Palestinian Kids dancing in the Cuneo Peace Center in Jenin's refugee camp

Amali and Liat Jumping Off a Cliff at Brechat HaMeshushim

Yesterday, I jumped off a 13 ft cliff at the Hexagonal Pools, Brechat HaMeshushim. In the boiling sun, the cold water was very refreshing. While Bubie waiting at the visitor center, the rest of the group started the long walk down. By the time we got to the pools, we all we drenched with sweat and ready to jump into the cold water. Now I'll get to the jumping-off-cliffs part. After watching my dad and Liat do it, I wanted to jump, too. My sister didn't want to at first but finally did. After she jumped in, I jumped in with Liat for the second time! We ended our day with some cold ice cream waiting for us at the top. Only two days left!
By Amali :)

Extending family

Becky, me, the girls and my mom spent a week in the center of the country (Jerusalem and Tel Aviv). There we visited friends and saw sights and museums -- great experiences -- to much to go into detail.

Then a visit to Kibbutz Gesher Haziv -- very nostalgic for chuck -- since he spent an amazing year there in 1982.

While my mom, I and my girls were traveling about, Becky was volunteering at the Hakoura center in Jenin, in Palestine. If you want an account of her amazing experiences, you will need to ask her.

We were reunited with Becky three days ago and spent a night in a Druze village B&B in the Western Galilee.

We are now a much larger group!!! There are the four of us gordon-buxbaums, my mom (bubbie bunny buxbaum), four buxbaum-bashners (my older sister and family), Liat Epstein (my biological daughter), Aviva Epstein (her mom), and Shosh Epstein (her grandmother). We have set up camp at the Epstein family's kibbutz -- Kfar Hanasi -- about 10 km north of the sea of galilee. Beautiful views, but in the midst of a severe heat wave. Each day involves new and exciting ways to get wet. We bathed in the Banias spring in the Golan heights (after a long hot tour of a mountaintop Mamluk fortress from the 13th century) yesterday. Today we paddled the upper jordan river -- water is low -- so more boulders are exposed and we have big bruises to prove it. Liat and her friends and my daughters made a wonderful Sushi dinner tonight. Tomorrow we will bathe in the sea of galilee -- I will try to walk on the water...but I'm not going to hold my breath -- actually maybe I should, since I might not succeed (unless a miracle happens) -- which is unlikely...

Anyway, everyone is enjoying the family time -- with old and newer family.

Five more days...
Chuck