May 7 - Arielle Hendel

Off to Kiryat Malachi to visit our sister city, from the Partnership 2000 program. There we observed the memorial service at the high school.  The connectivity of these teens to this service was unfortunately evident.  Many have been personally touched by the community losses; many of the students were visibly shaken while others were acting out their angst.  After this moving ceremony, we met with five students participating in the Net@ program.  Mor and David were the  two boys who were most talkative and friendly.  Mor, with his freckles and strawberry blonde hair and David with his dark brown eyes and skin told us about their budding computer (side) business.  Here is the future of our people – kids who see no color lines but friendship and camaraderie.  What a pleasure! Of course, we had to eat and they fed us a typical Israeli meal of salads and meats for lunch.  We were joined by folks from Kiryat Malachi and Hof Ashkelon.  Hana Gan even came to say hello!  How lovely to see a good friend among new ones.   We then continued on to the Burma Pass.  We covered the rough terrain in covered jeeps stopping along the ridges to take in the spectacular views and strategic points of interest.  In the US, we see ridges differently – here they are points of strategy with several battles having been fought on them – in the US we see ridges to be claimed for best views with no concern for security.  A constant reminder of the vulnerability of our little country.  We returned in time to shop and celebrate Yom HaAtzmeut in true Israeli style with boppers and throngs of people.  Everyone enjoyed the raucous celebration including fireworks!