fisnished letters

Shalom,

Today was so hot that we went fora swim in the Dead Sea. We weretotally weightless!! The Dead Sea is99% salt so you will never sink! It iscalled the Dead Sea because nothing can

live in it. It is 1,300 feet below sea level, the lowest point onearth. We had fun doggie paddling in the water. We quicklylearned that you should not go into the water with a cut. Ouch!Bazooka accidently got water in his mouth and it tasted bitterand oily-gross!

After swimming we covered ourselves with mud. It’s notlike digging in the dirt at home. The mud here is full of mineralsand good for you skin. When he was covered in mud, Bambawas as dark as me.

Across from the Dead Sea there is a park called Ein Gedi.You can see lots of wild animals there. The symbol of Ein Gediis the ibex.

See you later,Bazooka and Bamba

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.zFl£r©i d¤A §x©d mW W¥i .cF`§n ,ad ,ad

dA§nA§e dwEfA

Dear Totally Awesome 3rd Grade,

We just got off the Egged bus in Jerusalem. Right now weare heading to the Old City to visit the Western Wall (theKotel). We can’t wait to see the only wall remaining from thesecond Temple (Beit HaMikdash). It is hard to believe that thestones in the wall have been there for 2,000 years. At the Kotel,we will see the Dome of the Rock which is a Muslim mosque.Did you guys know that Jerusalem is important to three differentreligions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We are here!People are praying and putting little notes in the cracks betweenthe stones. They believe that their messages will go straight toG-d. We have a special wish so we added our own littlemessage to The Wall.

By now we are sooooo... hungry so we are going to theShuk (market place) for lunch andshopping. We ate kibbles with a sideof falafel. The food was doglicious!After lunch we bargained for collarswith stars of David on them. Our timein the Old City ended with a verybumpy ride on very feisty camel.

Next we left the Old City and we headed to HadassahHospital (not as patients) to see the famous Chagall stained glasswindows. Each window represents one of the Twelve Tribes ofIsrael. They were very colorful. From there we visited theKnesset, the center of Israel government. Bamba insisted onposing in front of the huge Menorah outside of the Knesset.

Woof, woof,Bazooka and Bamba

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..z¤q¤p§M©A§e wEW©A'dq£cd' mi¦lFgd zi¥a§A x¥wa§l mi¦vFx Ep §g©p£ dA§nA§e dwEfA ,ad ad

Hello 3rd Grade,

We are having a great time and feeling ‘woofy’ good. Weare very lucky because we didn’t get any fleas yet (well maybeone or two). Today we went to Tiberias. Tiberias was once agreat center for Jewish learning. Many great rabbis taught thereand they were the first to use vowels with the Hebrew alef-bet.

Next we went to see the Sea of Galilee. I pushed mybrother in first but he managed to hold on to me and we both fellinto the cold refreshing water. The Sea of Galilee (Kineret) isthe largest fresh water lake in Israel. It is 13 miles long and 10miles wide. There are a lot of fish to fish in the Kineret.

We were so hungry after all that swimming. For lunch weate falafel, salat, and doggie bones for dessert.

See you soon,Bazooka and Bamba

,'b dzi¦M i¥ci¦n§lz.z¤x¤p¦M©d z¤ zF` §x¦l Ep§k©ld xa§M .e©W§kr di §x¤a§h§A mi ¦ v §n¦p Ep §g©p£ .oiEv§n mi¦Wi¦b §xn Ep §g©p£`Ed la£ m¦in©l i ¦g¨ z¤ i¦z §t©gc i¦p£ .z¤x¤p¦M©A mi¦bc d¤A §xd W¥i .dlFc§b§e dti z¤x¤p¦M©d

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dA§nA§e dwEfA

Dear Chaverim,

We took the train to beautiful Haifa. It is very pretty atnight. Did you know that Haifa has twin towers? Haifa is the3rd largest city in Israel. We took a taxi to the beach and playedfetch with each other. We also rode our bikes and ran along thebeach. It’s really cool here! Haifa is Israel’s main port. Fromthe beach we saw ships from all over the world that bring thingsIsrael doesn’t have. Then the ships load up with delicious Jaffaoranges and grapefruit to sell all over the world.

We wanted to learn more about Israel so we went to HaifaUniversity. After that we went to Carmel National Park wherewe went hiking through the Carmel mountains.

From your mascots,Bazooka and Bamba

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zhi ¦q §x¤ai¦pE` z¤ x¥wa§l Ep§k©ld f ¨ ,l ¥ x§U¦i .dti ¥g

,m¤kl¤W mi ¦x¥ag©ddA§nA§e dwEfA

Shalom yeladim,

We are fine. This morning we arrived in Eilat by plane,errr, by parachute. Eilat is a resort city locatedin the southernmost tip of Israel. First we went divingin the Gulf of Eilat. You can’t believe how manyvarieties of fish there are. They are beautiful! We also sawbrightly colored coral. Most exciting was diving with real livedolphins!

Our next stop was the Coral World Marine Park whichincludes aquariums, an underwater observatory, and rides on aglass bottom boat. Guess what happened during our boat ride?Bazooka wanted to catch a fish so he ran and dove... right intothe glass! Luckily only the tip of his nose got hurt. Sillybazooka!

For lunch we ate, what else but, grilled fish in a fishrestaurant. We liked it a lot. Can we have fish for lunch atschool? We miss you,Bamba and (pug-nose) Bazooka

,'b dzi¦M l¤W mi¦xw§i mi¦ci¦n§lzl©r l ¥ x§U¦i mFx§c¦A xi¦r i ¦d zli ¥ .zli ¥§l qFhn§A Eprb ¦d Ep §g©p£ x ¤wFA©A .x¤c ¤q§A Ep §g©p£

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dA§nA§e dwEfA ,zF`x §z¦d§l

Dear Totally Cool Third Grade,

We are O.K. Right now we are exploring Tel Aviv. It is avery loud and busy city. Tel Aviv became a city in 1909 and it’sfirst mayor was Meir Dizengoff. Today 3/4 of all Israelis livehere. To get around Tel Aviv everyone rides either the ‘Eged’or ‘Dan’, which are the names of the buses here. Tel Avivrestaurants serve everything from eastern European to MiddleEastern food. We tasted hummus, shish kabob, tahina, andfalafel in pita bread. Many people drink Turkish coffee withdesserts like baklava, a yummy pastry.

The Diamond District isamazing! Did you know that half ofthe polished diamonds in the worldcome from Tel Aviv? Some othermain attractions here are the Tel Aviv Museum, BeitHatefutsot, the Independence Hall, and old Jaffa. The ShalomTower is the tallest building in Israel. We went up the glasselevator to the 32nd floor and saw the Mediterranean Sea. TelAviv was fun.

See you soon,Bazooka and Bamba

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dA§nA§e dwEfA ,zF`x §z¦d§l .mFlW oi§p¦A

Dear Third Grade Students,

Please do not be sad or worried! We are fine.After we arrived at the airport, we decided that we

liked Israel so much we wanted to return So wehopped back on the El-Al airplane and here weare. We are calling this additional trip our“Israel Canine Experience”.

We promise to write everyday as weexplore new places in beautiful Israel.

Lehitraot,Bamba and Bazooka

LAST LETTER

Shalom Bamba and Bazooka,

How are you? I already miss you guys so much.Traveling through Israel with you was awesome!Did you third grade chaverim enjoy all the pictures Itook during your “Israel Canine Experience”? I amsending one more photo, a picture of myself so youwon’t forget me.

XOXOXO,Your Israeli friend,Bisly

P.S. Guess what you guys? Soon your Israeli friend willbe coming to Jacksonville, Florida. I can’t wait!Lehitraot