May 5 - Arielle Hendel
Today started like the others with a briefing from (this time) Aluf Benn, reporter for HaAretz. Benn discussed Israeli and American politics as well as some interesting anecdotes about Israeli life. After another potty break (yes we need a lot of those!), we left for Project Leket to pick strawberries for the local poor and food banks. It was rewarding but hard to pick strawberries in the heat. We picked about 260 kilos of berries which almost cleared half of the field donated for this purpose.
We then proceeded to the Kfar Saba Absorption center for, you guessed it, another meal – this time the Israeli version of the Subway sandwich. We also met with about six kids from the absorption center – several from Ethiopia and some from the Former Soviet Union. They were delightful if not a bit shy. But it is clear that these kids are learning Hebrew and Israeli culture. But meeting these teens face to face puts a human touch to our donations. The young lady who ate with us was 19, here without her family but dating a lone soldier also from the Former Soviet Union.
Today must have been the day of teens – we met fantastic ones! In Ir Carmel, in a Druze village we met with 10 young women from the village who are volunteers to their community and some are studying, too. My group met with Munya and another. Munya was spirited, funny, honest and delightful. She answered all our questions with candor and grace. The Druze religion originally split from the Muslims many (read thousand) years ago. They believe that no one can convert into the Druze community. The Druze believe that there is a finite amount of souls and that they are reincarnated through many lives. Some Druze claim to remember their past lives – but Munya did not. We discussed their position on women, women at work and in school, divorce, marriage, gays and social life. They are like any other teens but with a different set of beliefs. Munya reminded me in spirit of Kasha who we met in Warsaw – I would love to follow up on their progress through life. I think they are both remarkable young ladies with loads of potential. We left Ir Carmel for Zichron Yaakov – what a beautiful quaint town. They have a shopping promenade which was easy to maneuver and way too easy to leave your money in! I was very successful there. Israeli fashion beats the US hands down. They seem to have taken shapes and sizes of women into consideration when making fun and funky clothes. Now you can still get your middle eastern wear -- not to worry but the Israeli fashion industry is completely on par with the rest of the world.
