Tuesday 20 May 2003

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This morning we visited Har HaZikaron, the hills including Yad Vashem, the cemetery at Mt. Herzl where Israel's national leaders are buried, and the military cemetery. While we only visited the latter two sites, we did discuss the overall layout of the hill, in terms of how the places came to be sited and so forth. All of this was in the context of understanding Israeli collective memory.

In the afternoon, we went to the archaeological dig at Beit Guvrin. We had a tour of the site and had a chance to participate a little bit in the current dig. At this site the people who built houses dug out the soft rock to use for the homes, leaving cellar caves which are now being excavated. We did find some interesting pieces of pottery, and had a chance to crawl through some nearby caves that have been surveyed but not yet excavated.

We arrived in Tel Aviv this evening and checked into Kfar Hamaccabia (in the suburb of Ramat Gan). Besides the hotel, the complex includes a banquet/conference facility and a country club (it is the home of the international Maccabi games). The country club includes several swimming pools (indoor and outdoor) as well as complete exercise facilities, basketball and tennis courts, and grassy areas with chairs. Once again, we are very comfortably accommodated.

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