This year is flying by (my blog posts are not though).

Long time no blog. I apologize to all my die hard blog readers (mom and gma that is you) and for keeping all of you on the edge of your computer chairs waiting for another blog post. Well the wait is over, here is a quick update with pictures too.

1. Visitors galore continue to drop by Kotel6. Two good Clark friends dropped by the Holy Land, Cara and Robin (here is your shout out!) and Arielle's father swung by too. The visits were wonderful, I'm still waiting for all of you to visit, it is not too late I think we will be here until June!

Robin, Arielle, and Me in downtown J'lem

2. My entire class took a tiyul (a trip) for a three day seminar exploring the South of Israel. Our trip included a visit to the two Reform Kibbutzim, Yahel and Lotan, in the Negev Desert, some snorkeling in the Red Sea, and a Shabbat experience in the desert.

2 Highlights of the tiyul included...

My favorite hike in Israel - Mt. Shlmo, where you can see Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia


And visit to the "Kaki Classroom" at Kibbutz Lotan. Where we learned how kibbutzniks can convert human waste into soil. (When at Lotan, I was proud to contribute to the efforts. I think my donation will help make some very sweet fruit).

3. And last but not least I got to celebrate another holiday in Israel... PURIM! Purim is a holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people living throughout the ancient Persian Empire. It also commemorates a lot of drunkness, costume wearing, and hamantashen (triangle cookies) eating on the streets of Jerusalem.

So to celebrate... Arielle and I decided to dress up as walking "bake sales" to benefit two fundraisers that my classmates are raising money for www.riding4reform.org and www.pesachproject.com. (check out my legs!)


My favorite costume was my friend Jonah, who dressed up as the undercover-mossad agent carrying a British passport who pulled off an assassination in Dubai. If you don't know the story Google it...

Arielle and I also attended the biggest Purim Parade in the entire world. It took place in Holon, Israel. We were expecting the MACY's Purim Day Parade, but instead we got a parade more like the Fairfield, CT Memorial Day Parade. (Unfortunately, there were no kids putting together a map of the middle east on the parade route....)

So as you can tell all is good here. We are off to Istanbul for a long weekend tomorrow (I know tough life... you should feel bad for us!), I'll make sure to blog about our adventures upon our return.

Be well...

ERBP