Exodus journal

Journal

June 27th, 1999

At Newark NJ Airport everybody received T shirts from their groups; the Masada LTP group had white shirts with the name Masada printed on it in blue, the Young Judaea movement had several groups - each with a different color.
After a delay of two hours we finally departed at 11.00 p.m.
The flight was noisy, the guys were talking, sometimes crying and walking around in the plane. We were unable to sleep, but the food was excellent.

June 28th, 1999

After a 7 1/2 hour flight we finally arrived at Rome airport. It was fascinating to see our groups taking over the whole airport. We were the majority, I think, and if not, at least we made a big impression with our colored shirts.
We took our luggage and went to the arrivals hall of the airport. There the Jewish Agency staff and madrichim (leaders) were waiting for us, it was beautifully organized. Each madrich wore a red T shirt or with big characters "STAFF" on the back held a board with the name of his group in his hand, so everybody knew where to go.

Buses took us to our hotel and after we were organized in the rooms, the bus took us on a tour in Rome. We were very tired from the flight, so we did not have to walk, and our guide Merona explained about the places we would visit the next day.

We, and all the groups - about four hundred people - had a kosher dinner in the Jewish Community Center of Rome, where the school is also located.
The menu was typically Italian; maccaroni in tomato sauce!

On the wall of the community center there was a plaque in remembrance of the students of the school who were murdered by the Nazis, that was our first confrontation with the Holocaust here in Europe.

Please turn the page for our experience the next day

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