Every Day a Circus Day!

Sun. July 15, 2007
Seven of the Arches stayed in the Arab village of Dir El Assad, overnight. The boys got to tour the mosque and the girls attended the birthday party of the little sister of some of the Galilee performers. The really big news is that Channi, one of the Jewish girls, also spent the night with the other girls in the Arab village! But there is some other news.

First you should all know that the kids are safe. There was a murder in the Arab village, last night. The girls only knew that there was a death because the kids at the birthday party weren’t allowed to dance outside out of respect. The boys, however, were closer to the action and the family they were staying with was related to one of the parties involved. The boys got to see the wrapped body carried through the street with about 1,000 people following it. Then they saw the burning down of the house of the person who committed the murder as he and his family were banished from the village. The boys say the police did nothing throughout the incident.

I found out about this this morning and was assured the children were never in danger and, if they had been, they would have and could have been whisked out of the village. Still, it was disturbing, to say the least. Because of the situation, it is decided that we will not perform in Dir El Assad as planned. We move the show to Majd El Krum. The local watermelon seller has a truck with a loudspeaker and he drives through the villages announcing the change of venue.


We will perform at the school. They weren’t expecting us and the place is a mess. We manage to clean it up and set up right before the show is supposed to start. Achmed asks me if I would like some coffee. Of course I say yes and he pulls an actual coffee pot out of a plastic bag he is carrying!!! Apparently, that is very common here. I think it is a great custom.

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At first, there is hardly anyone there and then they just start streaming in. We end up with an audience of several hundred people! The past few days of hanging out together in each others’ homes has really cemented the friendships that were forming. We are not two separate troupes, but one. The audience LOVES the show. All the grown ups who are involved with the youth circus performers have tears in their eyes.

There is some press there, and the story makes it online before the end of the day at: http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3425666,00.html, and now it is on: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3426415,00.html.
I love the opening line!
Our first show is a tremendous success and brings tears, smiles and joy to many people!

From there we go to eat lunch at a Bedouin tent. There is music, reclining and some dancing!

Then we go to explore the old city of Acco, where we take a ride on a boat and there is more dancing!

We go on to our next show, which is at a home for handicapped people called Bet Kessler. This is one of the shows sponsored by Circus Remedy (http://www.circusremedy.com). This show takes me back to my roots: The Circus Kingdom. The Circus Kingdom was a youth circus run by Rev. David Harris and his wife, Trudy. Rev. Dave was a Methodist reverend who gathered youth circus performers form around the country and we toured the Eastern half of the United States. Wherever we performed, we would also do a show for people who could not come to us--- an orphanage, a senior citizens home a home for the mentally ill or a prison.

I am honored to be carrying on his work in Israel with these amazing young people form America and Israel. The residents are thrilled with the performance and many of them come up to thank us and ask us back. It has been a very full and fulfilling day The residents are thrilled with the performance and many of them come up to thank us and ask us back. It has been a very full and fulfilling day