Big Jet Airplane, Big Jet Airplane

in the sky, in the sky,

I can see you soaring, I can see you soaring

 way up high, way up high.

Shalom Israel!

We learned some important words in Hebrew which made our trip more pleasant :

Morah Katie: How do we say Good Morning in Hebrew?
Efraim: Boker Tov.
Morah Katie: What does bevakasha mean?
Jack: Please.
Morah Katie: How can we say thank you?
Zim: Toda.

We stamped our passports and made a flag for a souvenir.

We began our tour of the country.

 We "arrived" in Israel Monday morning.  We quickly realized that when it is the morning and cold in Vancouver,  it is the night and warm in Israel.

In Tel Aviv, we discovered that there are tall buildings just like in Portland.

Natan: They have bus stops
Gracie: There is a boat in the ocean.
In Haifa, we discovered:

Judah: I see cars on the street and there are buildings.
Efraim: Boats, cars, buses like Vancouver.
We traveled to Jerusalem where we saw an ancient looking wall.

Morah Katie: What is this a picture off?
Natan: The Bet Hamikdash!
Sroli: PART OF IT IS STILL THERE!!!

Efraim: I daven (pray) at Kotel (Western Wall).

We noticed that children in Israel wear:
Anton: Pants
Jack: Shirts.
Morah Katie: Stand up if you are wearing a shirt?
                       Stand up if you are wearing pants? 
                       The children in Israel wear shirts and pants and You  wear shirts and pants! 

Efraim: They have short hair.
Morah Katie: The boys do have short hair.
Sroli: Girls have braids.
Ella: I AM wearing braids!
Scout: The girls are wearing skirts.
Morah Katie: Stand up  if you are wearing a skirt or dress?

We wondered if we would see sharks if we went to visit the Coral Waters Undersea Observatory in Eilat.

We pretended we went into the underwater observatory to enjoy the beautiful fish.

 During some "down time" we played 3 sticks, a game children play in Israel.

We enjoyed some pita with hummus.

Efraim: More pita bevaksha. Toda.

Gracie: Bevaksha more hummus.

Isaac: Bevaksha more hummus.

Ella: Please more pita and hummus bevaksha.

Abigail: I like hummus! 

Sroli: I like pita.

We traveled to the Dead Sea.

It is so salty we FLOATED in the water! 

We tried to create mini Dead Seas in cups, but we couldn't get the right combination of salt to water.

We realized the Dead Sea must be a pretty spectacular place!

We have the good fortune of "being in" Israel for Tu B'Shvat! (The New Year for Trees, celebrated on the Jewish calendar)
We talked about how important trees are:
Jack: They give us wood for houses.
Scout: Bees pollinate the flowers.
Efraim: We eat fruit.
We reminded ourselves that in addition to celebrating and being thankful for the sweet fruit the trees give us, Tu B'Shvat can remind us to do mitzvahs (sweet, kind acts).
Just like the sweet fruit on the tree benefit all of us, the mitzvahs we do benefit others. 
We are going to form a "mitzvah" tree in our classroom. A sheet of fruit images will come home with your child. Please fill the fruit with a note about a mitzvah your child did to hang on our mitzvah tree. 
Anton: I can share toys.
Scout: I can help with the dishes.
Jack: I can take out the trash.
Abigail: I can share books.
Efraim: I can share toys.
Sroli: I can give my tzedakah from my home.
We ate sweet fruit from Israel for snack.

There were a lot of requests:
Scout: Bevaksha more dates.
Abigail: Can I have more figs?
Anton: I would like more please.
Isaac: More figs please.

We are saying goodbye to Israel. It was a lovely trip.

Next stop: Japan!