Day #3

On my walk from Tel Aviv to Jaffa, with Yoav's grandparents

Jaffa harbor

On the road to Ramat Ha Sharon

Giora & Nili Ben-Porat- Yoav's grandparents

Giving the staff in Ramat Ha Sharon the quilt made by PJCC children

Imagination trees made by the children in Ramat Ha Sharon

Nitza, Sheila & I in Ramat Ha Sharon

Thursday January 20

Thursday I had a wonderful day.  After a leisurely breakfast I connected with Giora & Nili Ben-Porat (Yoav’s grandparents).  They took me on a lovely walk along the Tel Aviv waterfront from the Dan Panorama Hotel to Jaffa (Yafo).  We saw the Jaffa harbor, a park and a few art galleries.  The art galleries were in buildings that used to be fishing warehouses.  Nili & I walsked around the Jaffa flea market and met Giora at a restaurant for lunch.  They generously drove Sheila & I to Ramat Ha Sharon for our afternoon adventures.  Thank you Giora & Nili, I had a great time and will see you soon!

In Ramat Ha Sharon Sheila & I met with Nitza, Ruty, & Karen at the Matnas Levi.  They showed us around and we talked about ways to communicate with each other when we get home.  Dragonflies, I can’t wait to tell you about the children that I met and how we will share stories and pictures with them.  Ruty is the Manager of all of the Preschools affiliated with the Matnas (community center).  There are several preschools around the community, which serves 1,000 children.  Each center has between 2-5 classes and each class has around 30 children.    Ruty took us to 2 of the centers where we met many children and teachers.

At the end of the day we went to another center for their Tu B’Shevat celebration.  They had a wonderful community garden that was the vision of 4 women.  Wait until you see the pictures of the gardens.  Since it was Tu B’Shevat the community had gathered for a party and tree planting.  There was a band playing (3-4 children and 2 adults).  It seemed strange to hear American music being played (House of the Rising Sun, Beatles…).  They were extremely talented! 

We headed back to the hotel to join the group for a quiet evening.  I went out to dinner with 7 new friends, for the best dinner I’ve had so far, in Israel!