6/1/09

Hey Everyone!
I feel like I have not done and adequate job with this!!
We have been resting in Benyamina! We played at Ceasearea on the beach most of the day Saturday. It was so beautiful, got to do a tad-bit of shopping. Yesterday I got to walk around the old Zichron and shop some more as well.
We are now in Lod/Romley, and I am staying with a family in Be'er Ya'kov a village near Lod of about 10,000. My host parents have 5 children 4 are at home. 16,17,22,and 24. The oldest, 30 is studying at the University of Michigan! They were quizzing me on where all I had been. It was good for the memory, not to mention they helped with a lot of pronunciations.
Today we have a big day, and I hope that I can report to you all this evening.
It's our last week here. When I return home I would like to post everything and catch up!

Love you all!
Katt

5/27/09

Today was a great day!
I will write a quick email since I have a tad bit of time...tad...really!
I visited with Daphna Greenstein. She owns her own Landscape Architect firm here in Haifa.
We had a wonderful visit! Landscape architecture here is very young. It's been around for about 40 years, but only has been taken seriously in the last 15-20. Your degrees are licensensing enough to practice. So, there are not test to become licensed in Israel. It's not a common practice the Techinon University we visited yesterday only graduates 20 a year...plus it's a female dominated practice since the pay is so low. Males steer clear of the practice here.
Dahpna's firm only works with municpalities...here is her web site...her work and projects are quite impressive. One project was the old German road that leads to the Baha'i temple. She had to make the "line" in the middle of the road lead to Akko from the Gardens. This is because the Shrine of Bahlaula is in Akko...we visited there last week.
We got to have a lengthy visit. She showed me her projects and her office, we also enjoyed dinner by the sea!
Then off to the Baha'i Gardens and the Shrine of Bab! I think I had to pick my jaw up off the ground at least 200 times, because it truly is one of THE most beautiful places I have visited. The Shrine is under construction...a 2 year rejuvinating project, cleaning etc. Our tour took us inside where Pilgrams were worshiping...WOW times 1000000000! I truly enjoyed it. We had a guided tour with Anthony from Harford Con. He was great!
We were running late from the Gardens so we only got to spend about 20 minutes at the Science Museum...which was ok because we are all tired.
Tonight, it's dinner on the beach with the whole group!

Love to all!
Katt


Yesterday was a long day! (5/26/09)
We visited the Technion Institution where a lot of technologial wonders happen, then the Hecht Museum at Haifa University...
Afterwards a Druze village, and a home of a Druze fallen soilder. His parents are Rotarian and they shared with us the story of thier son, and of another womans son who is in Rotary. They were killed minutes apart in a terriost bombing January 22, 1995. It was a heart touching story, we were all pretty emotional when we left. Our final visit was a Druze memorial for the fallen Druze over the last 60 years I believe...
Last night was relaxing.
I enjoyed a quite evening with my host mom Hanna. She is an Architect who works from home...She is so great and funny, she says " I want you to feel like home, don't be shy, you won't see me after three days!" Then it's something like..."you have to eat..."
The stay with her has been nice!

5/25/09

All is well here! I am having a bit of a time keeping this updated. Internet here...internet there! No time here...ha ha!

It's wonderful!
I am extremely fortunate and blessed to have this opportunity! Every host group has done so much for our teams!

We have covered a lot of tracks during the last 6 days!
I am going to summarize, hopefully quickly...this way I can get up to speed! Bare with me...it could be a long one....and or random one depending on time...gonna update as I can!

Day 2 in Nahariya has been my favorite so far...We visited the Baha'i Temple. I have heard about the Baha'i Faith, but never really had it explained. I will say one thing about this and my experience here....I LOVED IT! The gardens were absolutely beautiful. RED Geraniums for miles. The hedges were 12 + feet tall, and the "yard boys" were there trimming and tending to the garden the day we were there. I video taped the guys trimming so I could show the Krause Boys that hedges can get this tall, and that they can be trimmed straight! Ha!
The Bab Shrine was breath taking...the whole place was incredible. I look forward to learning more about the Baha'i Faith. We are in Carmel today and on Wednesday we will be visiting the Baha'i World Center on Wednesday....can't wait will report back.

****I am attaching links so you can read about each place, and better understand it. I am still collecting my thoughts, and I am afraid I will scatter them about if I try to explain them right now. We have just been so many places and seen so many things our days are starting to jumble together. *****

Our next stop was at a Kibbutz where they focused on Biotechnology. They clone plants to rid diseases in fruit crops. It was super cool they explained the whole process. This Kibbutz sets just
30 km below the mountain from the Lebanon boarder, and when Lebanon was bombing into the area the bombs would miss the Kibbutz because they were so close the the mountain. The lady that gave the tour explained to us how she knew if they hit close or far away because of how they sounded when they hit the ground....can you imagine...this was only a few years ago!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_HaNikra_(kibbutz)
Then off to Rosh Hanikra the northern tip of the Israeli coast. The view was amazing... you could see out into the Mediterranean for miles. The cave was man made on the border between Lebanon and Israel for train tracks. During the 1948 Israeli/Arab war the Israelis blew up the inside of the tunnel the train went through. Now it's a national park with caves and a visitors station. You have to ride a cable car to the bottom...We watched a short video on the history on now what the call the "train ride to peace," and then made our way through the caves.



Nahariya
Holocaust Museum, we only got to spend an hour and a half here so we didn't get to soak it all in. The only exhibit we saw was about the children. It probably was ok that we didn't spend too long here. It was getting to be an emotional visit for some of us.
Old and New Acre (Akko) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acre,_Israel Akko is crazy it is cities built upon cities...Over the centuries Akko has belonged to the Greeks, Egyptians, Crusaders, Arabs, Turks and BritishThere is an underground Crusader city. We went through the underground tunnels which used to be the sewer. It's all dried up and clean now! Ha! We toured both the Old and New Akko got the full treatment; we even got to go to a few areas off the beaten path. Lunch was wonderful! Falaful! I did a bit of shopping and bought a tile that said "Shalom Ya'll" it's pretty perfect!

The National Water Carrier (they had to check our passport numbers for this visit)


A little bit of rest!!!
Israel Valley
Beit She'an Valley
Kibbutz Sde Eliyahou...I think this Kibbutz convinced me that if I lived in Israel..it would be on a Kibbutz...
Swimming in the Gan Hashlosaha lake...a natural lake..


Nazareth Elite
Sacred Christian sites...including the Synagoge where Jesus told stories, the leaping mountain where it is thought that he jumped from.
The site where the Pope recently gave Mass.
Sabbath...day of rest...

****Baptised myself in the Jordan River...WOW WOW WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOOWWW!!!****


Karmiel
Paul Harris Forest
Sea of Galilee!!!!
Church of Beatiudes where Jesus preached the Beatiudes..
12 Apostle Orthodox Church- Gorgeous!
Bedouin Tent

Haifa Cluster
Tefen Industrial site- Where they make Scan Disk...


Please stay posted...as I said I will explain more about each visit as I get time..
Have had awesome host families...and we have all been well fed!

Love to all!
Katt

La Heim (to life)

Read also. John Kanelis' blog on Amarillo.com. He posts on the net everyday, and has a colomn in the paper and on the net every Sunday.

Day 8

Happy One week anniversary for our first full week in Israel…geeze it seems like its been 4 already. Today we started with breakfast with our house mom Sosha. She said what would you like for breakfast, I said “ Oh a piece of toast and coffee is fine.” “You want some cheese too?” she asked.  “Sure.” Out comes the cheese and she begins to make…toast….well more like a grilled cheese. Her idea of cheese toast and my idea of cheese toast are two different things, but nonetheless hers was tasty!

To the train station she took us! Did I mention before her apartment was up 5 flights of stairs, and with 50lbs of luggage it was interesting. We met Yodi  at the train station and off to Naharyia we went with a couple of stops in between.

Our first stop was the Weizmann Institution of science. We watched a movie there and toured Weizmann’s home. He started that institution for scientific research. Henry Ford Gave Dr. Weizmann a  Ford  Lincoln Cosmopaliton one of only 18 ever made. It was specially designed for Weizmann himself. It was used in all of the inaugurations of Israel’s Presidents, but now it’s too expensive to run it that one time every so often. They keep in on display now in front of his home. (http://www.weizmann.ac.il/)

Next stop was The Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. We ate lunch there. The cafeteria was completely different from ECU’s. First off, no fried food, there weren’t 390000 different kinds of food either, you couldn’t make a pizza, and they didn’t have a soda fountain. It was one main course and then a buffet of sides that included, roasted potatoes, bell pepper pasta, rice, green beans, French fries and some other casserole type dishes. There was also a salad bar, but not a salad bar where you make your own salad, like the hospital it was all sorts of vegetable salads. Don’t forget the hummus and pita bread! Also, like the hospital no one really went back for seconds.

A tour of the campus was next. We got to see a plant pathology lab where farmers and students test new crops in a controlled environment. So they don’t have to waste farmland or money planting a whole crop that won’t work. There were climate-controlled rooms where different climates could be tested on different types of plants. This is the place where they “created” the “Naked Chicken,” you know, the chicken with no hair. It was created for those who are in hot countries where chickens end up dieing because of the heat. (http://www.agri.huji.ac.il/index-eng.html) Very interesting.

A train took us from Rehovet to Naharyia. When we got to the train station in Naharyia some of our hosts were waiting on us. Mine was Rafi Heumann a retired mechanical engineer. He was kind enough to roll one of my bags, and as he was rolling it a wheel rolled off! Great ice breaker. I had to give him a hard time about it! HA!

We got to his house and we walked in to his yard, which is beautiful! All of my favorite flowers grow here!! Petunias, Geraniums, Pansies, you know, the flowers that love heat! Did I mention he lives only 200 feet from the ocean!!! The view was pretty amazing of the Mediterranean Sea.

Rafi’s parents were among the first Germans to settle in Nahariya, they helped establish the city. You could see how proud he was of the town he lives in.

My room was in their basement, my own bungalow with a kitchen. It was my first host family to have all to myself. I got settled in and Rafi’s wife Soshsauna got home! She was so sweet, she gave me house slippers! Rafi then asked “have you talked to your family?” I told him I hadn’t, and he insisted that I call home, I said to him “ you can call my dad!” …jokingly ….he said “ok, what is the number.” I gave it to him, when dad answered he said something like, “ Hi Billy, this is Rafi Heumann from Israel, you miss your daughter?” Ha! Dad said he was a bit thrown off at first, but then figured it out. Mom and dad both thought is was funny. Mom told me that that was something she could see my dad doing!

It was the first time in a week and 2 days that I had gotten to speak to my parents. It was rejuvenating to hear their voices!

Rafi had researched the Krause website so he had a few questions so I talked with him and Sosh over coffee before we had to get ready for the Rotary meeting.

Our presentations went over with flying colors! We rocked yet again!

The club was welcoming and yes, they enjoy their dessert like the Rotary does here. This was our first time to present at an official Rotary meeting since we’ve been here. It definitely helped our energy.

The day was long so after the meeting and catching up on some journal entries…im turning in for the night. Big day tomorrow, Ba’hai Gardens, and Rosh Henrikon; Lebinon boarder!

 

 

Love to you all!

 

Katt

 

Ps..still missing camera will post some soon!

Sorry it’s been so long…

Day 7

Day 7

Tel Aviv Jaffa by day/Tel Aviv Jaffa by night! Yodi was our tour guide for the day. We walked from  the Jaffa side to the Tel Aviv side. We saw the history of both cities unfold with architecture. There was a market in front of the Christian church that we got to go inside of. The whole old Jaffa square is now an area for art studios and restaurants.

 At the visitors center of Jaffa we visited a mini museum about Pharaoh. This is also the site for Jonah and the Whale and the Andromedas rock. All of the songs I sang at church camp when I was young are coming to life! “Pharaoh, Pharaoh, Oh baby let my people go, UH, yeah, yeah, yeah.”  Sing that to the tune of “Louie, Louie.” We walked about 3 maybe 4 miles around both parts of the cities. The oceanfront is lined with huge hotels sure didn’t resemble the manger an anyway. Lets just say I will never think of “Away in a Manger,” any more when I think of Israel.

The sites I have seen and the history that has been exposed of right in front of me is overwhelming, in a good way! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I am soaking it all in!!

This evening we took a night tour of the Bahaus Architecture on Rothschild Street. It’s near the cities main street. Just amazing what has happed there in the last 60 years. For the apartments to be built as they were in the 30’s was modern. It looked like they were built in this era. Another WOW! WOW WOW WOW, we are all being made fun of for saying it all the time.

The evening ended with fellowship, coffee, and dessert at CafeCafe.

Tomorrow Leaving Tel Aviv for Naharyia

 

Love to you all!

 

Katt

Day 6

Long day on 2 buses. We did have two enjoyable stops on the way from Eilat to Tel Aviv. First stop was Sderot. This is a town that is 800 meters from the Gaza Strip. I debated on writing this on here, because I know people will worry. However, we were with the right people who are from here, and they know the “drill” if anything were to happen. I can’t recall the gentleman’s name but he showed us a neighborhood that had been struck by missiles. It was moving to see the pride this settlement has. I mean really, if the house across the street from you had a missile come through their roof; would you move? I tried to put myself in that position…I couldn’t tell you what I would do. Some there have, and some haven’t, but more people stay than go.

On top of a hill that overlooked Gaza is were we stood. We saw the land they speak about on the news. Incredible to be so close.It’s just neighborhoods with children playing and people working. I expected to see missile damage everywhere. But really it was minimal, they have cleaned up most of the mess, and the government is installing bomb shelters in every home. Their bus stops are basically bomb shelters. They have warning systems that give them 22 seconds to get to a shelter if missiles are coming. He said people who have neutral friends in Gaza sometimes call and warn their friends as well of the incoming ammo. 22 seconds. From up-top it all seemed pretty normal, hard to believe the is any animosity between the two.  Two little boys were creating a memorial with flowers and a homemade plaque at the bottom of the hill where we were standing. It was for their cat. It was a precious site, because I know I have done the same thing a time of two for many of the animals I’ve had.

Off to Askelon to meet with their tiny Rotary club for lunch. We ate on the balcony of a high-rise apartment. There the gentleman who lived there showed us all the areas that the bombs fell around their home. So close…Ok for those of you in Amarillo; say you were on top of the Amarillo Club, looking down at the Civic Center. The distance from where the bombs fell were just that far away if not closer, like the parking lot of AC or the ANB building. This is For Real, and this community was functioning like always. I can’t even imagine. After a short stop in Askelon we went to Tel Aviv! The New York of Israel.

Shirley and I are staying with Sosha. The first time I met her she reminded me of my Aunt Linda. Cool short dyed RED/Maroon hair with blonde streaks. She is so cute! Her house is like home; she has all of her own artwork everywhere. Statues and paintings. She is a retired Fashion design teacher…that’s the other reason she reminded me of Aunt Linda. She has free time now so she takes classes. All my host families have been retired that I have stayed with. They retire here in their early 50s.

She made us dinner, and then we went for a night tour of the Pier. We also visited a

Tel Aviv nightclub. It was awesome, because they mostly played Hebrew dance music. Shirley Hollander a daughter of one of the Rotarians showed us the nightlife. At one point she said, “ I am sorry they aren’t playing American music, it must be all Israeli night,” I told her “It’s ok, I can listen to American music at home.” True story. We were all connected that night because we are young people from different cultures having a night on the town; we were all one. 

Tomorrow a day tour of Tel Aviv –Jaffa.

 Love to you all!

 

Katt

Ps…do do brain me left my camera on the bus between Askelon and Sedrot. Thank goodness I will be getting it back later on!!

Day 5

This morning we got up and our house mom cooked us omelets. They are big breakfast fans here I’ve noticed, and I really don’t eat breakfast; just popcorn….ask the office! Ha! So when your host parent insists on cooking you breakfast it’s kinda hard to refuse. I didn’t eat that much, just enough.
We toured a bit of Eilat. Eilat is celebrating 60 years this year, and the people here refer to it as the “First City,” because it’s the first area in Israel to be occupied by the Cildren of Israel after the Exodus from Egypt Duet, 2,8). Sort of reminds me of a small California. Beautiful, beautiful! Our first stop was the Historical Museum of Eilat…the short bit of history the town has is pretty interesting. While there we watched a short film over the “Kariem A” mission. If you haven’t heard of “Kariem A,” it’s the carrier ship that was bringing ammunition from Egypt to Israel in 2001 for warfare….all that war stuff…It was taken in to captivity by the Israeli form of “Navy Seals,” called “Bats.”
The video showed almost every detail of the story because the news cameras and documentary cameras were all around, plus…it was only in 2001, geeze. The ammunition that was seized could of destroyed so much. WOW! SO much more I could say on this subject, but time is short and my computer battery is slowly dieing.
Our next stop was the Water Observatory where we got to see “UNDA the SEA.” Little Mermaid comes to mind, ha ha! There were sharks, and turtles, blowfish OH MY! We took a quick tour around the observatory, and then we went to the most interesting visit of the day! It was at a Religious school for Jewish girls. I didn’t quite get the name because it was in Hebrew.
There we spoke with Jacky Pri-Gal a Consul for the Royal Norwegian Consulate. He is a Holocaust survivor who shared with us a bit of his life experiences. He was originally from Holland, and some of his stories kind-of shocked The Netherlands team (that’s all I am going to touch on that). This school has classes for the girls to study and learn about the Holocaust. They created a small museum area in one of the classrooms that depicts their outlook on the situation. It too was all in Hebrew so I didn’t get to read much of it. J Emotions were high in all of us while visiting here. I can only imagine what the Holocaust Museum visit will be like.
Aqua Sport was our last visit for the day. It’s a spot for locals and tourists to enjoy the RED SEA! We rented snorkels and enjoyed seeing the sea life as we swam. Aida and I got a little “freaked out” because at one point while we were wading in the sea we were completely surrounded by fish. They were trapping us!! We enjoyed the beach until the early evening.
Rest was next! How much we value our short rests!
Dinner was at a Bedouin tent. Bedouins…how can I explain Bedouins to you all -SHORT VERSION-They believe they are the true people land and they are polygamists. They live in their own settlements and most of them are then settlements, and they are usually very dirty and un-kept. I haven’t really heard any positive things about them until we had dinner in this tent.
Yoshif was our master of ceremonies, and he is a Bedouin. He was such an entertainer. The tent was beautiful! The tables were low and long, we sat on covered mattress with a back to rest on and ate on a short table. It was a feast for sure, as every meal is turning out to be, and if you tell them you are full…they think you don’t eat! It was homemade pitas, and chicken on a stick and lamb; as well as all of the salads and vegetables with the sauces. Followed with deserts. There was not a way for us to do our presentations so we had to improve. Just as I was starting my presentation, John walked up dressed as a Bedouin and served tea! It was hilarious! I am thinking about starting a photo blog on Flicker, so you all can see! Such a fun time, dancing and dressing up.
The finale of the evening was dancing at Monkeys, a pub owned by a Rotarian. We danced the night away to and Israeli cover band! I think The Netherlands team got a chance to see how much I sure do enjoy boogieing!
Eilat was wonderful, and if you get a chance to visit…this is a great place to come!

Tomorrow on the road north to Tel Aviv, with a few stops between.

Don’t worry if I don’t post everyday, Internet is hit and miss on this trip and time is scarce.

Love to you all!!!
~Katt

Day 4

Today was mostly traveling. Our host parents took us all to the meeting area where we loaded all of our stuff on a bus, because today we came to Eliat, it's the very southern tip of Israel, near Egypt, and right across the RED sea from Akaba, Jordan. It is an Israeli tourist spot.

On the way we had a few stops, the first was Ben-Gurion's hut, and the tiny museum there. It was exactly as he left it when he died. Alon and Sari, my host parents were our tour guides. They both have a lot of interest in starting settlements like B-G, because they helped start one long ago. After the hut we went to the Ben-Gurion institute and burial at Sde Boker. "You could see for miles and miles and miles," as the song goes! En Avedat was our next stop. Were we hiked 3km, 1.5 miles, to see where the water gathered in the desert. Ben-Gurion said there was so much water in Negev, that in order for Israel to exist they would need to move to the desert. This is why we visited this place so we could see the "pool that never ends."

Then we loaded the bus for a 3 hour drive to Eliat. The ride was hot and long through the desert. One stop we made between Sde Boker and Elait was the Dairy Farm, where the ice cream is yummy and the statues of the cows are anatomically correct...hello...ha! Then it was back on the hot bus. Our bus driver was great, we asked him about music and he played some of his favorites. It felt like we were driving through a movie scene with the music and the Palm tree farms scattered about. Palm trees were every where, at least on the side I was sitting on. All sizes babies, and big daddies! Just beautiful.

Upon arriving in Eliat we met our hostess and she took us to her home. It's 5 stories with lots of bathrooms! Dani and Caramelle Sagi. He sells furniture and she is some sort of gym teacher. Dinner wasn't until 8:30 and we arrived at 6:00 so we had some downtime to enjoy the view and take a power nap. Shirley and I are in the same house for the next two nights. They have a huge dog, his name is Homeless because they found him on the street, he's bilingual!

Dinner was at "The Gallery" it had art all over, and it was modern. Really neat! THE FOOD was OUTSTANDING, as John our leader, would say. It had 9 courses including dessert. 9 Vegetarian courses! The tastes and the flavors were ....I can't even think of a good word to describe it...plus, it's late.

Shirley and I are back at home, getting settled in. Tomorrow it's a tour of Eliat, and a swim and the ocean!

***I will say, there are so many things to take in here, and so many things I have learned. I haven't even organized my thoughts to tell you all about them. If I had to leave tomorrow I would be 100% satisfied. Our Rotarian hosts have done an amazing job so far of showing us their land, the land they are so proud of. It's truly humbling. So many to call our extended family and it's only our 4th day in to the trip. I can't wait for the next 24!!!***

Love to all!!!

~katt

Day 3

TODAY was the Dead Sea and Masada! An easy day! 

Masada is a symbol of Jewish survival. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masada <---for a little bit of history. I could explain it, but I would probably loose you because my thoughts would be all over the place. Herod the Great's Refuge. What an amazing site to see something like this built over thousands of years ago. Seriously, this guy would bathe all day in his steam room, he even had a room they worked out in.  We got there and had to ride the "SKI LIFT on steroids" to the top or we could of taken the snake trail, which looked like about a million steps. Yes, people were walking to the top,brave soles. HA!

It was breath taking at the top, we looked over the dead sea and all of the ruins. Just to be in a place where people stood, and people fought that long ago, it kinda makes you speechless. Not even to mention the view. Herod knew what he was doing when he built that refuge. Food storage to last a lifetime! WOW! 

 Next, the Dead Sea! We got to the Tsell Harim hotel, changed and of course put plenty of sun screen on. The sun here is different, and it doesn't get humid. Then we hit the beach. WHEW HEW!! Our Rotarian hosts guided us on sitting down properly in the sea. Apparently, you don't move fast in the Dead Sea! I would try so hard not to float, but it truly is impossible! I had to see it for myself.  I loved it...not to mention how wonderful my skin feels now. The hotel gave us beauty mud to put on, and then rinse off in the Sea.  You have to leave it on until it dries, and don't wash it off of your face in the Dead Sea, you'll burn your eyes. Eww, it didn't taste so good when I got a bit of it in my mouth. The route to the Dead Sea reminded me in a way of Palo Duro, minus the color. Roads were windy. I recommend everyone takes a visit to the Dead Sea!

This evening we attend the Be'er Sheva Omarim Clubs speech tournament at the Air Force Academy. Five high school students participated. I am not sure what the criteria was for judging, and we couldn't understand a word of it. It was interesting though to watch the body language of the students and try to predict who the winners would be. It was obvious to us who had won even though we had no idea what they were saying. 

  This is our last evening with our first host parents. I think I have mentioned before, John and I are staying with the same family. Sari and Alon Bendet. They have 4 daughters and a bird Bambah (pronounced to us like La... BamBah) Their home is lovely, the beds here are different. No feather beds at this home like mine, still cozy though. They use a solar panel to collect heat for their water. SO COOL! 

We had dinner tonight with all of our hosts. The Be'er Sheva Omarium club has only been chartered for 6 months. WOW! I am so impressed with how this club functions and it's still so young. They are involved with the community in many ways, and they have a wonderful group of people who are members. Doctors, bankers, teachers, city council men...I am truly blessed to have met this club. Our teams were the first to be hosted with this club... What and honor. 

The Netherland team is great! Tons of fun was had at the beach, and we are warming up and beginning to understand each other. Absorbing everything!!!

Love to all!!

~katt 

 WOW! Let me just tell you, my skin feels baby soft! LOVE IT, could of floated all day...

Day 2

WOW!! It's only our first...REAL day of going out-in-about in Israel...and it's been a long one!

I started my day at the NETAFIM plant in Kibbutz Hazareim. It was amazing! Netafim is a drip line that was created by the Kibbutz Hazariem, and it's used ALL over the world. We actually use it at our tree farms, and in some new landscape construction. I met with Naty Barak, head of sustainable development. He has been there since...well the beginning.  I got to see the plant...where it's all made. It was amazing because this one little settlement created this company that is now world wide. Naty even told me that it used to be required that the Kibbutz Hazariem would have to work there at least one shift a week, even though they had other jobs. I can't even explain to you all how awesome it was to see it all!  www.netafim.com.

After leaving Netafim, my host mom took me to meet up with the rest of the crew at the Air Force Museum. I got in on the end of the tour, so I will get details from the rest of the crew. The next visits was a private Air Force Academy where the gentleman who is the head master is a Rotarian. He is also my host family's best friend that I mentioned in the previous post. He helped raise 30+ million to help build this school. The school specializes in technology. 3 different areas...can't tell you them off the top of my head, will post later. 

Sorok Hospital was our next visit. We spoke with a surgeon who showed us a slideshow presentation about the different aspects of the hospital, and what all they specialize in. They service most of the southern part  of Israel. Dr. Shlomo Bleiberg gave us a tour of the Pediatric Intensive Care unit, they used to only have 4 beds, and now they have 10. It was kind of unbelievable how we just got to walk in and see the sick and injured children. We ate lunch there, which is nothing like eating at NWTH or BSA. The cafeteria is small, they have a few proteins to choose from a salad bar, it's buffet style. When I say salad bar, I mean the stuff is already mixed together and they have all different kinds, corn salad, tomato salad, beets, and bread, of course is on every table. They don't go for seconds here like they do in Texas. Sorok is located across the street form Ben Gurion University. 

We were going to have a tour of the university, but we were short on time, and had to get to the Be'er Sheva courts. It was so different the architecture was well thought out for the courts. Some Israelis think it looks like an open book. When you walk inside you can see three stories, when actually the building is taller than that. Those three stories meet a brick column, and it is to represent the Menorah. (will post picture later so you can get a better idea) Sophie was our tour guide, and she did a wonderful job. You could tell she had a lot of passion in her country and for her job. We got to set in on a trial; one we wouldn't usually get to because it involved a minor, but since we all did not speak Hebrew they let us sit in.  Judge Nete, who is a Rotarian let us visit his chambers. In the courts of Be'er Sheva they have a secret entrance for criminals and judges, we also got to see that area as well. 

After we left the courts our host mom took us to the Negev Brigade war memorial. It is an abstract art depiction/sculpture with tunnels- of the paths the war took. It's on a hill that over looks Be'er Sheva and the surrounding settlements. The view was awesome!! 

Finally, we had rest time after we got home it was around 6:00pm here. We rested until 8:00pm. Our resting time went quick, it was time to give our first presentation.... Our team rocked!! The Netherlands team was extremely interesting to watch. They speak more on the history of their tiny country, while we speak more about ourselves.  The club was so generous and the food was delicious....they cooked hamburgers!

I am home now, about to hit the sack...it's a little after midnight here...gotta get up early!

Visiting the Dead Sea and Masada tomorrow.

Our host and the people here have been so welcoming. They truly want to make this as special as possible. It's so great.  Shlomo Blieberg also a Rotarian who works at Soroko (I mentioned above) and is a host parent for Aida, Fernando and Shirley, told me this evening..."We all have life in common, and we need to live our lives, and I want to help you live your while you are here!" 

WOW! 

Good Night!

Love to you all!!

~katt

The top picture on top is Shirley and I pretending to kiss a statue of Ben Gurion, next Soroko Hospital Heli-Pad, and the bottom is me with Naty Barak of Netafim.

P.S. Ben Gurion is Israel's first prime minister.

Day 1

The day has finally come! After 4 months of preparation and 16 hours on a plane...two more than normal because of external power problems on the plane, WE'RE HERE!! In Israel! 

We left Amarillo at 1:05 Saturday May 9, got to Houston about 2:45, left there at 3:55, and arrived in Newark at around 9:00 est. Our was supposed to leave at 10:50, but we encountered some electrical problems. It took the system 5 reboots, and two hours to start working properly. Our plane arrived in Israel at 5:55pm Israel time, which was about 10:00am central time.

I sat next to a guy named Tom, he had be traveling around South America for the last 11 months. He was on his way home to Hafia. He was 23 and had gotten out of the army at 21, because all Israelis are required to go into the military when they are 18. He explained to me how he worked for 1 year after the military as a bar tender, and then he took a year off to travel.This is common for Israelis, he said about 90% do the same thing after the military. I thought that was interesting. We chatted about music, and where to go. It kind of reminded me of Will and I, he has a sister that is 25, and she was the only one who knew he was coming home early. I think it is because the day will was walking across the stage to get his diploma, Tom was going home to see his family.

When we arrived at the airport we were greeted by Yael Lazarus D2490's governor, Menashe Livnat the Israeli GSE chair, and their recording secretary as well as D1600 from the Netherlands. From the airport, our bus driver got a little lost, and we made a few back tracks, but we made it to our hosts homes, that's all that matters. John Kanelis is also rooming at the same host family's home as I am. We are staying in the village Lahevim, it's 10 minutes from Be'er Sheva. John and I and two members from the Netherlands team are staying in the same area. Dinner was excellent. We ate at our host family's best friend's/neighbors house which is literally right around the corner from our home. It was wonderful, and a lot more normal than I thought. Some scalloped potatoes, veggie salad, bread, wine, a tomato pasta, and rice! I have been trying to take it easy on the on my tummy because it wasn't so happy with me on the way here. I think it was just nerves and there was a bit of turbulence on a couple of our flights. The conversations were interesting, and all of the culture that was sitting around that one dinner table. It's quite a lot to get into right now, because I am SO tired and need to get some rest. 

I will fill you all in more tomorrow!

I get to visit NETAFIM tomorrow! I am so excited they got me a visit! 

Love to ALL!!

~katt