Taking a Break

I just couldn’t get off the bus when we pulled up to the Bau Haus Museum. Our day in Tel Aviv had been an emotional roller coaster. Our stop at the Yitzhak Rabin Center was followed by a visit to the Palmach Museum, in which we lived for 7 years with the youth of the fighting Palmach force, which was largely responsible for the birth of the State of Israel. As we dried our tears, we sat down to a quick lunch of shwarma, after which we visited Independence Hall, the site of Ben Gurion’s pronouncement of the establishment of the State of Israel, ending with more tears as we stood to sing Hatikva, the Israeli national anthem.

WHEW! That’s more than enough emotion for one day. So I opted to take a nap on the back seat of the bus while everyone else went to absorb yet one more aspect of this country. It was such a relief to just close my eyes and know that I didn’t have to keep up with the group. It was a much needed break from the program.