01 March 2008 -- Choices

February felt long, and not just because of the "leap day." It was peppered with a dizzying array of doings. Maybe it just felt full. Anyway, the month began for me with the senior trip to the south of Israel. I don't teach seniors, but the grade-level coordinator virtually insisted that I help chaperone. I had heard that trips were Leo Baeck's bread and butter, so I agreed and even looked forward to it, wanting to see what all the fuss was about. On our way to Eilat, we stopped outside of Dimona for aruchat eser, or ten o' clock meal. (What can I say -- Israelis like to eat.) Little did we know that just a short drive into town, a suicide bomber was blowing himself up in an outdoor market. It's the first such attack in all of Israel since I arrived, and I was less than a mile away. Crazy.

Anyway, the trip proceeded as planned (albeit with a flurry of frantic phone calls from parents), and we took a nice hike through a sandstone canyon. The subsequent days' outings were supposed to be the real highlights, but sadly, I never got to confirm that. Less than 24 hours into the trip, four students were caught drinking vodka. Guess who was chosen to escort them back to Haifa. Gotta love being the new guy. Transportation was a mess, perhaps partially because of the attack, and it took seven-and-a-half hours on four different vehicles (taxi, bus, van, train) to get home. The kids were thoroughly unapologetic and unremorseful. What was supposed to be my first true exposure to Leo Baeck's cultural cornerstone turned into yet another demonstration of what I consider to be a vacuum of values.

This is supposedly Israel's version of the Grand Canyon. You be the judge.

Just two weeks later, I had a more positive extracurricular experience while escorting Leo Baeck's first-ever delegation to The Israel Middle East Model United Nations conference at the American International School in Even Yehuda. While the event did suffer from some typical Israeli timing problems, it was generally a well-planned program that gave the students a valuable look at the way international politics can work. I was particularly impressed by the range of institutions taking part. Christian Arab, Muslim Arab, Jewish Israeli, and international schools participated together harmoniously. Nations were thoughtfully assigned: Israel was represented by an Arab school, Leo Baeck was Saudi Arabia, etc. The entire conference was in English, which certainly made it easier for me to engage. Perhaps most impressive was how seriously the majority of students took the event, evidenced by their urgent diplomatic negotiations as well as by the formal dress they were required to wear. In many ways, it represented what education (and particularly Israeli education) should and could be.

I present to you the delegation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Amidst these and various other happenings, I did a great deal of pondering and a good deal of discussing my options for the near future. Much consideration led me to what may have been an inevitable conclusion: I will be returning to the U.S. after this school year ends (which, thanks to the strike, is July 11th)! I have spoken with only two people here about my decision, but I plan to reveal it to others soon. The reasons I gave them were as follows:
1) I miss home (in all its various manifestations) too much;
2) I have not enjoyed my several jobs this year -- individually or collectively; and
3) I do not foresee a mutually rewarding role for me in the KIPP-inspired project that brought me here.
More news will follow, but I wanted to share this decision with you, dear readers, since it's the most significant thing that happened to me in February. Don't worry, though: the blog will go on until my Middle Eastern adventure has come to an end...

I'm coming home, baby!