The Home Stretch

4/28/11
Mike: We woke up around 8:00 and managed to get out the door at a reasonable time. We said goodbye to our new friends at Abirim (incidentally, if you are ever looking for a nice, quiet, clean cabin in the north-this place is perfect abririm.co.il), and headed south.

We stopped at the ancient city of Akko. The city is unique in that it has a very colorful history, yet also serves as a functional fishing village. We took a tour of the old bath house, which was used for centuries until 1947. We also walked around the shuk (marketplace) where everything was for sale, from fresh fish to hookahs. After a quick snack of hummus and pita, we took off for Haifa.

Back in 1989, Jody took a semester at the University of Haifa and wanted to show it to us. We were surprised to find that the little college on top of the mountain is much bigger today. What we thought would be a 10 minute "peek our head in" stop, turned into a typical Jody moment:

Jody: We only went into the multi-purpose building so the kids could use the bathroom. The guard knew by my accent that I must have been on the overseas program and told me to go say hello. I really didn't think I'd know anybody but when I stuck my head in the office, Tamar & recognized each other right away. She was the administrator I think back in my day and is now the head of the program. That wasn't the funny part. Sitting with her was a familiar woman- when I said my name, she jumped up and said- I thought you look familiar! It was Keren Dror-Yoseph who worked in the Boston Jewish community as long as I have- most recently in the Boston-Haifa Connection (before that JCDS). She and her family moved back to Israel a few years ago and now she's the Admissions Director for the Overseas program. We had a great time visiting and Tamar even pulled out a copy of my report card!. The kids were impressed that I had all A's & B's. (I was impressed too because I don't remember ever attending a class while I was here!!).

Jody & Tamar

Jody & Keren

We left the University and Samantha the gps took us in circles trying to find a decent place to eat. We were hoping to go to the Clandestine Museum but the kids were too hungry, so we looked in the guide book for a suggestion and ended up at Fatoush- a Lebanese Restaurant in the German Colony of Haifa.

We then headed South to go see Morah Lizzi- the girls Hebrew teacher from MWJDS who moved back to Israel last Fall. She lives in a town called Tel Mond near Netanya. It was great to see her!!

Finally, back to Tel Aviv to our friends Amy & David. The girls were excited to see Lina, Kaya & Shai. We were heading out to meet my friend Yaron Golan & his wife Nili. Yaron is a friend from Kibbutz Gadot- I spent 3 weeks there in the summer of 1985 with LGI (Let's Go Israel). The summer that changed my life!!!

We got home after midnight and the kids were all still up watching the movie "Grownups"!! It's 10 am and they are all still asleep. We leave on a midnight flight tonight.