yesterday the program took everyone on a day long trip to s'derot. s'derot is right next to gaza and is where a lot of the missiles from hamas land. majority of our tour was done by the s'derot media center (http://sderotmedia.org.il). right when we got into s'derot we had a long warning that if we hear "seva odom" over the alarm system we have 15 seconds to get to a bomb shelter (which are all over s'derot). next, we watched a video that was filmed when an alarm went off and a missile hit. one of the camera guys just happened to be filming when it happened. the video was of a gathering of people dancing at a celebration when the alert went off. the missile ended up hitting that area. it showed people hysterical, injured, traumatized. i couldn't help but cry when i saw the video. i am going to try and find it to post on here.
after the video we went outside and saw one of the main playgrounds in s'derot. the whole play ground is surrounded by a snake like tunnel that is actually a bomb shelter. it is so the kids living there can actually have a place to play outside and have a place to go when the siren sounds.
i felt the fear when i was there for some reason. whenever we had lectures in a bomb shelter i felt fine but whenever we were somewhere new having a lecture outside of a bomb shelter i felt a bit uneasy. the latest missile hit 3 weeks ago and landed in someone's home.
at the end of the day we went to the "refugee" camp for the israelis that were moved out of gaza 10 years ago during the disengagement. one lecturer, earlier in the day, told us that the government originally moved the settlers out in an effort to create some sort of peace with the west bank and realized that they needed to leave that land alone (however once the settlers were pulled out that was when the rockets began hitting israel).
the settlers, though, were EXTREMELY right and very religious...such as preaching this land is theirs because the torah said so and were angry with the government for bringing them back into israel. everyone in my program, of course, had very different views and challenged them on it. it is always a bit disturbing listening to people who live their life by the torah or any religious background and who don't even think for one second about listening to another's point of view.
anyway, the trip there was eye opening and over all it was devastating to see the way the people in s'derot have to live.
we got home around 7:30 and then at 9pm i went into work for the hotel owner's daugher's bday/send off to the IDF party. i worked the bar, which was fun at first but then these little drunk 17 year old spoiled brats, who actually snapped at me to get my attention, really began to ruin my time. i think i gave them the dirtiest looks my face could create. i got to eat endless sushi though, made a 10 sheckel and a $2 tip, and also loved the music they were playing. i got home around 3am.
Daniel and I
peter, me, and aviva
this afternoon i volunteered at the "day care center" and then tonight i am substituting teaching a english class for darfurian refugees. a leader on the program's friend needed someone to fill in for her tonight so they asked if i would do it. i am teaching an elementary class for one hour and then an advanced class the next hour. i am excited because i think it will be an amazing experience but also a bit nervous because i've never taught english before--or even taught to a class like this. hmm i guess managing meetings is similar but at least we all spoke the same language.
got to run.
yalla bye
No comments:
Post a Comment