Life at school
Today (i.e. Wednesday) we visited the Israeli’s school for the first time, we were surprised by a less strict structure and also the freedom at school. We talked about the differences for a while. Our project sessions started in the library of the school. 2 professional people lead the project and explain the aims very well. I was really surprised by the creativity of the projects. It was nice to see how well we all collaborated with each other, even though there was a language barrier. Looking forward to the results of each project on Friday… Noor
Floating in the Dead Sea
This afternoon we went to the Dead Sea. It was really amazing to be floating in the salty water. The scrub with salt – which the girls especially wanted to test – proved to make the skin softer!
It was a once in a lifetime experience. Sadly it was only for a brief moment, since a long bus drive awaited is back to Tel Aviv.
We also saw the beautiful view of the Jordan mountains on the other side of the sea.
Today was really amazing!!! Nathan
Masada
Tuesday- After lunch we went to Masada.
It’s an ancient fort situated on a top of a huge rock in the desert of Israel and it looks out over the Dead Sea. The history of this place is really interesting but long. I will try to give a short version.
The Jews who lived on the mountain were rebels. Because of that the Romans tried to conquer the fort. It took them over 4 months of fighting before they were able to break through the main gate. So when the Jews inside the fort realised that they would be conquered, they had to choose between being captured and to live like a slave for the rest of their lives or to be free but die. So all the Jews killed themselves and their families. When the Romans indeed arrived the next day they found all the weapons and the Jews were dead.
We went to Masada by a cable car. Then we had a guided tour for 1,5 hours. We had the most beautiful views all over the desert and the Dead Sea. We also went into an old water reservoir where we could hide from the hot sun. Masada is world heritage and really worth a visit! – Alix
Port of Tel Aviv
After the interesting guided tour in The Peres Peace and Innovation Centre, we went to the Tel Aviv port. We had some free time with our partners and the group. When we arrived we enjoyed a beautiful sunset at the seaside. Then we went to an ice cream shop with the whole group and ate some ice creams. We also went for a walk at the beach, along the sea which was very wild because of the wind. To end this lovely day, we went to the indoor food market and got a drink. It was a great evening, we enjoyed it a lot. Robrecht
Project work, day 1
Today was our first day of project work at the Peres Centre of Peace and Innovation. In the morning we got an introductory session about changes in society. In my group we want
to work about connecting people and in particular we want to think about how to create a social street, so neighbours can get more social contact. Afterwards, we visited the museum itself, which I really liked a lot. A great start of the exchange, if you ask me!
Peres Centre for Peace and Innovation
Today we finally had the chance to really catch up with everybody after 6 months of only texting. When we all came together at the Peres centre for innovation it was immediately the same vibe as it was when they left Belgium. We started the day with the Cha-Cha slide en some Hebrew words. It was the start of a day full of fun and happiness. This same positive vibe we used to start up the project work about non-profit organisations. Everybody brainstormed about a problem they wanted to work on, and searched for a solution that benefits the community. After the session we had our lunch outside with an amazing view of the sea. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Afterwards we got a guided tour about problems we are facing in society and how more than 6000 Israelian start-ups try to solve them. It was interesting to see how their creativity affects the world. From the centre we took the bus to the port of Tel Aviv where almost everyone got the chance to taste real Israelian ice-cream and it was really tasty. We walked to the sea and a had beautiful panoramic view.Marie
Sunday afternoon
This morning we had to wake up quite early. When we arrived at school we directly got on the bus and left for the airport. At the airport we got through all security surprisingly easily. We were not interviewed, which all of us had expected to happen. We had to take a shuttle bus to go to our plane and then we could finally fly to Tel Aviv. I have to admit that I was a little bit scared when the plane took off, but it wasn’t that bad. (Fun fact: the co-pilot was an ex-student of our school). After 4 hours in the air we landed in Tel Aviv and that felt a bit surreal. We all had been waiting so long for this and now we finally arrived after a long morning. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we were happy to see each other again. I met Gali her mother and sister and it was fun to finally meet the people you heard a lot about.
In the evening we went with some other people from the exchange to the mall and ate frozen yoghurt. It was a long, but also an amazing day. Ismene
Arrived
Ready to fly
Final show
This week in Belgium, we worked with teams of Belgiam, Israeli and Italian peoples on a project to improve daily life. The project was about inventing a good law and improving it to deal with the day-to-day reality that politicians are going through.
On Friday we could finally present our law projects to our parents and friends, There were 8 laws with 8 different subjects. The groups had to decide how to present their laws, some made a song, others had a lot of sketches with characters. They were all very creative and wanted to impress the audience with a fabulous show, they made customs, panels and designed their own stage backgrounds.
Then it was time for the final rehearsal, the groups presented their show for the first time on the large stage for the other students and teachers. After the rehearsal we had two hours of free time to eat something and have fun with our friends.
We came back with good energy to perform the show for all our friends and family. The audience laughed a lot and enjoyed the show. Every student did his/her best and we were all were all very excited. After the show there was a reception for family and friends. It was a wonderful ending for an amazing week.
Noor Van Wulpen