Dead Sea - R&R - Feb. 15

Shalom,
Greetings from the Dead Sea where the weather in in the 70's and sunny. Ah..lovely! We have been floating in the Sea, taking advantage of the spa treatments and enjoying the pools! Our hotel is located on the sea. Nothing like seeing the blue sea, against the mountains of Moab - beautiful! This afternoon we hiked Ein Gedi Springs. It was the perfect time - the hyrax were scampering around and the ibex were gracefully climbing the mountains. What a site!
We can see that there are desert storms approaching, but that won't stop our wonderful CAARI group!
Wishing you well!
CAARI 2101

On Way to the Dead Sea

Shalom,

It is hard to believe that we completed our 4 week community service portion of the CAARI program. We bid farewell to those that went back to the States and welcomed 2 more Canadians. Monday morning - we said goodbye to our friends at the City Hotel and headed south - destination, Dead Sea. On the way we made a special visit to the JNF 9/11 Memorial which is located near the entrance to Jerusalem. Very moving!

Our next stop was a camel ride, was lunch in Arad and a visit the studio of Israel's leading glass artist, Gideon Friedman. Wow - we were impressed!

Last stop - our hotel - the Hod Midbar! Weather great - perfect for our much needed rest.

Warm regards to all,

CAARI 2011

Community Service

Shalom,
We can't believe that tomorrow will be our last day of community service and the following day we are leaving for the last 'leg' of our CAARI 2011 journey. It has been so wonderful - there really aren't words to describe how we all feel about the experience and the camraderie of the group.
We have volunteered in 7 schools in Tel Aviv, working with the Tel Aviv Education Department, 2 rehab hospitals - Ichilov and Reut Medical Center. Each of us has had a rewarding experience and feel our short 4 weeks has made a difference to us and to the students, principals, patients and hospital staff. We have been 'thanked' over and over, but we THANK them for the opportunity to work with them!

Others will be writing more. Here is Joy Cohen's (Toronto) impressions. Joy tutored English at HaGalil School.
"What a heartwarming feeling it is to walk into a school in Tel Aviv and be welcomed by children running to their classe, but waving to us and calling....'Hi Helen, Hi Joy!"
today was the last class of the week for us and we have only one more before we leave to return home. children in one of our groups brought us gifts of candy and a beautifully expressed thank you not, composed on a computer, which stated how much they appreciated the time we spent with them, helping with the conversational English.
We spend our mornings playing games, such as 'Simon Says', 'Head,Shoulders Knees & Toes', 'Hangman' and a variation of 'x's and o's' - all working on improving vocabulary, pronounciation and spelling, as well as having fun.
This was the first year that HaGalil has used the services of CAARI and we fell certain that they will request our services next year.
Regards,
Joy Cohen