Working with Parents at the Center Day 1

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CJP paid for my airfare and for my hotel in Haifa in return for my work on the system for Parents at the Center. They are certainly getting their money’s worth!



We arrived at the hotel in Haifa and since we had the “CJP” affiliation and the hotel was empty they upgraded us to an Executive room. It is one of the top hotels in Haifa and I can’t say I minded being surrounded by such nice furnishing. Having been at this hotel before, I was looking forward to their Israeli breakfast, a huge buffet with fruit, salads, cheese, and cappuccino. I was not disappointed.

Sunday, my workday began at 9 AM at the Parents at the Center facility. Here’s a link to a recent article http://www.jewishboston.com/359-boston-haifa-connection/blogs/5145-parents-at-the-center-community-mural-in-haifa-by-tova-speter. I met with Hilla, Oshrat and Liron all day Monday reviewing their workflows. It was a very productive day, hardly what one would call “vacation”. For lunch we went to an excellent Arab restaurant, Sillwan. It is right on the water with a beautiful view. I’ve posted a picture of the salads they serve as appetizers. Other people in the restaurant ate their salads and moved on to main courses, but there was too much food for us to eat half of it. The idea of a main course was a non-starter. During lunch Hilla made a comment that made a big impression on me. We were talking about threats to Israel, specifically Iran. She offhandedly mentioned that since her husband it Romanian, their two children, 4 and 20 months, have dual citizenship, so if something bad happens he can take the children to Romania to keep them safe. She said that this gives her a lot of comfort. This is a perspective that is eye-opening to an American who’s never thought about having to get her kids to another country to keep them safe.

I was scheduled to have a rest from 4 – 7 when we were to meet Hilla and Rivka Bornstein, the head of the Welfare Dept. of Haifa, for dinner. The municipality is heavily involved in the project and the hope is that it will take it over and expand it in other neighborhoods. Dinner was at Kalamari, Jack had primarily eaten Kosher food when he traveled with CJP so getting non-Kosher food was a treat. In fact none of the Israelis we were working with at PAC keep Kosher and they were all happy that we don’t.

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