An ancient city, Nablus is less than fifty miles north of Jerusalem. In fact, the road through the Damascus Gate, one of several gates in the old city of Jerusalem's walls, heads to Nablus and then on to Damascus, Syria. Five springs originate in the area, the Jordan Valley, enabling Nablus to be an agricultural and industrial center, and an important trading center for centuries. Like much of this region, it has biblical roots: settled by the Samaritans, the first capital of the kingdom of Israel--the Biblical city of Shechem, the site of Joseph's tomb (Joseph son of Jacob, not the father of Jesus), and Jacob's well--where Jesus asked a Samaritan woman to draw water for him to drink. Today the call to prayers sounds from the mosques five times a day. The region was conquered by the Romans and the Ottomans. It was under the control of Jordan after WWII. During that time thousands of Palestinians settled into refugee camps in the center of Nablus and near by. After the 1967 Six-Day war, Israeli settlements were established on mountain tops creating new roads and lengthening the drive from Jerusalem to over two hours. Now one enters the area by one of two checkpoints.

It is a beautiful city constructed out of white stone which glows golden and rose in the early morning and afternoon light. Ah-Najah National University and its modern white-stone buildings rise like Oz on one of the two mountains of the city. The university is one of two in the region and has 23,000 undergraduate and graduate students. It routinely accepts Fulbright scholars in its 90 Bachelor and 62 Graduate programs. My flat mate is a Fulbright scholar in Child Neuropsychology.

PHOTOS: Top: Ah-Najah; Bottom: University housing and views from my porch.

In the early mornings I climb up away from the busy street where we live to more streets lined with apartment buildings and shops, up higher to roads with yet more apartments and well-to-do homes. There the air is cool and fresh and clouds float over the valley. I catch the scent of Jasmine bushes, pass small groves of olive and fig trees, and stray dogs and cats out for their morning forays. After Friday prayers and in the late afternoons and evenings our street is busy with honking cars and taxis and families shopping. Home goods, clothing, hardware and shoes stores as well as small markets filled with lovely fruits and vegetables, and a table with mounds of spices offer everything you might need for cooking and living squeezed within a few blocks. Many partake in treats at Shawarma restaurants, coffee and sweet shops. No alcohol is sold here so cigarettes, hubbly bubbly or shisha, and sugar make up the bad habits. I've been told there is a wonderful gelato shop as well--I plan to sample the pistachio.

One of the priceless highlights so far was a trip into the nearby hills to visit the home village of a UK family physician who left at age 18 and returned to the region to retire four years ago. Another UK physician and I understood better the encroachment of the settlements on the village's homes and land, now occupying nearly 70% of what once was the village and its agricultural fields. We saw the olive trees his mother planted in 1984; sampled the fruit of pear cactus, visited a second cousin who served us juice in delicate glasses, followed by coffee in tiny fine china cups on the porch. Goats, mums and kids, called to us from their pens nearby as we learned of the good and bad times of the last decades including a son shot by an angry settler. We stopped to see the physician's cousin and met his wife and their young adult daughters--an accomplished athlete, an artist and a physicist. I silently wondered about the future they had. Their graciousness is beyond anything I've experienced in the US and of course they fed us more.

As always it is a privilege to experience life in another culture and appreciate how life marches on and people are resilient in spite of the obvious uncertainty and continued challenges. Strife has marked this area off and on for centuries. In spite of that families come together, have children, work, play, and pray celebrating the births, anniversaries and holidays.