Gesham (Rain) at Zippori

Who says it never rains in Israel? As we were walking around Zippori, an ancient archaelogical site dating back to around 300 CE, I heard the strange loud sound of heavy rain before I actually felt the big drops. We scrambled under trees or whatever was closest by to avoid the brunt of the sudden storm.

Rain says a lot about people. Some, like my husband, are always prepared with the right jacket and an umbrella. Others, like me, actually like rain and are not unhappy about getting wet. We’re the ones that either don’t bring an umbrella or just leave it on the bus. Still others find themselves unprotected and are not at all happy about it.

Fortunately we had already seen the beautiful mosaic floors, the remains of the ancient mikvahs, and the stones that formed the Roman cardos in the 3rd and 4th centuries CE.

We scrambled back on the bus, putting on all the dry clothes we could find to stay warm. There were some very wet people, but surprisingly I heard few “If I had only”s or “Why me?”s. This is really a pretty tolerant group with few whiners or people who are never satisfied with what nature doles out. That says a lot for the character of the group.

As a reward for the good sports who took the rain in stride, we all went to an Arab restaurant for a lunch of some 8 varieties of salads and humous and lamb shishkabobs and baklava and strong Arabic expresso with lots of sugar – all comfort food when you are wet and cold.