Wednesday, 24-04-13
Monday we were picked up by Chaled and Aïsha at the train station of Akko, where a small mini bus was waiting for us. This bus drove us to the place where we will stay for 5 weeks: Tamra.
Aïsha and Chaled invited us to their lovely home and introduced themselves to us. We had a little chat about our lives as well while we were eating some typical Israeli food Aïsha had prepared for us.
They also gave us a tour of their house and the house of Salim, Chaled's brother.
After the tour we were taken to our rooms. The girls sleep in the house of Aïsha and Chaled and the boys are staying at the house of Salim.
We settled ourselves into our rooms and went back to Aïsha because she wanted to guide us around Tamra. It was a nice expercience. Everybody in the street was greeting us and asking us to drink some coffee with them. Aïsha showed us a lot of stuff: a restaurant where they sell the best falafel in town (and where Aïsha bought us some rare ice-cream), a pastry shop where we were invited to try some sweet Israeli pastries, a grocery store, a superette (aka mini-market) where we bought our meals for the day after, a shop where you can buy wedding dresses, etc. After this little 'Tamra-tour' (we haven't seen all of Tamra yet) we went back to our rooms. It was rather late so we went to sleep because we had to wake up at 8 o'clock the other day.
Tuesday at 9 o'clock we where expected at the Al-Bayan school in Tamra. Aïsha walked us to school and to everyone's surprise it was pretty far away. That means that we would have a nice work-out every day running up and down hills over and over again.
Once we arrived at the school we were greeted by the pupils as heroes. They showed us around the school and spoke English with us. It was a warm welcome.
We asked the teachers more about the program we would follow at the school but they hadn't figured it out either. They promised us to sit down together with the whole staff and try to make a proper schedule. We told them that we would make a presentation about Belgium to present to other day and they liked the idea. Around noon we were free to go.
We went back to our rooms (after a sweaty trip due to the hills and the heat) and decided to do whatever we feel like doing.
The boys went for a walk, bought some food, met Belil (a guy who lives in the States but is in Tamra because one of is relatives is getting married), ate some falafel and visited one of the mosques.
The girls were staying at their room making some tea and preparing dinner. We had one special guest who would attend the dinner as well: Isabelle. A German girl who lives in Aïsha's and Cheled's house as well.
At night we all ate together, made the PowerPoint presentation about Belgium, enjoyed a nice meal and went to sleep after a game of 'kakkerlakken salade'.
Today we woke up at 7 o'clock (the early bird catches the worm) because we had to be on time at school. We were eager to know our schedule today but unfortunately for us they hadn't made our schedule yet. So they decided to split us up in small groups. Every group had to do something else e.g. do the presentation about Belgium, observe lessons, play games with the pupils, etc.
Around noon they told us that they would sit together and make the schedule. The schedule should be finished by Monday.
They also asked us if we would like to join the pupils on a trip tomorrow and we told them we would love to. At 12 o'clock school was over and again we were free to go. On our trip home we met 'doctor' Amar (he isn't really a doctor). He told us that his daughter is getting married and that we were all invited to come to the wedding party this evening.
In the afternoon everyone was free to do whatever they would like to do. Bryan decided to go to the gym on his own. He didn't know where the gym was but he knew it was far away. He went on
foot but luckily for him he met a guy who offered him a ride. When he arrived at the gym he was stunned. The gym was for free and everybody was willing to help him. The men at the gym were very friendly (there were no girls because they have separate gyms). When he went back home someone from the gym offered him a ride home.
Bert decided to go out alone as well. He went to the mosque again and attended the prayer. There he met a lot of new people like Mohammed a dentist student who is 32 years old.
The girls were enjoying the sun and Heleen and Leonie were off to buy some food.
Aïsha showed us some nice drawings from Chaled and some creations of clay made by herself. They were very nice and we were all impressed by those pieces of art.
In the evening we ate a delicious meal and then it was time to attend the wedding party of Amar's daughter.
When we arrived Bryan was pulled away from the girls and had to sit with the men separately from the girls. Bert decided to stay at home so Bryan was the only student who was sitting with the men. The girls were able to enjoy loud music and a lot of dancing because it was 'girls night'. During the party we all ate a lot of Israeli food. It was a nice experience to attend such a wedding. An hour later we decided to go home and catch some sleep because tomorrow we have to wake up at 7 o'clock again for our trip with the pupils...
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