"Squeeze the World"

So I started working at the school in Tiberias yesterday. There are less than twenty students, ranging from first grade to sixth, all fluent Hebrew speakers. Some of them are immigrant families, and there are even a couple Russian girls. Anyway, yesterday my big job was cleaning and defrosting the refrigerator, and I organized three bookshelves. Today, though, I started the morning out playing tennis with the kids, and of course I was put with the troubled boys, meaning that I spent the whole time trying to convince them to hit it to me and not over the fence. So that was pretty exhausting, then after two hours of that we went back to the school, and I cleaned the bathrooms, did a lot of photocopying and organized more books.

There is a boy there with some mental disabilities who I will be helping, his mother comes to the school with him to supervise but I'll try to relieve some of the work from her, and I'll be helping the students learn English. The principal also offered for me to teach a class now and then, but we'll see what happens. So far it's been good, and once I can remember their names and communicate sufficiently, it'll get even better.

The main difficulty right now is actually transportation, but I think I might start using the bus on occasion. That way I'm not burdening them and I can do shopping in Tiberias after school gets out. Plus I can work on my Hebrew while traveling, which is next to impossible when stuffed into a van.

Next week I'm planning a trip out of the country with a friend, possibly to Bulgaria. I'd like to thank the anonymous donors back home, you make these things possible and it is such a blessing. I wish I could tell you how much it means. I am so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and such a great community back home. I miss you all!