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Aviel

I know I have already talked a lot about the kindness of strangers but this one I thought deserved a mention.

When I was in Petra the other day, we met an Israeli guy called Aviel, who, last night, was kind enough to show us around his home city of Jerusalem. What a city BTW. More to come on that soon.

Aviel took us to Ein Kerem a pretty village of Arab-built stone houses which was once home to Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist. We wandered up the hill to the Church of the Visitation which was built in remembrance of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth (Luke 1:46-56 for those of you who are interested or have a better knowledge of the bible than I!),

In an attempt to give us a quintessential experience he’d also packed a pakal cafe in the car so we could go to a local spring and hang out like young Israeli’s do. Every Israeli has a pakal cafe, which stems from their time in their army. It includes a coffee set, shisha pipe and blanket among other things. Basically a picnic basket.

The spring we visited was called White Spring, near the border of the Palestinian Territories. So while there was police patrolling the area, we chilled out smoking watermelon shisha and drinking lemongrass tea that Aviel whipped up on a portable burner. A few other people were also at the spring, splashing about in the warm water.

It’s interesting to hear both perspectives about the conflict in Israel. Aviel is a highly intelligent 25-year-old and a walking encyclopedia on all things history in the region. He rattles off dates and events with such ease it makes me feel completely inadequate and annoyed at myself for my lack of understanding.

 

We talk a lot about the controversial security wall the Israeli Government erected several years ago around the West Bank. “Don’t you think it just further entrenches the divide?” I ask. “Yes, I agree totally, but in practical terms buses aren’t being blown up every second day anymore…”