Living in Nazareth Part I

Now that I have been in Nazareth for a few days, I thought I'd try to give a general update of what I am doing, where I am living, etc. But now that I sit down and try to write it, I don't even know where to start. How about living arrangements:

I am living in the volunteer apartment owned by Nazareth Village. It is in the French Hospital complex, so it is very secure and quiet (my next door neighbor is a convent of Italian nuns). Another bonus is that it is right across the street from Nazareth Village, where I am volunteering. The apartment is big, way bigger than I need, and quite nice. It is very well furnished, thanks to the volunteers who have come and gone before me. It feels like a perpetual Easter egg hunt as I find things that I need hiding in corners of the apartment.

Here are some of my favorite finds that this apartment was furnished with:
1) A man's cable knit sweater. I wear it almost all the time that I'm home, because my apartment is pretty cold at night. Since it doesn't get very cold here, none of the buildings are heated, and my bathroom windows are not even made to close all the way. However, since we are in the dead of winter, the temperature is around 60 inside.

2) Spices. More spices than my mom has in her kitchen (although not nearly as clearly labeled or alphabetically organized). Don't know what I will do with them yet, but the point is, I COULD.

3) The Book Shelf. There were several books on the shelf that I've been wanting to read, some Arabic textbooks to supplement the ones I already have, and now I have a place to trade out books I brought along and have read already for new ones!

4) Washing machine and detergent. Clean clothes are just a wonderful luxury after a month of travelling... I did successfully wash some clothes, no thanks to the not-so-helpful English instructions on the detergent:

"Use Instructions: Refer to Hebrew text and have all precautions and instructions explained to you before use."
Gee, thanks. Might as well just say "Use instructions: What? Can't read Hebrew? HAHA TOOOOOO BAD!"

5) Last but not least... The More with Less cookbook. I literally squealed and jumped up and down when I found this. If there was one cookbook I would have brought along (which, I wouldnt' have, and didn't, but that's not the point), it would have been More with Less. I was excited as much for the familiarity of the book as for the usefulness of the recipes.

Next week I will be sharing my apartment with a couple from California here for a short-term mission trip. This is the agreement that I have with Nazareth Village: I pay half the normal rent, in return for sharing my space sometimes. That's fine with me, because I don't have much money, and there's way more space here than I need, and honestly I'm not used to living by myself so some company might be a good change...

I realize that I've now provided you with far more details than you could ever want about nothing very exciting at all. But before you decide to stop reading my blog entirely-- my next post will be about Nazareth Village, and if all goes as planned, I will include pictures of myself in first century garb... Just to give you an idea of what to look forward to:

"Why didn't I ever become a villager? Well... um...... something about the clothes.... I thought maybe I would wear a costume if there was ever a day when I really really hated my outfit, but... that day never came." --Rhoda, Nazareth Village tour guide