What a welcome. I mean this is it. Arriving at BT we were welcomed by the host students and a billboard, saying: 
‘Welcome Hungarians.’ We were amazed and touched.
As to begin the day Dr. Rubin showed us around the school and told us about many interesting facts that we had not known so far about BT. We were informed about the history of the school, heard about the remarkable rabbis, we were fascinated by the artwork that is almost finished. Students were shown the famous library we teachers always stand at for a moment and we all wish if we could have such a beautiful collection of books. We visited the Student Lounge which was worth a visit and the thought of creating something similar for our kids. It was interesting to see the ceiling paintings on the corridor as a relaxing thing to watch whenever a student starts staring around. We heard about the charity of collecting shoes which we consider as a wonderful idea to help those in need.
Our next program was with Rochelle Sullivan, who created a wonderful 45 minutes in helping us release stress. Kids were shown some stress releasing techniques and taught each other them. We laughed a lot, we enjoyed ourselves very much.
After lunch we were taken to Lloyd Street Synagogue and then to B’nai Israel. Due to guide, Helene Waranch, we got all the possible information about the history of the Baltimore Jewish Congregation and synagogues and she also took us to the Jewish Museum of Maryland where our kids could see the story of some old Jewish families.
Luckily we were honored to meet Dr. Schorr while having dinner, which was a great opportunity to share our first experiences with her and tell her about our kids’ teaching experiences in Grade 4. We were very proud of our students who could have a memorable lesson and BT teachers were all impressed and what is more, kids enjoyed themselves a lot.
The last thing we did was watch the basketball match. It was amazing how passionately Warriors were playing, both girls and boys. Coaches Ari Braun and Jack Warnick are doing a great job with these kids training them to be there for each other during the whole match. Whenever one falls all the rest are there for them to support. Those who sit and wait to play are focusing on the ones who are playing a hundred percent. Mental support is as important an issue as the physical one if not more. So disciplined the kids were during the whole game. It was the best ever finishing for the evening.
We enjoyed our first day in The House of Prayer. What a welcome it was.~ Violetta Varga
