Birthday in Galilee

Because we did not have our permit to excavate at our site during the first weekend, we decided to do a little traveling on my birthday. Our first spot to hit was Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, which is only about five to seven miles from our Kibbutz. Nazareth is extremely hilly as the roads wind up and down the city. We were first dropped off at a place called the Nazareth Village. It lies in the middle of the city and provides a visual tour of the type of Nazareth that existed in the first century CE. Although our guide was extremely knowledgeable, the whole thing seemed a bit to touristy for my taste, but I guess I have to get used to that feeling considering I am a tourist.
We then made the trek to the Basilica of the Annunciation through the traffic and the noise of the Arab side of the city. Somehow Patrick, Collins, and I managed to walk around the entire Church grounds before finally reaching and entrance gate. The interior was absolutely stunning with beautiful architecture, a huge dome, and amazing mosaics on the walls. We then enjoyed our first authentic Arab meal: shawarma, a pita filled with lamb, veggies, and humus. The vendors have a vertically rotating stick of meat which cooks as it rotates, just like rotisserie. They slice the hot lamb and stuff it right into the pita bread…delicious.
Our next stop for the day was Cana of Galilee (not our archaeological site). We stopped at a Church which was built on and displays the ruins of a Byzantine Church. We then visited one more Greek Orthodox Church before we finished our touring with some souvenir shopping at one of the many shops surrounding us. Although it was my birthday, it really didn’t feel like it, which was fine since I had already celebrated with my friends and family before I left. But while eating dinner in a very nice Arab restaurant, Richard stood up at my side of the table, handed me a glass of wine, and announced the news to the group. Termite was especially surprised as the waiters presented a chocolate cake which consisted of about 94% rum to the tune of the techno remix of “Happy Birthday.” Very little could top that.