Friday, June 26, 2009

Update from Israel

Here's a quick update of my experiences in Israel.

I've been in Israel for 6 months; it's been great so far. Here are some pictures. This is from Purim: Elodie was a gypsy, and I was a pirate. Her Hebrew program held a dance party to celebrate. Also, Elodie and her cooking group made Hamantashen (traditional cookie eaten on Purim). I'm glad I got to go; I didn't have a costume but luckily Elodie helped me get one at the last minute.











This one is from Tel Aviv. We decided to spend the weekend there. It wasn't warm enough to go to the beach, but we still got to walk around. I was spending a few weeks there learning Hebrew, so Elodie came to visit.












This picture is from Yom HaZikaron, Israel's memorial day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror. The community around Elodie's Hebrew program held a ceremony, and her class donated a memorial wreath. It was a moving ceremony that began with a siren sounding nationwide; the entire country stood together in a moment of silence . After that, children from local schools sang, played music, and read poetry.