Arrived at Mashabeh Sadeh!

Oh, shalom. 

It's 12:45am Israel time. Lights are out; kids are showered and fast asleep.

We are 20 some hours in and everyone has slept some, eaten some, and laughed a lot. We chatted with a few Hausner compatriots here and there, made some interesting conversation with a few other neighbors on the flight, and the mood is one of excitement and pride in the next two weeks.

I say pride because these kids (whose snoring I can hear from adjacent rooms) are really proud of what they are doing. Proud to go to Israel. Proud to be Yavneh students. Super proud to be the pilot class for our school’s Israel tour program. As we touched down in Tel Aviv, one student began singing "Shma Yisrael." She was being hugged by another student, eagerly staring out at the city lights. A few others sang, "Zero hours to go, woo! We're in Israel now, woo!"

After a record quick run through passport control and baggage, were greeted at Ben Gurion by Zvi, my friend Gemma who brought me a guitar, Ariel our tour guide, Adin our coordinator, Betzalel, the Ramah program head, and allllllll of Ya'ara's grandparents. Selfies were taken. Hugs and squeezes and much jumping with backpacks ensued. We enjoyed bagels and muffins on the bus, and now we're settling in for the night.

Giddy up folks; this is happening! Our Israel Journey (Masa La’aretz) has begun. Will shoot you an update from the desert tomorrow. We're going to visit DBG and check out his plan for rolling back the desert. Will keep you posted.

JZ