Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The Ayalon Institute and Archeological Dig

Today we went to an archeological dig as a part of the program Dig for a Day. We went down into one of 5,000 man made caves to dig up pottery from over 2,000 years ago. We were all given chisels and troweos and buckets. We loosened the dirt and sifted through it to find some awesome pottery. Leanne found the best stuff, including a "plate thingy." We found bits and pieces of bowls, plates, vases, and other stuff from the times of Judah Maccabi. 

After our dig and some sifting, we went into a cave. Everybody went, Miriami didn't cry once, but Grandma almost did. But with all kidding aside everybody was impressed with Grandma and Poppy's flawless sperlunking skills. We scrunched and crawled and got dirty and it was great. Highlights were lowering boojis into the "toilet bowl" a hole that led through a dome shaped opening onto the floor below and just getting dirty in general, enjoying our cave time.     
 

After getting dirty we headed to the Ayalon Institute. Ayalon was an underground bullet factory both figuratively and literally. During the time between World War II and the creation of Eretz Israel the British were occupying Israel. A youth Zionist movement arose to liberate Israel and as a part of this movement, one Kibbutz chose to make munitions. Munitions were in high demand during the movement and the Kibbutz chose to smuggle materials underground to run their own factory. The best part was our guide, who as part of a Kibbutz with the mission to educate about Ayalon, gave a unique perspective at how amazing it was that these people worked underground for 8 hours a day every day for 3 years. These people choose this lifestyle... 

Booji Quotes:


Why aren't you jewish? Miriam to Sonya
I want you to be French. Allison to Sonya
Do you eat bugs? Allison to Sonya
UPDATED 3/31/09 Booji Scoreboard...Miriam: 1 Allison: 2 Leanne: 0 Nitzan: 0 Jessica: 0

Hebrew words I know....

So, in the spirit of one of Israel's national languages I thought I'd keep an ongoing list of the Hebrew words I know...

scheckel, schmeckel, touchas, mishbucha, menorah, bagel, knish, latke, matza (ball), bubalah, schmear.
added 4/1/09 - schoarma

Monday, March 30, 2009

Welcome!!!!

Welcome everybody! Friends and Family, I welcome you to actively participate in the OFFICIAL Webblog for Meir's Bar Mitzvah! This is my 2009 new media way of journaling my trip and sharing my experience with friends and family. Throughout the trip I'll be taking pictures and videos of our glorious travels and each night I'll put them up on our website. I can't wait to hang out with all of you and compile our experiences into this awesome blog. It's a perfect way to document our trip that will result in a fully sharable, comprehensive, and personal account of our second family gathering in Israel. I'm pumped, and i hope you are too! It's gonna be a great week. Welcome to The Whole Mishbucha..............