon, but we've
extended our stay in Jerusalem until Thursday afternoon. We were able to make
arrangements to go with CPT [Christian Peacemaker Teams] to Hebron tomorrow (Thursday) morning. We're traveling with two British
nuns--real spunky types in their 60's. It should be a real eye opener. Boy, we are close to things here. The wall demonstrations are going
on all around us--thought not actually in the Old City where things are usually
pretty calm. Yesterday, we had
lunch at "Cafe Europe" where European is a hamburger and fries. Jordan loved it. The owner was educated at the
University of Kansas in the early 80's. It feels SO ancient. Jordan and I are in an internet cafe near
Jaffa gate, which is the main entrance into the Old
City of Jerusalem. I have a cup of
Turkish coffee steaming in front of me. As far as I can tell, Turkish coffee is
the same as Arabic coffee, but without the sugar (it actually tastes salty). They both have cardamom ground up
in them and are very strong. Yum!
Today
I had
breakfast this morning with two American nuns (Vallejo and Detroit) and an
Italian artist who has done mosaic work all over the old city including the
Dome of the Rock. Today we are going to go on an underground tunnel tour, visit
the Wailing/Western Wall, go to the Citadel of David and then out to pizza.
Tomorrow morning we meet the nuns at 8:30, then walk to the Damascus gate and
meet a car that will take us to Hebron (via the crossing points which can take
up to 2 hours each way ... I guess).
We went to Hebron today (June 19) with
two British women--a nun and a Methodist minister (approx. 65 and 55 in age). It was an astounding trip. We had to go through several
checkpoints ... walked into the center of Old Hebron. It's like a set from a
World War II movie. Barbed wire
everywhere ... like a ghost town in many places where there used to be crowded
markets. Heavily armed Israeli
sentries EVERYWHERE ... on the streets, in bunkers on roofs, pointing their
guns at you frequently. It is evil
what is being done to the Palestinians. Of all the places I've been on this trip
(this was one of them ... heh, heh), this is the place where I wish the most that I'd had a
camera. Unbelievable.
Nearly all the people we meet had
VERY strong opinions about Jews and Israel and not afraid to voice them. It was a very interesting conversation. On the food front, my diet has pretty
much gone by the wayside, but we're walking enough that it balances out. The imams have just started their 12:30
call to prayer from the minarets ... they do it 4 or 5 times a day ... it's one
of my favorite things about being here.
It makes the city feel very
ancient and middle eastern. Oh yes, we also visited the mosque
in Hebron where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Rebbekah
are buried. Wow!
(June
20?) I am in an internet café in Bastia,
Corsica. I was invited to dinner with four people in their late twenties (two
from France and two from South Africa that I had met on the ferry earlier in
the day. They are exceedingly nice here. Bastia is
GORGEOUS. You absolutely would not believe this place. It is like Honfleur meets Italy.
... this is a pretty amazing place.
Things
are going well here. I think today is about our tenth day here. We'll start
doing concerts at the end of the week ... there's going to be a party held by
the village (think Vermont) in our honor on Friday ... potluck dinner a la
Corsica ... and we'll sing.
Yesterday
(July 1) was an amazing day. After a morning and early afternoon preparing in
small groups for tonight's concert (our first), we
went to the beach for a picnic dinner and rehearsal. Antony
and I ran ... 8 km or about 5 miles.
When we got to the beach, we went into this little beachside cafe (it is
a tiny hamlet with a cove, a rock beach, a small dock and a few "beach
houses" ... rustic and glorious ... and just the one restaurant/hotel). Then we went swimming for about an
hour. I borrowed swim goggles
and saw about a dozen different species of little fish and one octopus! Then we ate our picnic ... then we
gathered around this little steps and swim platform
... with half of us in the water swimming ... and rehearsed from memory all our
Georgian songs while the sun slowly set on us. It was like being in the most
unbelievable movie! Then we went up on the jetty and watched
the sun set the rest of the way ... a red ball sinking into the ocean. The
temperature was perfect with only a light breeze. While half of the group rode
up to Canari in the van, the other half of us went
and had a pastis, talked and played boules. Truly amazing. We
will have some nights like that ahead of us. Tonight, the townspeople are putting on
a big potluck dinner for us and we'll present a concert of about twenty songs. We've learned over 30 songs in the past
10 days.
Wow ... a lot has happened the past three days. I think you last heard from me about Thursday (July 1) which is when we went to the beach, I think. It's Sunday evening now about 8:30. Friday we did our final preps for our concert that night. At 5:00 p.m. we entered the sanctuary of the 16th century church where we practice and it was standing room only. We did a 22 song program ... it went VERY well. Our last pre-encore song is a gorgeous and moving song that sounds like monks chanting. At the end, every jumped to their feet clapping and went into a "rhythmic clap" that means "encore". So we then sang the Corsican national anthem which made everyone in the room cry (and they remained standing as no one in Corsica will sit during the singing of their anthem ... they're not independent and so it has a whole lot more meaning than most national anthems). It was one of the most beautiful moments I have ever seen. Then we sang our "knockout" South African songs "Hai, hai, hai" ... we danced out through the back of the church while everyone clapped along ... un ... be ... lievable. Then they hosted a dinner on an upper terrace ... tons of pizza, wine, cakes, etc, etc. Yesterday we went into Bastia to get the rest of the vans. Antony and I went with my van into Bastia and did some picture downloads and had lunch. We then drove back to Canari (75 minutes) ... picked up a load of kids and drove 2 hours to a tiny village way up in the middle of Corsica to a song festival. I'll tell you in more detail when I see you, but it was a very interesting experience. Most of the non-main roads are narrower than one lane of a tiny American country road ... and these have a stripe painted down the middle. The van I drive barely fits on the road and then we encounter speeding mini-cars and cows. Everyone likes how I drive (people don't get sick which is a good thing).
After a jazz concert and dinner, we went back to the little church (in Vignale) and walked through this tiny door which put us directly on a stage in front of a packed house ... we sang an abbreviated set and then were followed by two of the most amazing (professional) groups. We got home at 1:45 a.m. We began singing at 9:45 p.m. Today we went to a wine festival in Luri (think of a Corsican Walnut Creek wine festival) where we met up with a fantastic Corsican polyphonic group that sang at the morning mass in Luri (we attended). Then we puttered around the festival the early afternoon until we joined three other groups in a concert at 4:00 p.m. We've just gotten back and it's good to be "home".
This place has really taken on the role of home for awhile. It feels comforting and familiar. As we drive through the streets, people recognize us and greet us. Love, Greg