Israel: Day 1

After almost 20+ hours of travel time from PHX to Tel Aviv we finally arrived at 10:15 am local time.  Both flights were uneventful... exactly what flights should be.

When I landed I was met by Ira Kerem, TIPS staff liaison in Israel.  TIPS is the acronym for Tuscon, Israel, Phoenix and Seattle, which is our P2K (Partnership 2000) region with Kiryat Malachi and Chof Ashkelon in Israel.

Of all the many years I've spent coming to Israel, and the multiple 10's of trips I've taken around our homeland, I have to admit that I don't recall ever having visited this region.  But that will now change.  Having spent the day (thank you Ira) visiting Kiryat Malachi and Chof Ashkelon I now look forward to returning to Phoenix and designing a curriculum for our 8th grade students to interact and "meet" their Israeli P2K Kitah Chet partners online before they get here in May.

<<For more information on this wonderful region and the P2K TIPS partnership follow http://tips-kmha.blogspot.com/>>

So after this great day of new experiences, meeting new friends and potential partners, Ira dropped me off at Kfar Maccabiah which is the host site for the quadrennial Maccabi Games in Israel; and which will be our primary place of residence for our Jim Joseph Fellowship winter 2009 retreat.

Can't wait for the program to start!