Weekend in Jerusalem

Friday 1/30/15

    Early start on the bus to Jerusalem.  We stopped first to tour Herodium park.. Thpe fortress and palace of  King Herod, crowned bt the Romans as King of Judea. In the third decade BCE he began the building  complex. 62.5 acres on a huge man made mountain. For tourists to view the excavation sites: Lots of steps and steep hills to climb.    In addition we explored the elaborate tunnel system  which hold 4 cisterns.   It was incredibly windy and we were outdoors for about 2 hrs, so it was a high energy day.  

     After we checked into our hotel, which is across from King david hotel, and next to an extraordinary building which houses the YMCA.   If I did not email you photos , be sure to google this YMCA.  It is an amazing piece of architecture .

    Late afternoon we walked over to the Wailing Wall.  I had been there in 1972 and again with our family in 1998.  This time I was amazed  at his many orthodox boys and men were participating.  Their clothing and style of prayer are so foreign to me.  That combined with the continued practice of segregating women, who must pray separately in screened off area is quite disturbing....

   The day ended with Shabbat dinner in hotel dining room.

Stepping back in history 1939 - 1948

      This afternoon several of us visited an Immigrant Detention Camp: the Atlit Detention Camp.
As Jews attempted to enter Palestine during the Biritish Mandate period, their entrance into the country was restricted.  Tens of thousands of detainees, many who have survived the camps, found them self in yet another camp, watiing to be released when the British opened up a certain number of spots on the quota system.  Some where held in Haifa and other camps were set up in Cyprus (52,000) About 3000 Jews lost their lives in the struggle with the British. 
     Once the state of Israel was established in 1948, the camps served as waiting facilities to help new immigrants transition to life in Israel. At these centers, language lessons and job training were offered and Jewish social agencies worked with these new Israelis to find them housing and jobs.
  After years of neglect,  in 1986 the camp was restored as a national museum.  Some of the original dormatory buildings and a recreated ship (similar to the Exodus) are on display.  The creative use of film and small stages sets of scenes with animated figures on board the ship help to recreate the difficult environmment experienced by thousands, as they made the crossing to Haifa   From the deck of the ship you can see the port of Haifa. 
    It was quite emotional to see and once again  reminded me how fortunate I am to have been born in
a free country.   A young woman guide, doing her 2 year national service, was our tour guide. There is great respect for their country's history and the efforts early pioneers who endured such hardship to start a new life and a new country.

Day #9 and Haifa is beginning to feel a little familiar

Wednesday 1/28/15
       Another excellent day with 8th and 12th graders.  It is just a novelty for me to spend time with teenagers. These kids have captured my heart.  Fortunately in one school, I have been assigned the advanced students, so communication is easy and they have so much to discuss!  We are given assignments  by the teachers, but they are  usually flexible, so if the kids prefer to practice conversation and not stick to the lesson plan, that is ok.
      Today, I spent an hour with 2 young men who are anticipating their military service within the year. They have already gone with classmates for a one week introduction experience and see their service as a time to learn new skills, gain maturity and contribute to their country.  Not all will be in active military services. Some are sent to other settings (schools, hospitals etc...) depending on their abilities and the needs......  One young man  mentioned that he has promised himself to read a book a week, so that when away in the military the " books in my head" will be with me.
        Later today I met for coffee with my friend Dorene's colleague, Nir, who is the person who helped me arrange for transport from Tel Aviv to Hiafa.  We had communicated by mail and phone and today finally met. So gracious to take the time from his busy schedule to meet with me.
       Temperature is getting a bit cooler but still clear and sunny most of the time.  Thinking about everyone on the East coast and hope that the temperature will soon rise and melt all that snow away!

Perhaps today was too busy?

Tuesday
1/26/15
    In their enthusiasm to ensure we are not missing anything in Haifa, our leaders planned an afternoon tour of the Tecnion, an impressive 300 acre campus with fabulous educational programs on an undergrad and graduate level as well as a preadmission program to cultivate talented youth to qualify for admission after their military service.  So after a full morning  of tutoring in classrooms, a quick lunch and then extensive tour of the Technion, we had time for bowl of soup at hotel and then bus ride to concert hall on outskirts of city for an 8:30 performance.  It was a lively concert so no one fell asleep... We are in agreement that tomorrow's pace should be more relaxed!

Volunteer teaching 101

Monday  Jan.26
    I am reading worrisome blizzard predictions and thinking about everyone back home and along the east coast.  Hoping you stay safe and warm and do not lose power.
     Today was a remarkable day.  Walked over to Chugin school, where the teachers Met us and accompanied us to our first classrooms. They had the four volunteers meet with the class in one large group for first session.  About 32 kinds per class.  After today we will work in smaller groups , 4-5 students with each volunteer.  3 of my classes were 10 th graders and one was a 7 th grade.  Classes are 45 minutes. With 15 minute breaks in between.   The kids had numerous question about life in America,  our feeling about Israel's role in the world,  inquiring if we felt safe in the US etc.   the teachers are very positive and grateful for the time we are contributing.      Wednesday's assignment in the 10th grade classes will be reading about and discussing Martin Luther King.   Tomorrow I am at a different High School where the kids are researchin Greek Mythology.
      after a quick lunch, I took a long walk down hill to an area called Hadar.    (i went with a couple who has been on the trip 5 times, so their knowledge  of the area and Hebrew was very helpful!)  An immigrant neighborhood along the side if the mountain. Small shops and cafes.  It is on cable car line, finicular, Which we took back up to  hotel.   4 pm was our first Hebrew language class.   Many of the participants are quite advanced, so she will separate us into 2 groups.  I  found it painful to feel so unprepared.  Teacher will bring some more elementary teaching materials next time and we will see how Wednesday class goes...
   This evening we had a fabulous speaker. He is principal of an elementary school  for at risk kids.  Very creative and high energy.  The Boston Haifa connection contributes funds to support some special Ed programs there.  No volunteers from our program are assigned there , yet, but we may go on a tour if our schedule allows.

Apology

sorry about typos in previous entry.  I must be tired!

First Sunday in Haifa

1/25/15
     Every day feels like Sunday. I am hoping once our teaching schedule begins tomorrow, some order will return to my week!  Today we visited 3 schools and met with students and staff for a full day of orientation.  Fortunately 2 of the schools are the ones I am assigned to, so I got. a good preview of the school and a general idea of how to walk there.   Staff from the CJP Boston Haifa program accompanied us throughou the day and will go with us tomorrow to ensure we get to where we are supposed to be on time.
       The first school, Chugim, is a public high school.  We are working with sophomores.  We had a very structured program.  15 volunteers in a circle. 15 students in a second circle around us.  We faced each other, the leader offered a question for discussion and we had individual dialogues with our student for about 10 minutes, followed by some large group discussion.   Then the students moved one seat to the right, another topic was introduced and another dialogue began. We repeated this with 5 students.  Some were Native to Israel, others were immigrants.  Their English is pretty good and they were enthusiastic participants.  My favorite question was how did they get their name? Most of the Americans, followed the custom of being named after a deceased ancestor.   Most of the Israelis had names with meaning representing a holiday or wish or feeling etc.  there was a creativity to the way these children were named that reflected the creative energy of this young nation.
      The next school was an elementary school.  One of the first in modern Israel.  Senior volunteers go have donated numerous artifacts from the agricultural beginning of this nation, and have created historic displays showing the life of the pioneers on the grounds and within the school bulding.  Our guide was a retired teacher, who has worded for 15 years to create this display.  We also saw a secret room, hidden behind bookshelves where arms were stored during the British mandate period when they fought for independence.
    Finally the third school, Reali, was our longest visit.  It is huge, several buildings and a petting zoo.  It is a private elementary and middle  school focusing on science.  We will be working with the middle school age children.  We met with the principal and teachers, were given folders with bane sap and ages of our students and assignments for week #1.  This school utilizes project based learning and apse are expected to help students utilize computer as the research teir projects.   Added to the challenge are the 70 concrete sets along side of the mountain we climb down to get to the school campus.  Almost 1000 students at http this schoo!
   This may be more info than you are inrpterms tend in, so I will sign off.   The adventure continues...

Shabbat in Haifa. Quiet day, most businesses closed

Sat. 1/24/15

The hotel is busy. Apparently because most Israelis have small apartments or homes and they want to celebrate Shabbat with extended family, they sometimes spend Friday night in a hotel, with family tables set up in the hotel dining room.    No one has to worry about cooking and everyone enjoys being together.  Additionally we learned that some of the larger employers give discounted hotel rates to their employees as a benefit.   Tomorrow things will quiet down when they move out and we'll no longer have to wait so long for an elevator!

    This morning several of us walked over to the Mane Katz art museum.   Beautiful art collection in the artists former, home overlooking the harbor.  Later we joined the entire group and had another walking tour up and down  hills and stone stairways all the way down to the port, largest in the region, and thru the Arab sector ( where business are open)  and we ate falafels and waked thru ancient streets and neighborhoods.    All the food, including fresh fruits and veggies appear to be safe to eat.....  I will need to do some leg stretches tonight as I am feeling all of the walking!

   Tomorrow Sunday school and business reopen.   Our orientation begins at 8:30 am. I believe we will visit both an elementary and High School for the training, which takes most of the day.  We begin working with the kids on Monday!

Friday in Haifa

1/23/15
      I think I am finally on the right time zone and sleep cycle. Today was a high energy day .  We had a free day till the evening, so 2 travel companions and I headed  to the top of Mt Carmel, overlooking the glorious grounds of the Baihai temple terraced gardens, shrines and related buildings.  We joined a guided tour which involved climbing down 700 steps to make our way down to the bottom of the mountain with endless views of the landscape and sea. The weather was clear, mild and sunny which added to the beauty of the experience. i probably took a hundred photos of all the flowers, which I promise to edit before sharing with family and friends!
     Tired and hungry we stopped at a cafe on Ben Guerion Street in the Gernan section of the city.  Portions were so large, 3 of us shared one sandwich.  A helpful waiter helped us to find a taxi back up the mount to our hotel.
    Later we went with the whole group to a Friday eve shabbat service at a reform temple.  The membershp seems to nostly be young  families. Visitors were from Boston, London and N,Y.
After we went back to hotel to meet our host families and go to their homes for dinner.  The final wonan traveler arrived about an hour before the dinner, and she is the other traveler assigned to this host fanily.  Our hosts Moshe and Etti invited their children and grandchildren from Tel Aviv to join us, so it was a very lively evening,  Etti is a good cook and made a marvelous chicken cauliflower dish. Am hoping to get the recipe to recreate it at home...
       The days seem very full, I have  2 unread Jerusalem post newspapaers which I must read, as there is much to learn and several in the group appear to be very well informed...
        good nite now.

The Zoo, Security Briefing and more

1/22/14
Today was a busy day.  Begins with a glorious buffet breakfast of various cold salads , fruit, cheeses, breads and pastries, yogurts etc.  I ate my first persimmon  ..delicious.
We took a walking tour of the neighborhood.  haifa is very green.  .Lots  of trees and plants, small shoppes, high rise hotels, small apartment buildings, and single family homes on narrow hilly streets. Reminds one of Southern California.  Because of all the hills you often come upon an unobstructed view of the harbor, beach and open sea.  Weather has been clear and sunny and in the high 60s during the day and cooler at night.
       Took a walk thru the zoo, nicely landscaped but lots of steep hills to climb!   Later, We gathered for a meeting at the hotel to review what to do if alam sounds.  The bomb shelter is below the parking garage of our hotel. Apparently it can accommodate a few thousand people, is equipped with water and bathrooms.  Everyone seems very matter of fact about staying calm and following procedures. If you are in your room when-you hear an alarm you are instructed to go to stairwell and make your way downstairs.  Hopefully this is just an exercise in caution and life will remain peaceful.
    this evening we walked to the home of one of the volunteer host families.  All the volunteers and families met Each other and met the paid staff of Boston Haifa CJP office.  Everyone is gracious and enthusiastic about the programs they sponsor, which include  the school tutoring ESL program, as well as a mother child day program for immigrants and another educational program for the Ethiopian Jews.
   my host family is Moshe and Etti.  moshe  teaches at Haifa University and will doing a sabbatical at Harvard in the Spring.   Etti is a retired history teacher. They have two children and 4 grandchildren. His folks are holacaust survivors from Germany who settled in California.  His dad had been a jeweler in Germany and worked as a dental  technician in California.  Moshe emigrated to Jerusalem in his 20s, where he met Etti at University.   I will be joining them with their daughter and her family for Shabbat dinner tomorrow eve as well as most of the other Friday evenings.  Good nite all!

shalom from Haifa

1/21/2015
.  Monday's flight to Istanbul left Boston and arrived on time.  It was 9 hour flight, filled with all nationalities and ages.  after a 2 hr layover in Istanbul, épée headed to Tel Aviv.  My first flight I sat next to a lovely Turkish you woman, just completed graduate work at Columbia and go home for a 3 month visit to see her husband  before returning to the states to job hunt!  She is working on immigration issues to bring her husband to USA.  Good conversation and watching a movie helped to pass the time on an arduous flight.
     Note, the Istanbul airport has you land far from the terminal and carry your bags down the steps, board a bus and the up steps to get to the terminal.   When you connect to the next flight it more walking and steps and yet another bus and more stops up to the plane.  That explains why they post boarding time One hour before departure!
    Arriving at Ben Guerion airport I marveled at how modern and beautiful the facilities are.  Quire different from my earlier trips to israel .  International arrivals is a huge hall with a recreation of the wailing wall, Jerusalem stone, leading you to immigration and customs.    All very efficient , the lines were manageable and moved quickly, which might be an indication as to how fewer tourists are visiting now...
     Driver Jacob, met me at arrivals.  I was so glad for that, as I was worried about finding etc.   it speaks about 90 minute drive to Haifa. Since it was dark I did not see much, though a good part of the ride was along the Meditteranean  sea.   Hotel is high on Mt Carmel. My view is of the, with many parks and the zoo and the sea within sight!
      I met my fellow travelers in the dining room for beautiful israeli breakfast. Lots of fruit, veggies, cheese, pastries, breads etc. And another gorgeous view!
    We took a walk to find the nearby bank, food market and other conveniences .  Mid day one of the Israeli host families joined us and took us to the beach for a long  walk and late lunch in outdoor cafe.  They are most gracious, articulate and eager to welcome us.
Weather us sunny, temp high 60s and warmer in the sun!  Apparently the recently had many days of rain so we were all grateful for the good  weather.  
   I know my school assignments.  2 days a week with HS students and 2 days with elementary students.  One of the volunteers assigned with me is stlill in the states. Apparently her passport expires soon and they would not let her board the flight, so she is in Boston working on getting an emergency passport. We hope to see her by the weekend!

15 days till departure!

   On Dec 14th I had the chance to meet with my fellow travelers.  There are 15 in the group.  Half have participated in previous years. One couple has gone 4 times and another 6. They are most enthusiastic about the experience ! They spoke about their tutoring role with the kids and their friendships with their host families (for Shabbat dinners and other occassions).  We saw thank you letters written by the children and also skyped with the host family who organizes some of the activities.  Our leaders Carol and Steve have run the program for 9 years and have boundless enthusiasm and energy,   We discussed some of the possible desitnations for our afternoon activities. It is a challenge to find things that will appeal to the returning travelers along with the new participants.  I have confidence they will figure this out.
   Everyone seems quite friendly and welcoming.  None have travel schedules that coincide with mine, so traveling to and from Haifa I am on my own.  Leaving Monday Eve Jan 19 and returning to USA Wed eve  Feb 18.  Will be on Turkish Air, connecting in Istanbul.  Landing in Tel Aviv, I will find my way to Haifa with a sherut (shared taxi).  Once I get to Haifa and connect with the group I will be very relieved!!!  I don't think I can enter links or photos on this blog, but for those interested I will be at the Dan Panorama Hotel on Mt Carmel in Haifa. Apparently a great view, but a lot of hills to climb when walking in the neighborhood...
    I promished myself to spend some time today organizing my list and packing, so that is the next activity.  Trying to remind myself to pack light.  So no more procrastinating... off to pack.