Report from Rosalie - Tuesday, January 27

Shalom All, 

Rhoda, Barbara & Rosalie

Yesterday was what CAARI calls forest day, where we go to a JNF forest and do some work, helping the overworked foresters......our job was pruning lower branches of olive trees in Canada Park, to prevent the spread of forest fires, and then making a huge pile of the branches in a central area so that a truck can pick them up easily.  As in previous years, I was a schlepper....one who drags the cut braches to the central area......once a schlepper, always a schlepper!!

Had a picnic lunch and then to a new news radio station in Jaffa......i24News Radio.......one of the most exciting and interesting places we have visited.  It is just about a year and a half old....24 hours a day of news....in French, English, and Arabic......to combat Al Jazeera.  We heard from the head of the station, Frank Malul,  who told about himself and how the station got started.  He used to be a French diplomat and his story was fascinating.  While he was addressing us, two people came in and he then told us what the emergency was...... rockets from Syria landed in Israel....no Israelis killed...and the decision had to be made that minute whether to cut the scheduled programming....an hour program on the Holocaust.....or give the hour to this breaking news story....decision was to go with the breaking news.  Everything at the stations is so advanced....completely digital....the cameras are operated by remote control from the control booth.....Please get the app from I24News.com for your iphones....I think you will find it worthwhile.  The station cannot be on Israeli television because of some rules about conflict of interest......but everyone here has an iphone....so they can get it.

The CEO also told us that he has received communications from people in surrounding Arab countries, so he knows they are tuning in, too!!

After the tour, Diane and Barbara (from Peabody, MA) left the group to stay in Jaffa where we went to the Ilana Goor Museum and then ate an Arab restaurant in downtown Jaffa, (delicious, of course) before taking the bus home, and I felt so proud.....I remembered the bus stop and the # of bus we needed.

So good night all.......stay warm, and well!!!

much love,

rosalie

Enjoy the pictures 

Monday, January 26 - Community service, Sorona & Speaker

Report by Rosalie Whitehill

Shalom again,

walking through Sorona

Watching news of the snowstorm hitting Boston causes me to shudder, but just for a moment, and then the joy of being here, where the temperature dropped into the low 60's today is so all-encompassing, that I feel even warmer.  Hoping you all retain power.....in more ways than one!!!

So back to all the things that just keep getting more and more wonderful......After a fine morning at school, our group visited Sorona, a restored community started by German templars in the mid 1800's.  Actually it is being restored to have fancy shops and many cafes.....but we had a guide who told us all about the history of the settlement.  She was an actress who played the part of a German woman who was part of that community......she was about the funniest person I have heard in Israel,.....and of course, our time with her was so very entertaining, as well as informative.....you can google 'German Templars in Israel'.....if you want to know more, as she certainly intermingled lots of facts with her hilarious patter.....Suffice it to say, I would have loved to bring our guide home with me....I laughed all afternoon.

Gil Hoffman

Our speaker that nite was Gil Hoffman, chief political reporter for the Jerusalem Post.......whose topic was Who's Who in the Elections.....and I was eagerly looking forward to learning who the candidates are and what their platforms include.....as I have not been following the upcoming election...middle of March.....as closely as a few of the participants in our group.......even though I knew Hoffman's political leanings are opposite to mine....most of the time.  But for the first 15 minutes, Hoffman talked about why Israelis don't trust Obama.  and the rest of his talk was short as he wanted to focus on questions....(I think he knew that with so many Americans, he would get questions about Obama and Netanyahu) so needless to say, I was very disappointed.....and I am still as confused as ever about the Israeli election.  One bright spot is that our guide, who is an avid reader, has brought several articles from Ha'aretz (a more liberal newspaper) on our trips and reads them to us......and I am learning more from him.  Hoffman wasn't all bad....no one ever is.....as he gave us this acronym for helping Israel......it's EASY.........Education, Advocacy, Solidarity and Your money!!!!

L'hitriot\

Rosalie

Enjoy the pictures