Going Home- Sunday, March 3, 2013

So, the Holocaust Museum, was a slightly less intense experience than I expected, but that's for the better. We did not go to the main exhibition, which Mr. L. admitted was more appropriate for high school students. We went through the exhibit called, "Daniel's Story." It tells the story of one young Jewish boy through hands on exhibits. The exhibit actually seems targeted even younger students then we have, but that's OK. You start in Daniel's home and see the various rooms where they lived, then see the remains of Kristalnacht, and see where the family lives in the ghetto, then finally the family is moved to a concentration camp (which is summed up briefly in one room). Through out, you are invited to open the suitcases of the family, lift windows to see before and after pictures, and such. Our 67 students moved through in a long, but attentive line, with other school groups before and after.

That exhibit didn't take long. Mr. L. wanted to show the students a large exhibit on propaganda, but it has been removed. Instead, we went to an exhibit on modern day genocide around the world, but it also has been changed and is apparently quite a bit shorter than it used to be. Mr. G. said it best when he suggested that he had no objections to getting on the road. Eventually, that's what happened. We waited for a while but ended up leaving early.

Post-script- Saturday, March 2, 2013

The kids seemed to have a great time on the boat last night. The DJ had them going. The best part was when Mr. G. threw down in against a student in a dance-off. When the student was beat, Mr. P. stepped in against him. Everyone was roaring at it. But I found myself wondering by the end of the night, "Why are we on a boat?" Since it was dark outside, it was hard to see out the windows, and the focus was on the music anyway. One kid even said to me that he forgot he was on a boat. I suppose one benefit was the security. Our group had a whole deck to ourselves. There was supposed to be another private party two decks up, but we never intermingled. But I also know that we didn't know that was going to be the case until we got there.

It's morning and we're planning a stop at the Holocaust Museum today. I've never really wanted to go see it because it seemed like such a depressing way to spend vacation time. I understand why we're going, and the English teachers do a Holocaust unit with the 8th graders, so it makes sense, but I'm not really looking forward to it. After that is the looooong bus ride home.