June 8

 Today was a day to travel and learn. 

We began by going to Haifa and driving through the city. I couldn’t believe how big Haifa was. There is still more construction around it. We saw the Baha’i Gardens which were magnificent, I would have loved to spend time exploring the gardens.

From Haifa we drove to the Atlit Detention Center. This was a Pre-State Immigration center. As Jews tried to escape Europe during the war many came here. Unfortunately when they arrived the were split into men and women then showered and “cleaned”. This was a very frightening experience the immigrants and worried them that the same would happen as in the concentration camps. Our guides father-in-law had come through this camp and said tit was the happiest time of his life. 

In the camp, we saw the barracks, a plane that illegally brought immigrants as well as an example of a boat that brought people too. 

We then took the train from Haifa to Mizkeret Batya where Mark, Oznat, Tal, and Noi. Mark is Glenn’s cousin. The kids have become very close with Tal and Noi. They played tennis and kicked the ball with Noi. Later Tal brought them to Golda for ice cream.