Steph in Israel. Day 4. Talk to me about sponsorship opportunities!
Last night was lovely. It didn’t rain and there were no loud children, I just stayed up too late (watching Designated Survivor, which I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet). I have to admit that I miss Hallie and Tzvi so much, but this is the first time in years that I’ve been able to just lay in bed at night and watch a show. Usually by the time I get Hallie to bed, exercise and take care of whatever needs to be done in the house it’s midnight and I’m exhausted.
I woke up around 8 and had to get ready to make it to class by 8:30. Eek. High school flashbacks. Again I was too late for breakfast, so I headed straight to class. I joined the September session, so Elchanan was the teacher and Yishai and I sat in the back. (To remind you, Yishai is in training to become a teacher, so he has to sit in on every class). Today’s lesson was the last class and tomorrow is the final. I’m totally not prepared. The class was learning about the peace processes and how they failed.
above left: class in progress
above right: Scott Soifer look-a-like
left: as seen in a classroom
I stayed in class until 10:30 when Yishai and I took a walk to town. Yishai was waiting to catch a bus, so we both got coffee and pastries. We went back to the same bakery I went to yesterday and we both got caramel sufganyot (donuts). It was okay - the dough was good but there was barely any caramel! I also got three other pastries that were okay. We discussed the classes and he talked about how he would have taught things differently, but not in a bad way. Good start to the morning.
After I left Yishai, I headed back to campus where I was going to go on a campus tour with Leor and a representative from the U.S. Embassy. I don’t remember his name or what he did, but we discussed how Katie Friedman (Ambassador David Friedman’s daughter) had done AMHSI, and then headed to our tour. Leor is a great tour guide. He showed off some dorms and classrooms, and then took us to the music room. It’s really amazing - it’s actually in a bomb shelter, so the walls are soundproof. There are guitars, drums, keyboard etc. Then there’s also a recording studio where kids learn about broadcasting, can do a radio show, and record weekly podcasts.
above left: the music room
above right: the radio station
left: seen in the dorms
We ended the tour at the cheder ochel where we had lunch with students. Lunch was fine. I had schnitzel, hummus, salad, and carrot salad. Definitely ate too much. Leor also spoke about his vision for the Be’er Sheva AMHSI campus, and how it won’t just be a high school campus, but also a place for adults to learn, for teachers to learn how to teach about Israel, for internships, etc. Basically a whole JNF education center. Big dreams. I think the plan is to raise $160 million. Wish us well, because if it comes to fruition it’s going to be amazing. (Talk to me about sponsorship opportunities!)
After that I had a little break, and then went back to the main office where I was supposed to meet with Polly, the Dean of Student Life and Orit, the other Co-CEO. Well, I didn’t meet with either because one was sick and one was super busy. Instead I just met with Ayala, who is Orit’s assistant. She was very sweet, and then offered to take me for dinner later, so yay! After my meeting I was basically done for the day. I had time to kill so I did some work, watched some more Designated Survivor, did a little exercise, showered, and got ready to go. Ayala was scheduled to pick me up at 6:45.
She took me to an AMAZING restaurant. I don’t remember what it was called, but it was like you were sitting in a garden, but inside. The food was so fresh and absolutely delicious. First we got drinks - she got sangria and I got a pineapple cocktail. Then we started with an array of appetizers. Basically for a set price they give you a bunch of appetizers. We had three different salads, cauliflower, soup, and focaccia. It was all outstanding, the cauliflower in particular. I’m telling you, Israelis know how to make cauliflower. After we ate all the appetizers we decided to share salmon, which was also delicious! For dessert we ordered a crème brulee that came with some passionfruit crème and fruit. It was delicious. Also, what was very interesting, was that it came very cold and NOT in a dish. I think they freeze it so they don’t have to serve it in a dish, and then it defrosts as you eat it. It was really great. They also gave us soft ice cream with raspberry sauce and chocolate nibs on the house. SO nice. It was a great dining experience and so nice of Ayala to come out with me, though I think she liked that she was able to get out of the house and have her husband do bedtime for her two kids. I can relate.
Good day.