With a 4 hour layover until our flight to Israel, of course Amnon finds a way to put Icnext cohort 2 to work, our mission being to interview individuals and families waiting alongside us to board the flight to Tel Aviv. The first challenge was not deciding what questions to ask, it was determining who was traveling to Tel Aviv or who was traveling to Dublin, Ireland,with gates located directly next to each other. The first four groups I approached all looked at me with confused eyes and ultimately shrugged me away stating that they were headed to Ireland.
From across the gate, I noticed an elderly woman needle pointing a challah cover, and I immediately determined that this woman must be headed to Tel Aviv. I approached her with a huge, almost forced smile and asked for her permission to interview her along with three of my peers. She agreed and my first interview had begun. She wasted no time in filling us in on her current situation. I was surprised how willing she was to share her life stories without hesitation. I could tell she felt a connection with us and I was glad to give this woman an opportunity to tell us about her interesting life. She told us about her brother who immigrated to Israel in the year 1949 as Israel was just being defined as a state. She also told us about her childhood growing up and being an active Zionist in Massachusetts. Her active role in Zionism eventually led to her entire family moving to Israel. This woman was a perfect example of someone who I was hoping to speak with and fit perfectly into our theme of family.