Ofakim

I started work at the Ofakim school today. Hoping to get a jump on my first day of interning, I set my alarm for 7, with the intention of getting up to shower, dress nicely and have a nice, calm breakfast. These plans never work out for me though. I snoozed my alarm the first time it went off, which is standard behavior for me. I even build in a single snooze when setting my alarm. Unfortunately, the alarm did not ring again. I blearily glanced at my cell phone seemingly minutes after putting my head back down, before I leapt out of bed in a panic: It was 8:05 and I was due in Hebrew class in ten minutes! I rushed a shower, pulled on the first collared shirt I could find, grabbed a handful of kumquats on the way out the door and only arrived 5 minutes late to Ulpan.

Hebrew was uneventful. I grabbed a cup of Nes "cappuccino" before heading down to the bus station, and then caught a sherut to Mercaz HaCarmel. The school is on "HaYam" street, a few blocks below the Carmel Center. I arrived at about 10:40 and headed down to my classroom. I'll be working most closely with Rola Farah, the teacher of "Gan Tamar", who was trained at the Peto Institute in Budapest. She will be teaching me the "Peto method" which entails repetitive, exhaustive physical therapy that can help train a child with severe locomotion difficulties to overcome them.

The day was free and easy. I spent the mid morning and early afternoon in Gan Tamar, meeting kids, playing games and helping out with whatever the staffers needed. It was nice, except for the tiny chairs that were not designed for children over 7 years of age. My lower back hurts right now, the punishment for spending too many hours with my knees higher than my belly button. Most of the kids left around 2 o'clock and I entertained that one's who stayed behind for about a half hour. They really took to me quickly. Rola and a new group of staff members came back around 2:30 and the kids ate their boxed lunches. Then the physical therapy began. I wasn't able to participate much, and I mostly observed, but there were a few times where I was able to pitch in. The time passed pretty quickly. My biggest concern heading in was that I would be using Hebrew professionally for the first time ever. I'm thrilled to report that I kept up and even was able to crack a few jokes! This is going to work out just fine.