I have "friends!"

One of the Israeli woman that I met through classes at the Estadio invited me to join a group of Israeli women meeting for lunch on Tuesday.  Apparently, there are a bunch of new Israeli families here so somebody decided that it was "כדאי" (worth it) to get everybody together.  I was an honorary member because I could get by in Hebrew (I can understand most of it and can converse a lot better in it than in Spanish!).

There were three women that I have met before and nine others who each had a unique story for how they ended up in Santiago.  Although they were all unique the common thread was "my husband's work brought us here."  The type of work really varied from an Israeli business to the embassy to trying to build a new life.  They all had children but over half of them chose not to enroll their children at the Instituto Hebreo but rather at either an American or British school.  Many of those were families that have Chile as just one stop of many among their travels and many have their company paying for their housing and kids' education.

I ended up giving a ride to a woman who I met the first week here who just moved here most recently from Panama although she is Israeli and her husband works for Keren Ha'yesod.  I spent some time just talking to her in her apartment which is close to ours and shared stories of our challenges (in Hebrew!).  They all, and especially she, were a breathe of fresh air (or shall I just say familiarity) with their frankness.

This weekend we are hopefully headed to a celebration for Fiestas Patrias which is actually September 18th.  From what I have read and heard it seems like it will be similar to the St. Joseph County Fair but on a bigger scale, with enough greasy food to keep you going for a while, a lot of Chilean folkloric dances (the kids will love that!) and without rides.  http://www.semanadelachilenidad.cl/  


We may also go to a 9/11 event that is being sponsored by Shomer Ha'tzair somehow. We ran into one of the counselors this week and she said that was the theme and she thought that a lot of kids with connections to the States (and their parents) will be there. Why not?