Sometimes ya just gotta get muddy...jump in, Mrs. Biden, "we have a lovely puddle of mud over here".

The students and chaperones made it back safely from Israel to Idaho this afternoon (after a 24 hour flight schedule). We are all tired and trying, in our individual homes, to stay awake until it's time to sack out...I will let you know about that one!

During the trip, we enjoyed an Israeli guide, named Yael. She spoke with a twinkle in her eye about Israel becoming the 51st state...well, it'd be a Red State to the max, if it did come into the US!

I'll write more later, but I wanted you to see this photo and hear a story. I am tiiiiired.  

First, the photo:

 

This was taken on the shore of the Dead Sea, just a COUPLE OF DAYS AGO.... We're coated up like a couple of 9 year olds on a wet and slippery Spring day, flinging mud and hoping not to get it in our eyes....but alas, we wanted to have ALL the students enjoy the fun and medically beneficial elements of what the Dead Sea mud does...so they ALL got muddy and slippery. This is a beautiful place to get filthy muddy...and have it help you!

Now the story: the winds from Africa's Kalahari Dessert began to change and blow all over Israel....and these four kids began to see things as they really are, politically and spiritually, via a chance meeting with Joe Biden's wife. Yep...read on.   

On top of Masada, an amazing mountain fortress in Israel, we all sorta-met Mrs. Biden (the wife of VP Biden). She was being escorted around. It was interesting to see the self-important White House aides, whisking her along. 

 Here we had students from the US (one of whom was in a wheelchair  - on a mountain!!) and the 2nd Lady just walked past them like she was too busy, which she may well have been, but c'mon...hearing "Hi Mrs. Biden" and "Welcome to Israel from Idaho" should have given her a clue that these were students from America.

Not a very nice experience in having the VP's Lady ignore Americans. It was weird. Maybe she was just too busy. Here's a photo that was taken by a leader in our group as we crossed like sand-ships in the day (he originally posted it on his FB account).

Not sure what her deal was...maybe just on "holiday".

But my students never blinked an eye, when they were ignored by her on Mt. Masada. They kept on walking and learning about Israel's version of "The Alamo"

(I think the kids sort of wished that Mrs. Biden's time could have been near the Dead Sea mud puddle, itself....for obvious reasons, the results might just have been different. Ha...I just realized how that sounded. Imagine coating Joe Biden's bride with a thick layer of black-as-tar-mud!!).

Here's a taste of Masada political un-correctness:

Den

PS: I did have a fun reaction from a military aid of hers. As they were walking by, he saw my West Point hat and said "Go Army, Beat Navy" and we both laughed and exchanged class numbers: Class of '78 & '85. 
 

 

Comments

[Janet]

And to think Dr. Biden taught a couple classes at the college my son and I go to gives you even MORE to think about... Does she really even care about students or did it just look good on her resume to "give back" to her new community? Might look good on the outside, but sounds like the inside may need a little work...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/01/27/jill_biden_returns_to_the_clas.html

[Dennis Mansfield]

Thanks, Jan. I appreciated the input. It was rather odd that she just floated by these kids...especially the HS Senior in the wheelchair.

Wow, I guess "all animals are equal but some ARE more equal than others"...?
Den