Pretty soon I also discovered that going there once would effectively immunise me from any desire to returning in any near future. Nazareth is like any other Arab town, a complete chaos of narrow and crowded streets, without any street signs or any other means of orientation. Traffic signs are merely seen as recommendations and people drive according to the law of nature, i.e. strongest first! The main road in the centre is called Paulus VI street, and we concluded that being stuck in hell could be being forced to drive Paulus VI street forever and ever in an eternal loop.
What differs Nazareth from other Arab cities, though, is that its history as the home town of Jesus of course put many christian churches there. However, the christian population, who is also mostly Arabs, has dramatically declined due to a lot of friction with their fellow muslims. The only leftovers are occasional nuns and some priests that roam the streets and this gives you a strange feeling that the christianity that remains in Nazareth is merely an attraction for all the christian pilgrims that visit the holy site from all over the world.
There is a huge medina in the centre, in which you easily can get lost for hours, but having seen quite many of the medinas and shouks around the country, I am quite aware that nothing new and revolutionary will show up. They sell the same things, and nowadays I don't pass through a medina and come out on the other end full with stuff, but instead I decide if there is something I need and then I go in and get it, and nothing more. Nevertheless, it is very charming that slaughtered animals are hanging next to wedding dresses and that gold shops are squeezed in between the fresh fish and some souvenir store with Jesus and Mary statues. And the aromas... Freshly grounded coffee is blending with pungent spices and newly baked bread, while somewhere someone is smoking scented tobacco in a narghile. This is the smell of the Middle East.
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