Theme: Crossing Cultural Boundaries
locations: Netanya; Holon; Tel Aviv
overnight: Tal Hotel, Tel Aviv [ get map ]
Morgan Portugal and Danielle Gross:
Welcome to the best blog of our Israel trip! Our day started off with a delicious breakfast, complete with freshly squeezed juices and some fabulous chocolate cake. After a quite confusing elevator ride, we checked out of our fancy suite. We were sad to go since the view from our room was the Mediterranean Sea (A-M-A-Z-I-N-G). Our ever-expanding luggage seems harder to fit on the bus with every day that goes by. Then we boarded the bus to go to our first location of the day.
At the Baha’i Temple Gardens, our insightful tour guide gave us a brief history lesson. Baha’i is considered the world’s youngest religion. We debated on the validity of Scientology as the world’s youngest, but decided to just go with the Baha’i. It is based on principles of peace and coexistence. They believe that they are the culmination of all of the major religions and believe in Abraham, Jesus, and Mohammed (among many others). The Baha’i faith refuses any non-Baha’i money (including government municipality funds and outside donations). In order to be a part of this religion, one must go through an intense process. Everyone who works at this temple volunteers. It was truly a wonderful sight/site.
After a quick lunch, we made our way to Netanya to work with the PACT Kindergarten Project. PACT stands for Parents and Children Together and is supported by Philadelphia Federation. The organization’s purpose is to bridge the gap between Ethiopian and other immigrant children and native Israeli children. We were greeted by the lovely singing of the children. Their enormous smiles lit up the room and warmed our hearts. Together we played fun games such as making clay pictures, dancing, creating shell necklaces, and many more. We participated in sports that helped develop motor skills and vocabulary. One of the groups had the privilege to meet an Ethiopian woman who went through the traumatic experience of immigration herself. She talked about her 8-day journey from her village in Ethiopia to Sudan, where she spent a year before making aliyah (immigration to Israel). It was both a humbling and exciting experience as we discovered the bond that can be created regardless of time constraints, language and cultural barriers.
Next, we went to Kakadu, an artist’s studio off the beaten path. The artists who work there have a distinctive style that you may be familiar with, as some of their work is sold in the States. They create colorful, functional art pieces and are known for their painted wood carpets. Even more exciting, all of the Fellows had the opportunity to create their own masterpiece. The poor air flow in the studio didn’t affect the delight that we felt to work with paint and wood, creating hamsas (the Jewish anti-evil eye hand) and door signs. We also had a chance to shop in the store and got a great discount, which is nice because the imported art in the US is five times as expensive.
Yuval Yarden and Morgan Portugal:
We had the opportunity to spend an hour or so at the Children’s Museum in Holon. We went to the “Invitation to Silence” exhibit, which allowed us to emulate the experience of a deaf person – their struggles, ways of communication and lifestyle. We wore headphones that eliminated almost all noise, which frustrated most of us but also gave our sore voices a rest for 60 quick minutes. We played silent communication games, learned some sign language, and traveled through a simulation of basic life situations as a deaf person might. At the end we also got the chance to ask our deaf tour guide questions about their life – but the process was very tricky. One of us asked a question, then our tour guide Yishai translated it to Hebrew. Then, the sign language interpreter signed the question to our deaf guide. She then responded in sign language, the interpreter spoke in Hebrew, and lastly, Yishai translated it to English. Finally, we got the answer to our question. The triple language barrier was difficult to navigate, but it taught us a lot about communication and respectful interaction. Sometimes, we take for granted the most simple things in life, like any one of our senses. Today we realized how lucky we are to have the ability to hear our favorite songs, to easily communicate with those around us, and even to dread the sounds of our parents telling us to unload the dishwasher.
Danielle Gross:
We ended the day at our Tel Aviv hotel, where we got new roommates for the next few days. We ate dinner on the beach, relaxing to the gentle sounds of the ocean and waterfront activity. We were joined by Hela, an American Israeli who has traveled the world and is preparing for Army service here. She shared her life stories and experiences, working everywhere from rural Indian huts to Palestinian villages, and gave us great advice about our own journeys.
Today was awesome. We laughed, we cried (at least I did), we shared; and most important, we learned about cultural barriers and figured out ways to overcome them. Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow!
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