First Day

I don't know where these kids are supposed to be off to, but it's officially the "first day of school" here in Israel. As usual, there are problems. As every year there are labor, budget, security, logistic (location) disputes and more. (Guess where this mural is! Does anybody know?)

Israel is a rather low-density but highly heterogeneous country with the additional "problem" or ingredient of extremely education-conscious parents. Israeli parents just don't trust the "establishment" to give even an adequate education to their kids, so things can get pretty wild here. This means that there are all sorts of schools, each with parents who are totally involved in all aspects of what's going on, or at least they're trying to be. Of course many of the schools aren't financially viable, so frequently there's missing equipment and teachers discover that they're missing salaries.

And that's a "normal" year... This year, post-war, includes additional problems. Some schools were bombed, and there's no surplus of suitable buildings. Actually there's a great lack of classrooms.

At the moment, in my neighborhood, there was total silence. The pool is closed and the children are away in school. The pre-schools, which start gradually in shortened days, haven't yet dismissed the kids. It still feels like summer, though the vacation is over, but not for me. My first day of classes is Thursday. That's soon enough. Now to get ready.