Tuesday, Jan. 24 by The Wassermans & Whitehill

By Sandy and Mel Wasserman
Shalom! An amazing day today! We went to the JNF (KKL, Keren Kayemeth L'Yisrael) Park Canada forest and pruned trees! The forest is beautiful... not just trees. Made up of hills and valleys, it contains a lake, and picnic areas, and hiking trails... even SHEEP walking through! (Shepherds are invited to bring their flocks so that the grass can remain at a reasonable height) Our jobs were to use either saws or large pruning shears to trim and prune, starting from the ground up, to about 5 feet high. This winter pruning will hopefully prevent fires in the summer. We pruned for @ an hour and a half, stopped for a tea break (tea boiled on the site on a propane tank/stove, with sage and za'atar - YUM,) then worked some more. The sun was out, and it was glorious, as we stripped off layer after layer of jackets and sweaters. Next we drove around, saw more of the hills and valleys, passed the city of Modi'in, a booming new city populated by many Americans, Canadians, Brits. We stopped for a picnic lunch in an area with tables and benches, and even a swing. This KKL-JNF Park, funded and financed by Canadian money, used to be 4 Arab villages before the 6 day war.
We are BUSSSSSY! And loving it.
L'hitroa'ot,SANDY & MEL

by Rosalie Whitehill - Our speaker on Underwater Archeology, Kurt Raveh was fascinating. Never thought about it much......but, as he put it, if there were but one shipwreck a year in the ancient ports of Israel....that could mean as many as 5,000 ships buried in the sand around each port with myriad treasures waiting to be found......and in the film he showed, I realized we had with us, the Jacques Cousteau of Israel.

Monday, Jan. 23 - "Our Day" by Rosalie Whitehill

Shalom,

It's Monday night here....and everything just seems to get better each year! We started going to our schools yesterday....and it was another new experience for me...I am working with 3rd graders this year (before I had groups of 4th, 5th and 6th graders, who were in at least their second year of learning English)...and understand VERY little English.....but they are anxious to learn.....and the little bit of Hebrew that I know helps. Today was our second day at school and the warmth of the youngsters smiles just add to my joy in being with them IN ISRAEL!!! This afternoon our group went to the Rabin Center ....my 3rd visit....and the best so far. I had been there before it was completed and open to the public, and we had more time this year than last.....and without seeing every item of interest, almost 3 hours flew by!!!! Tonite, after dinner, we had a folk dancing session at the hotel, with the same woman who runs the Saturday sessions on the boardwalk....fun, fun fun! Love you all.....and leilah tov! Rosalie PS - Also forgot to mention yesterday how truly awesome the Rabin Center is.....the museums here are the most creative and technologically advanced I have ever visited......and the results of Israeli planning are mind-boggling.....walking along the telling of Rabin's life concurrent with the life of Israel was fascinating......nothing I am capable of writing could do it justice.....and I think that may be the case with many of the places here in Eretz Yisroel

Dancing with the CAARI Stars!