A living bridge Haifa-Dzierżoniów

Last Day in Israel, time to say goodbye but also time to take a look at Poland, where we will meet in a few weeks time. We interviewed some of our friends from Israel, asking them about Poland: Why do you want to come to Poland? -We want to meet new friends and try polish food. We want also see for the first time the snow. Do you know any celebrity person from Poland? -Yes, sure. I know the most famous player-Robert Lewandowski. What do you think about polish teenagers? -I think that we are similar. Just the language is difference. Which city do you want to visit in Poland? -I want to visit Krakow. It is interesting for me to see the old city. Is it important for you to come to Poland? -Yes. It is important to see historical places and find out the history of Jews. Did you visit any country in Europe? -I visited England, France and many other. What do you think about Poland? -When I listen "Poland" it is associate with sad situa

Jerusalem is one of the most important places of religious worship in the world. Center of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. On Sunday in the afternoon we had an occasion to see an valid monument in the city – the Western Wall. First we walked inside the area of the cult. Then we divided into groups of males and females as the wall had two sections, one for men and one for women. The most shocking was that the part for men was bigger than that for women . As it turned out there were more women than men. We could see, how great was the people´s respect for the place. Some people were behaving in a very interesting way, especially the Orthodox Jews. They were bowing and coming backwards faced to the wall after they finished praying, showing a prominent esteem to their God. People call this place "a phone to God", they write their wishes on a sheet of paper and put it into the holes of the wall – between the stones. That was our experience in Jerusalem. By: Kate, Matt and

On Sunday we were in Masada. Our trip took us about 2hours from Eilat . Before sightseeing we watched a short movie abo u t the history of this place. Our tour guide lead us to the cable car which got us to the top of fortres. We didn't think that there is such a beutiful landscape. We saw ruins of old buildings, settlements and the D ead S ea . Masada is an important place because it is o n the UNESCO World Heritage List. The h istory of this place is extensive and interesting. It's the one of the largest archeological sites in Israel. In 72 a.d the Romans besieged Masade. Led by Flavius Silva, a legion of 8,000 Romans built a siege wall and an inclane on the west side of the mountain made of wooden supports. On April 15 73 a.d the Romans captured the summit and found two women and five children because the rest had killed themselves the night before . Masada is an important object and it was worth vi sit ing it . Karolina, Sabina, Zuzanna

Friday afternoon wasn't very nice for two people from our group. They went to an A rab marketplace and they found a nice t-shirt and they decided to buy it. They searched for a seller but they couldn't find him. After a few minutes he came with a very misrable look on his face. They asked for a pri s e , he told them an unacceptable high ammount , so they tried to haggle and he rejected the offer. They left since they had no choice. Then suddenly the man got mad and started yelling and swearing at them. There's a rule on eastern markets that when you show your interest to the product you must buy it, otherways it's impolite. There's a stere otype that an A rab person will alawyas want to haggle when he sells his items and we saw that it is not always so . By: Matt and Marta

Entering Eilat we felt as if we were driving in Las Vegas. All the hotels seemed to be built in a similar style. In the city we could find many stalls, where we bought beautiful souvenirs, cosmetics from the Dead Sea and local delicacies. Walking on the promenade, we were getting past a lot of international shops, local bazaars and great restaurants. Going on, behind the promenade we saw a campsite and then we reached the border with Jordan. Unfortunately the gateway was closed, so we have just seen a big fence. Afterwards we went to the beach. Everyone was shocked by the fantastic view. It looked like the Bahamas or another luxurious place for holidays. The beach made a big impression on us, because there were many palm trees and the water was very clean. But it wasn’t a perfect place, because the sand was like gravel, so we didn’t like it. Water was warm enough to swim, so almost everyone was bathing and having fun. We spent most of the day on the beach and did the shoppin

Sometimes the parts of the  program developing spontaneously are the best...

Wednesday started with a quick ''getting ready'' and packing up the bags as we were leaving the hostel in Haifa to travel to the south of the country. Our first stop was in the holocaust museum Yad Vashem , where a tour guide was waiting for us. It was one of the most interesting tours we could probably imagine as well as one of the most depressing. Most of us couldn't hold the tears when we got to the memorial dedicated to the childen killed during the Shoah. Then we went to Jerusalem but we didn't get a chance to walk into the acient city because of some serious weather issues. We just got some quick photos of the unbelievably beautiful view of the town.    The rest of the day we spent in the coach traveling through the Negev desert and running away from the storm and once more we stopped to take some pictures of an amazing wonder of nature. In the evening we eventually made it to Ejlat, ate supper and went to bed. But before going to sleep some

On Wednesday we met each other at "Reali, Beit Biram" school in Haifa. At first we played some games to get to know each other. It was a very funny time together. One of the games we had to know some information about students, we talked about our trip to Israel. We learnt some new words in Hebrew and Polish language. Next we worked in pairs on the blog. The meeting was so nice and we enjoyed ourselves . KAROLINA & AMIT & NAAMA For Israelis the school seems normal, but for polish students it was a surprise, because they didn’t expect such a big campus. High School in Poland usually looks different, for example buildings are not as smart as at the campus in Haifa, classes are less equipped in New Technologies. What is more, Students approach teachers by their name, but this is not a sign of disrespect. It causes that relation between teacher and learners is better and in result it facilitates communicating. KACPER

Marta: Today we saw Bahá'í gardens and the golden circle s . From above we saw the whole city. We also were in the church Stella Maris and we saw the cave where Elias was pr obably hiding. I like this city because it is beautiful here. Yahav: So, the main reason why I like Haifa is the fact that this place is really quiet and most of my friends live in this city.   What a view. The Roman-catholic church Stella Maris

The day in Kibbutz What is Kibbutz? How does it look like? Every student imagined the place differently.  Before coming to Israel we had a lesson with our teacher of history. He told us some information about the landmarks, historical places and unusual sights in Israel which we are going to visit. One of them was Kibbutz. Many Jews who came to Israel after the II WW they did not have any place to live. They set up their small communities. They resemble tiny towns or villages with amenities such as a hospital, a shop, a bank, a canteen, laundry, a diary. They even grow vegetables and keep farm animals. They are like one big family.    The first kibbutz - Deganja - founded in 1910, is located near the Lake of Tiberias in Galilee. Another well-known one named “Ghetto fightery,” was created in 1949 by Jews who had survived in Ghetto Uprising in Warsaw. The kibbutz our group visited was Ein Harod. We met there a mother-in-law of Mr Kfir (teacher from Israel)- Sara. She was

Haifa  ( Hebrew :  חֵיפָה ‬  Hefa   [χei̯ˈfa, ˈχai̯fa] ;  Arabic :  حيفا ‎  ḥayfa ) [2]  is the  third-largest city  in  Israel  – after  Jerusalem  and  Tel Aviv – with a population of 281,087 in 2017. The city of Haifa forms part of the  Haifa metropolitan area , the second- or third-most populous metropolitan area in Israel. [3] [4]  It is home to the  Bahá'í World Centre , a  UNESCO   World Heritage Site  and a destination for  Bahá'í pilgrims . [5] Built on the slopes of  Mount Carmel , the settlement has a history spanning more than 3,000 years. The earliest known settlement in the vicinity was  Tell Abu Hawam , a small port city established in the  Late Bronze Age  (14th century BCE). [6]  In the 3rd century CE, Haifa was known as a dye-making center. Over the millennia, the city has changed hands: being conquered and ruled by the  Canaanites ,  Israelites ,  Phoenicians ,  Persians ,  Hasmoneans ,  Romans ,  Byzantines ,  Arabs ,  Crusaders ,  Ottomans , and the  B

Dzierżoniów   [d͡ʑerˈʐɔɲuf]  ( German :  Reichenbach im Eulengebirge   [ˈʁaɪ̯çn̩bax] ; from 1945-1946  Polish :  Rychbach, Drobniszew ) [1]  is a  town  located at the foot of the  Owl Mountains  in southwestern  Poland , within the  Lower Silesian Voivodeship  (from 1975–1998 in the former  Wałbrzych Voivodeship ). It is the seat of  Dzierżoniów County , and of  Gmina Dzierżoniów  (although it is not part of the territory of the latter, since the town forms a separate urban  gmina ). Established in the 13th century, Dzierżoniów is a historical  Lower Silesian  town that covers an area of 20.1 square kilometres (7.8 sq mi), and according to official figures for 2008 has a population of 34,396. It is named after  Polish   priest  and  scientist   Jan Dzierżon . [2] Unique and  architecturally rich , Dzierżoniów features a central market square with elegant  tenements  and a town hall as well as few museums and restaurants. The Old Town is a venue for several annual events and fai

A living bridge Haifa-Dzierżoniów We are closer to each other than it may seem.  We are pupils from Israel and Poland, from a small city in Lower Silesia, Dzierżoniów, and the third largest city of Israel, Haifa. We are all 16 to 18 years old. And after having met in Israel, we will meet in Poland in one month time. Looking into Jezreel Valley. Sara Har Wardi, introducing us to her Kibbutz. At Hebrew Reali School in Haifa. At the beach of Haifa.  The exchange has been organised by Krzyżowa Foundation in   cooperation with The Hebrew Reali School and I LO im.  Jędrzeja Śniadeckiego . It has been cofinanced by the Polish Ministry of National Education .