Going back

The top photo is me with Suha, the brilliant and dedicated English teacher at Comprehensive School 1 in Shefar'amr, where I ran workshops today. The population of the school is predominantly Druze, with some Christian and Muslim students and staff too. I worked with 14-15 year olds and 16-17 year olds from an area with very little money. They have never had a drama session there and don't have spoken English lessons. They threw themselves into a whole host of improv activities and were absolutely wonderful. It warmed my heart.

The bottom photo is me with my hostess from the village where the fire was, Rochelle. She and I were reunited tonight when I went back there for the belated bar mitzvah party that would have been held last Saturday night. She and her husband Doron are amazingly strong, and we have bonded through our shared experience. As Rochelle said, we needed to see each other again when we weren't running bra-less into the night... The party was so warm and joyous, with the dessert buffet all baked and provided by families from a neighbouring city.

Today was hard work, and I definitely had some wobbly moments. It was hard not to break down when Suha told me how worried she'd been for me when she'd heard about the fire. I'll be honest, it was excruciating driving back up the long, steep pathway we'd run down in terror and panic on Friday.

But today was also one of the best days. Dancing with our cousins at their party was truly life affirming. Mazal tov!