Friends Across the Seas
Aysha and Nicole
Dear Friends in Israel,
Hi my name is Aysha. I am eight years old. I have two brothers. Their names are Mohammed and Usef. I am the only girl. My mom's 29 years old and I don't know how old my dad is but he is in the 30's. Mohammed is 7 and Usef is 2. I came from Israel but my dad came her because he needed to work here. We lived where it was like a desert. It was pretty hot and there were cactuses. There were fruits and vegetable trees there. My mom's brother used to sell ice cream.
Would you be my friend and write to me? Almost my whole family lives in Israel. I help around the house. I have one friend called Hope. Hannah is a name from my country. How old are you?
Your Friend,
Aysha
Hi Aysha !
My name is Edan Lloyd. I live in Midreshet Ben Gurion that is the Negev (in the southern part of Israel). I am the oldest son of my family , I have a brother and sister. My brother is Noam and he in the 6th grade and my sister Nicole is in 2th grade. I learn in 10th grade and I learn in the school here that accept kids from all over the country if they had passed the exam (only the ones that passed get into the school). In your letter you wrote that you have a family here, are you Jew? Did you visit in the country a lot or you staying here sometimes for some time? what do you think about the country?. I have a family from my father side that live in Canada.
From Edan
How are you? Thank you for the letter.. How old is Nicole? Please tell her hi for me. Would she write to me too? Is your test hard that you have to take to get into your school? Do you learn Arabic there? I know lots of Arabic words. No, I am not a Jew, I am a Muslim. We go to Israel sometimes to visit my family there. I like Israel but I don't like the war. We couldn't pass the gates.
I live in Delmar. I like Delmar.
Your friend,
Aysha
Thank you. We both have 2 brothers but mine are younger than I am. I will like to visit you sometime. I know how to draw too. I am going to be an artist and I am going to be a clothes maker. I am going to model some of the clothes too. What is a kibbutz? I don't know that word. Tell me about Midreshet Ben Gurion. Is it pretty there?
I will draw a picture for you. Will you send me a picture too?
Your friend,
Aysha
Dear Aysha,
Thank you for your letter. I want to tell you about the kibbutz. A kibbutz is a place where my mother was born and grew up. In a kibbutz there is a communal dining room. There is no school there. I didn't start to learn in school when I was still on the kibbutz. My brothers did. They learned at a regional kibbutz school at another kibbutz. On a kibbutz, the property belongs to everyone. The property is the things which are in the kibbutz and everyone uses them.
I will send you pictures. I want to tell you something about Midreshet Ben Gurion and the school where I learn. First of all, in the midrasha I have many friends and I like it here very much. It is beside a big wadi in the desert. I like to go and look at the wadi. At my school I have many friends also and we have 5 hours of learning each day except for Fridays when we have only 4 hours. The name of my teacher is Dina and I think she is very nice. I am in grade 2.
I want to tell you that last year I had a teacher named Liat. She was very nice also. Our principal is named Ilana.
Your friend,
Nicole
I like to get your letters. Thank you. This is fun. Today I have a half day. Do you speak another language? I can speak Arabic. I might be able to send you a picture of me. What is the wadi? Will you send me a picture of the wadi and a picture of you?
We go to school on Monday through Friday. Our day starts at 8:25 a.m. and ends at 2:55 p. m. I go to after school day care every day after school.
My dad sells good Christmas presents at the electronic center. He sells stereos and stuff.
Your friend,
Aysha
Hi Aysha,
I am sending you the picture and the drawing that I made. A wadi is a dry riverbed, it is very beautiful. I wanted to tell you that I speak Hebrew. I learn English at home. What do you learn at school?
Your friend,
Nicole
Dear Nicole,
What is in your wadi that makes it so beautiful? Can you describe it for me? Are there flowers there? I have made a picture for you too but it is not my best. I will send you another one soon.
I learn times tables in school and I also learn about rivers in social studies. We are learning about seeds in science. For English we are learning about nouns. They name a person, place or thing. What do you learn in school?
Your Friend,
Aysha
Dear Aysha,
Thank you for your letter. I also like to receive the letters you send. I want to tell you that there are not many flowers in the wadi because it is in the desert. The desert is a very dry place with little water and not very much rain. Although we live in the desert and do have water.
I learn Hebrew, bible studies, math, nature, holidays, and geometry, and also singing and writing. We are learning about what God created in the bible and what he said when he created things. For holidays we learn everything about that holiday and what we do on the holiday. In Nature we are learning about olives, what happens to the olive, whether what happens to the olive tree also happens to other trees.
In Hebrew we are learning about the parts of the body and in math we are learning subtraction and other things and do exercises on the board. And in geometry we learn about shapes.
From your friend,
Nicole
I'm glad you sent me letters. I used to live in Jerusalem. If there is not very much rain in the desert where do you get your water? Do you have to get it from some other place? We don't have a bible we have the Qar'an. [I am not sure if we are spelling this correctly... this is what Aysha remembers - Patti] I have never heard of an olive tree but we have fruit trees in my country [Israel] and some vegetables. Tell me about the olive tree. I have seen one on TV before. Now we are studying matter - solid, liquid and gas - in science.
Here are some subtraction facts for you...
Your Friend,100 35 27 -14 -3 -8 ------ ------- ------- Can you do these? 2x8=? 5x3=?
Subject: Re: Aysha coming to Israel
Hi Patti,
We would be very happy to meet Aysha and her family. The envelope you sent with her picture and drawing just arrived. Nicole was very pleased. The only problem with Aysha's coming is that she should realize that Nicole doesn't speak English (such a bad father, aren't I?). Nicole writes her letters in Hebrew and I translate them into English. But we are working on her English. The boys speak English from the English they picked up on visits to Canada, and English in school. (We only speak Hebrew at home).
I don't know what can be done about Aysha's using Email while in Israel. We have very good contacts at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem who work with schools on the Snunit network (you met Eli Kannai over cyberspace). We have been invited to sit on their planning committee and will be there for a meeting on Christmas Day (I guess if you have to work on Christmas Day, the best place to be is in Jerusalem).
I will need more details about where Aysha's family will be situated, etc., in order to try and help out here. If you can get the details to me before our meeting on Sunday, maybe I can talk with the people there.
They can contact me, once here. If you send me the phone number where they'll be, I can try and contact them also.
Tell your kids that we were very impressed with the Chanukah greeting. They are also beautiful pictures of the children.
We wish you and your family a very Happy Christmas and peaceful New Year. Our hearts are with you. Tomorrow evening I will be celebrating Christmas with my family.
David
Thank you for the picture. I like it. I like your butterfly and the bear a lot. I have 13 Barbies and I have even more but they are upstairs in the attic. I have Snow White the movie too.
We don't have any animals at home but my mom really wanted a dog. I am Muslim and we celebrate all the Muslim holidays but we also celebrate Christmas. We have Eid and that's when we pray hundreds of times. All ladies wear a scarf around their hair and they are not allowed to show their hair to anyone. ladies can show ladies their hair. We don't wear the scarf here unless we go praying but we will do it when we go to Israel.
We celebrate New Years the same way as everybody here does. We have Valentines Day too. I hope you learn English.
Your Friend,
Aysha
Hi Ayasha,
I got your letter with your photo and the picture you drew. I like your picture very much.
I want to tell you about how we celebrate Christmas. At Christmas we eat a big and delicious dinner. After dinner we open our presents. I got a Barbie who can swim and two movies. One is a six hour cartoon and the other is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
I want to ask you if you have any animals at home. What holidays do you celebrate?
I hope you will answer me soon.
From your friend,
Nicole
Have you got my letter? My mom knows Hebrew. She learned it when she was a kid. In math I'm learning divided by. What are you learning? What does your mom work? I have lots and lots of books! I have the book and story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs! My Birthday is on January 2.
Your friend,
Aysha
Hi Aysha,
I wanted to tell you a little about my mother but I forgot. My mother works at the Ramat Negev Regional council. If you don't know what this is, I can already explain it to you now. The Ramat Negev Regional Council is a place. Wait. Your father works, right? Well, the regional council is a place where people work. I will also tell you what they do there. They decide on special classes in different subjects and sometimes organize trips. That's all I know about the regional council.
I wanted to tell you that I am sorry about my letters coming late. It's just that sometimes I don't have time. I hope this is okay.
From your friend,
Nicole
Dear Nicole,
Yes, my father works. My dad works at Electronics Center. Daddy makes electronics. It is snowing today but only a little bit of flurries. When I go home tonight it might be a whole lot.
Your friend,
Aysha
Dear Nicole,
Do you remember me? I'm Aysha. I wrote to you last year I heard the bad news. Did anybody in your family get hurt? I heard people are getting hurt. Did you learn English? I am in fourth grade and I am ten. I have to change classes everyday, except Saturday and Sunday. How old are you? What grade are you in? What subjects do you have? I have 5 subjects Math, Science, S.S, English, and Reading. Do you know any Arabic? I do. I should be going now.
Bye bye
Aysha
Dear Aysha,
I am sorry that we haven't written to each other for a long time. Now I will be happy to write to you often. I am in grade 3. I am 8 and a half years old. I learn technology, arithmetic, art, sport, history, writing, spelling, bible, computers, music and nature. I am learning to play the flute and the cello. I really like learning to play. I learn the flute at school and I learn the cello after school at the regional council.
Nobody in my family was hurt. Luckily we live in a place far away from the bombings. I hope that there will not be any more bombings. I don't know Arabic but I will learn Arabic in another couple of years at school. I know some English.
I hope you will write me again soon. I will write you back.
Your friend,
Nicole
Dear Nicole,
How are you? Did you see the comet [Hyakutake] outside? How often does it rain? Do you remember me ? Next year I will be able to write to you more than I write to you this year! Right now is indoor recess. I go to chorus and I am allowed to use the instrument.
Your friend,
Aysha
Hi Aysha,
It only rains here in the winter, but this year there wasn't much rain. I didn't see the comet.
We just had our Passover holiday. Do you have a pet at home? I have a nice big white dog, a Labrador Retriever, called Bijou. I like to play with him. I am going to Eilat for two days with my family. There is a special ceremony there which my mother is organizing for the camel trip.
Bye,
Nicole
Dear Nicole,
I got your letter today. Today is hot outside. My tooth is lose. Could you send me another picture of you? My favorite subject is reading. Yesterday I went on a trip to the circus in Washington D.C. It was fun. I paid $6.00 for an icecream cone, flash light, and a cup for free. Do these problems : love,
Aysha
10 10 6 - 6 -4 -4 ----- ----- -----
Dear Nicole,
How are you? I haven't heard from you in a while. You mad at me? Just kidding. I hope you write back soon. Could you send me a picture? Do you have any brothers or sisters. I do I have two brothers. Their names are Mohammed and Usef.
Your friend
Aysha