This week we began to dig the footings for the park benches in Afik’s memorial park. I always knew Israel was an ancient land but boy that dirt is hard. It took two of us most the morning just to dig four footings. We were both thankful that they were located under some shade trees. We have twelve more to go… In Hebrew, lay ot, lay ot… in English slowly, slowly. On Sunday we will have the power auger that has been used in town to drill the footings for all the new bomb shelters come. It will be used to drill the footings for the pergolas which have to be eighteen inches deep. I don’t know who is the most thankful to Ha’shem my back or my knees!

An unexpected blessing for us this past week was an evening of First Aid training from Linda and Kobi. Linda has been a nurse for twelve years in the States and Kobi was trained as a paramedic in the IDF; so they made a perfect team. Linda taught how to take care of medical emergencies when you have the needed supplies at hand, while Kobi taught how to do it with just what you have on hand at the time. We had eighteen people show up for the training that was held at the Chabad Hall.
Some of us played hooky from the training… we stayed outside and got the BBQ going.

Linda supplied the BBQ as a thank you to us and that is so much like life here in Sderot. The people we supply with food bring us lunch and invite us over to celebrate Shabbat with them. We should be thanking Linda for all she has done and she is thanking us… go figure. While we were digging the footings at Afik’s park Nana invited us over for coffee; which turned into three plates of cookies, which turned into dinner. In all my days living in the States I never saw this kind of love and hospitality.