Every Day a Circus Day!

July 13
The roosters (yes, plural) start crowing at 4 in the morning. I had been worried about the peacocks, but it is the roosters that are the most annoying. Some of the kids get woken up by having a rooster, duck, peacock or goose staring them in the face. They get up in ones and twos. Groggy and sleep deprived, they just continue playing with each other and hanging out.There is a climbing tree near the big trapeze rigging. Really, a climbing tree--- it has climbing wall foot holds nailed into it. The kids climb it. What IS the trapeze rigging for? In the light, I see it is missing guy lines and a tree has grown right to the trapeze.

campground fowl

keaton and duck

Then, Ali starts it. First, he is on the fence by the river, then on other side of the fence and then on the other side of the river. Amit, the teacher, is actually the next to join him in the river. There is a little bit of rapids over some rocks and Amit says sitting there is like getting a massage. Suddenly, there is a group of young circus kids swimming in the Jordan river. THE Jordan River or the JORDAN River, as Elliana had kept saying the night before. But the kids aren’t thinking that they are in a famous waterway. They are just kids playing in the water with their friends. Having fun, skipping stones, carrying each other on their backs, sitting in the rapids, exploring upstream.

wading in Jordan river

matt tree climbing

Breakfast is bread, chocolate spread, jam, butter, a white spreadable cheese called something like "laban", corn flakes, some sort of sweet Rice Krispie and the ever-present in Israel tomatoes, cucumber and peppers.

A man comes to lead the kids on a treasure hunt. They are told to split into three groups, think of a name for themselves, design a logo and write a song. Each group has kids of different ages, nationalities and sexes. They are given a map, some clues and a pickaxe. The red team wins. Everyone gets popsicles.

red team

treasure chest

green team treasure map

Fowl?

We go for a picnic lunch in another part of the park. (It seems like we are always eating on this trip, doesn’t it?) Pita, hummus, olves, tomatoes, tuna and some kind of meat with watermelon for dessert.

It turns out that the trapeze rigging is an old bungee ride rig. The insurance company made them shut it down. My story was that we were camped out on the site of an ancient trapeze school. . .

We load everything on the bus to go to Maj Rasa. This is a water hike that ends in a pool. Some of the kids are reluctant at first, but they all end up going in and splashing around. It never rains in Israel, in the summer. The Israelis seem to enjoy anything to do with water.

From there, we go to the Karmi’el parking lot for the children to be picked up by their host families. The three girls are going with Channi for the first night and the twins, Menar and Menal, the second night. Lemond and Michel will go to Shai’s; Keaton and Kellin to Royi’s; and Matt, Deon, Iking and Renaldo with Tamer. So, we will have children in both Jewish and Arab villages. The American children are nervous--- what will they be fed, what if they don’t like it? Where will they sleep? Deon and Iking are going just for the evening and coming home to sleep with us. Deon’s Mom doesn’t want him to do a homestay and Iking asked to not have to before we left America. I give everyone my cell phone number. But no one ever calls to be picked back up. The Israeli children are nervous, too. Menar asks me if I think the gilrs will like her home. Tamer, who is 14, thought maybe he should take younger kids with him instead of the older boys. I have no idea what the parents think.

I am so caught up in saying goodbye and giving them all copies of the Circus Teaches the Art of Life book and the Mary Engelbreit Arches to Israel poster to give to their host families that I forget to take pictures.

The adults, suddenly childless, are taken to the community of Shorashim, where Rabbi Marc lives. We stay in two trailers which are the guest houses of the community (I TOLD Iking it wasn’t a hotel).

Shorashim is a planned community that used to be a commune. The landscaping is beautiful. The homes are terraced onto the hillside. Rosemary is the predominant ground cover. Dir El Asad and Karmi’el are next to each other. One is Arabic and one is Jewish. It seems that mostly in Israel, the two live side-by-side but not together.

The adults have a lovely, delicious many-coursed dinner, on the patio of the gorgeous home of Rabbi Marc and his wife, Tammy. We are joined by their son, Lev, and their neighbors, Todd and Karen, who are from St. Louis (they went to Ladue High School---for all you St. Louisans who were going to ask). Todd and Karen’s daughters are with us, too. It is mandatory that all Jewish children jon the Israeli army. Israeli Arabs can, if they want to. Druze (an Arab Muslim sect) do serve like the Jews.

Deon calls to ask to stay at Tamer’s but we can’t reach his mother to get permission. He and Iking come to Shorashim. They Arabs pride themselves on serving guests really well. The boys tell how Tamer’s mother kept making them eat, even after they were full. She made them schnitzel (a boneless fried chicken) and French fries. Deon liked that they were served tea and coffee. The boys had all been doing tricks with the staffs, on the roof.

There is a wedding go on in the Arab village. You can hear the music across the hills, all the way to Shorashim. Deon thought the noise had been some sort of alarm. But it is a wedding celebration that will go on into the night. I wonder how all the kids are sleeping. They should be exhausted after their night in the campground.

Rabbi Marc and his son, Lev

keaton, rianna, amit and shaina

iking and michel

Caesaria Mosaic