First Day at our Sister School

Monday, June 16

Today we began our first day of volunteering at the Tamrat el Zeitoun Waldorf School. We started off the day by visiting the kindergarten and grades 1-5 to teach the children fun English songs and games. It was exciting for us to see the kids so engaged and having fun in our mini-lessons. By the end of the classes, the students were following us out of the door and asking us to stay. It was heartwarming to see them laughing and having fun, and to see that they were enjoying our company and presence at their school. We loved interacting with the different students and being a part of their daily school life in any way we could.

After visiting the different classes, we turned our attention towards the school itself. Yesterday, we assessed the improvements we wanted to accomplish around the school, and today we began fulfilling our vision by cleaning the walls that lead to the classrooms. Everyone had a great attitude and worked hard to accomplish our first task. By the time we were done, the hallway looked great and was already contributing to a healthier looking school.

It is an amazing feeling to support our Waldorf community by extending our care to other parts of the world. We’ve been given an amazing opportunity to share our appreciation of Waldorf education with others. After just our first day, we can already see how incredibly special this school is and we feel grateful to be given the opportunity to support a branch of our extensive worldwide community.

-Maya

Hello from Amsterdam!

Good morning California! It is already after 5:00 pm here in Amsterdam. With two flights already done, we are at our last stop before Israel. Despite the long layover, we are staying busy by preparing for the the trip in every way possible. We are reviewing the schedule, testing all of our tech gear, and wearing in our decks of playing cards. The trip felt like an adventure a minute after we stepped off the plane in LAX and learned that we had to exit and re-enter the airport and then wait in line to reprint all of our boarding passes before rushing to our transatlantic flight, which was leaving 45 minutes later. We made the flight and realized that despite the hassle, LAX was worth it because Maya joined us there.

The 10 hour flight went well enough. Some of us even had *gasp* empty seats next to us to stretch out. The Amsterdam airport has been pretty cool too - we found a place to get Dutch omelets and fruit smoothies. Another highlight was the collection of China that the Netherlands is so famous for, including some smoothies. Another highlight was the collection of porcelain china that the Netherlands is so famous for, including some enormous plastic replicas that we could all fit inside.

We are trying to to get all of these moments on camera, and most of them will show up on Instagram. Please be sure to to follow us on twitter and Instagram, like us on Facebook, and check in with us on our blog. The next time you hear from us, we should be in Israel.

-Jack

Countdown to Israel

We are leaving in 10 days! All the details are set: we have great places to stay, things to do, work lined up for us at Tamrat El Zeitoun, and most importantly, a wonderful group of students and adults to share this wonderful adventure. Check out the photos below of students painting to raise funds for their trip! Go Anisha, Jack and Andres!

Keep watching for pre-trip posts -- and daily video blogs once we get to Israel. The coolest thing is we now have a GoPro to take along -- so you can enjoy the fun along with us.

Shalom and salaam,

Gail

Countdown to Israel 1

We are leaving in 16 days! All the details are set: we have great places to stay, things to do, work lined up for us at Tamrat El Zeitoun, and most importantly, a wonderful group of students and adults to share this wonderful adventure. Keep watching for pre-trip posts -- and daily video blogs once we get to Israel. The coolest thing is we now have a GoPro to take along -- so you can enjoy the fun along with us.

Shalom and salaam,

Gail