Travel days are long days, but we made the best of it with a commitment to fun and supporting each other. I’ve been impressed with our ten students for the first day and a half: they arrived at the airport on time, uncomplainingly moved oversized duffels that were stuffed with donations for the Children’s Village, and gleefully played several rounds of Uno to pass the time between flights. When we landed at Ben-Gurion Airport, they were a model of cooperation as they lined up with their passports in hand so that we could readily pass through customs; they scrambled to find luggage carts and loaded no fewer than 23 bags collected from three different baggage claims. All of this was executed with good cheer because of the overwhelmingly positive sense of community we have built as traveling learners.
Individually, we started building new communities with our host families. After so many months of anticipation, we and they were thrilled to finally meet. My host family, the Amiravs, won me over with desperately-needed coffee, the freshest of winter fruits, and a meal that ended with arm wrestling competitions. Dahlia’s family celebrated her birthday with a cake and Milagros was able to use Spanish to speak to a host sister who had lived in Mexico, demonstrating how learning additional languages can support relationships even when no single person speaks both Hebrew and English. Wesley played outside with some young boys until rain brought them inside; others built puzzles and played board games. When we met for our evening reflection, all of us shared our appreciation for our new extended families, for we universally agreed that we had been made to feel so welcome. The whole of our time together has proven how a trusted group of dear people can become a traveling community, a mobile home-away-from-home, and new friendships are just one curious conversation away.