Just Around The Corner

It's been more than a week since my last blog writing and I could suggest a lot of reasons why it's been so long but what does it actually matter?? What's important is that I'm back at the keyboard. I just got back from D.C. a week ago (it seems to be a lot longer) where I had my laptop ripped off in the middle of the Pentagon City mall. It was pretty depressing and I was so down that I walked back to my hotel, a two mile walk in over 100 degree weather. The truth of the matter is that it happened at the end of the day and I had finished most of my work. Everything was backed up and it was kinda nice to be "unconnected" for a few days.


Upon my return the whole staff went to visit at three kibbutzim which have Garin Tzabar programs and to see how they handle things by them. It was an eye opener and we got a lot of good tips. We also were able to compare our facilities to others and I think that we're doing okay. On Sunday we hosted here on the kibbutz a seminar for all the Garin Tzabar 2010 staffs in Israel. We met up with the two soldiers whom will be working with us, Dana and Yifah. I am sure that it will be mutually enjoyable experience with them. Leah has left the staff and we have added on Elad Zuntz, a Ben Meshek (Kibbutz born) who just recently was discharged from his service in the armored corps, the Seventh Brigade (where my son Shachar presently serves). I really feel that we have a great staff!!!


We are going into high gear as far as preparations go. We are remodeling the men's quarters and they should be finished by the middle of next week. We will fix up the woman's rooms and maybe even have new curtains made. There will probably be a number of things that we will do only after the Garin's arrival. It's money time and it's hard to believe that it will just be another two weeks. I hope that we can keep the mistakes that we make to a minimum and that they will be reversible.


We are finishing off most of the plans for the arrival and the first week. The first week will probably be the most hectic and confusing since a good part of it will be dealing with beaurocracy. One example is that we will have to go to Beer Sheva to take care of the primary immigration issues even though we are located in the middle of Israel and not in the south. The reason for this is that they have set up a special VIP treatment there for Tzabar members so we will try to add other activities to the bus trip to Beer Sheva to make it more interesting. The truth is that it may turn out to be better in the end.


Well that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be writing again soon. We will send by e-mail and by facebook some info about the first days sometime next week.

Far Far Away

I'm sitting here in Washington DC in more than 100 degree weather for the third straight day. What is really amazing is that this heat wave is in the headlines all over the USA. Wouldn't it be great if in Israel the weather would make the headlines for three straight days…

This will probably be my last overseas trip for the next couple of months since I want to be around until most of the Garin Tzabar members finish their basic training. When I speak with clients and colleagues about my plans and Garin Tzabar they look at me kinda funny. Some think that I'm nuts putting my business and career on hold while others are impressed by my efforts and thoughts. The truth is that most of the Americans I work with don't really understand what I will be doing but accept in. Most of the Israelis are impressed but are not always sure that I'm making the right choice. I have no such doubts….

We are preparing the primary framework for the pre-Army facet of the program and trying to understand what the kids will be going through. They will be coming to new country as citizens and not as tourists or visitors. They will be coming to a new home (the kibbutz) with both expectations and apprehensions. The Israeli bureaucracy will serve as a cold water in the face wake-up call to reality so we will try to make it as "friendly" as possible. We are sure that there will be a lot of ups and downs like a roller coaster so we will try to make this "Tower of Terror" emotional coaster ride more like a Junior Kiddy Land ride. We are making lots of preparations and we also realize that we will have to deal with a lot of things which are not included in our preparations. Both the staff and the Garin members share a common excitement and I hope that this will be able to propel us through he first stages together.

Next week, when I return to Israel, I will step off the plane and begin the run to the magic date of August 5th. As far away this date seemed to be a few months ago it's now just around the corner. It will become reality.