Firsts

Yesterday, a bunch of us woke up extra early to go hiking in the Golan Heights - the mountainous region of northern Israel. However, we made a slight detour along the way to attend Sunday mass services - a major first for me. Needless to say, it was quite an experience. For one, the entire service was conducted in German, which proved to be a major hindrance. I was also the only one not to take communion or rise in time to the prayers...but, it was a first! I was such a good Christian.

Anyways, because I was hiking with a bunch of fellow volunteers and co-workers from the Inn, all of them happened to be Christian (because Nazareth is mostly Christian and home to multiple churches and Christian sites, many of the volunteers tend to be Christian) and came to Israel with a different purpose than myself. While hiking, one of my co-workers kept on telling me, "Jesus hiked here" and "Jesus did this here" and I realized this was the first time I have ever seen Israel from a non-Jewish perspective. I have hiked in the Golan multiple times, but always to see Israeli forts used in the 1967 and Yom Kippur War and to visit ancient Jewish synagogues. However, this time, I saw it with a new lens.

At one point, we ended up passing a Jewish youth group hiking along the same path as us. As we passed, I heard them singing traditional Israeli folk songs and viewing the Golan as a place their fathers and grandfathers 'conquered.' I recall feeling like such an outsider, viewing these young kids externally instead of internally. What struck me as even more bizarre was that none of my fellow hikers batted an eye upon hearing the songs. They were as foreign to them as anything else they were experiencing. Because of this, the youth looked at us with a look that clearly said, "Christians, Americans." It wasn't a look of hatred, but more one of curiosity. I wanted to shout out, "I know those songs!" but I refrained.

One other first: talking to the local electrician on the phone solely in Hebrew to fix a malfunctioning alarm system. Oy, so stressful.