My Trip To Sr Thomas

CONFIRMATION CLASS TRIP TO THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
January 6, 2012:
The Fabulous Five plus two met in the pre-dawn hours at the Cape Air counter for an easy check in. Despite Sue & Jimmy's oft expressed fears, no permission letters, photo ID's (of kids) or other complicated stuff was needed. Hugs were exchanged and it was off on our adventure. We were loaded on a small plane (purple, Luis' favoritecolor) and we had it to ourselves. No other passengers-just the seven of us, the pilot and a mechanic who needed a ride to St. Thomas. Rosie got to be co-pilot and we saw a gorgeous sunrise as we made the short, half hour hop. We had no checked bags and, almost before we knew it, we were at the curb at the St. Thomas airport. Jim waited for Brooke Robbins, our driver/guide for the day, while therest of the group took care of the important stuff-eating breakfast. Brooke and Jimmy picked up our rental vehicle and then the rest of the gang and we were off!

Our first stop was the Jewish Cemetery where we met Katina Coulianos, the synagogue's historian, who gave us a really interesting talk on the history of the cemetery and of the Jewish community on the island. The monuments in thecemetery are above ground while the bodies are buried belowground. In some of the other islands where there is a danger of flooding, the bodies are also above ground but there isn't a flooding problem in St. Thomas-the Jews did it because they were accustomed to this tradition. The group was most interested in Katina's presentation and, at its finish, Rosie presented her with a gift. After a brief stopat the original Jewish Cemetery, it was off to our hotel, Mafolie, for check in and a brief pause.

We reassembled for the (steep) downhill ride to our schedule lunch at Jen's Restaurant which, unfortunately, due to it being Three Kings Day was closed. We didn't panic-we knew we wouldn't go hungry and pretty soon spotted The Green House, owned by an old friend of Sue and Jimmy's from St.Maarten, where an outstanding lunch was enjoyed by all.
LUNCH AT THE GREEN HOUSE
We arose stuffed-but not too stuffed for local ice cream at a nearby stand. We had some free time for shopping and then piled into our trusty SUV for the very curvy ride up to the top of the island where we found the studio of Radio Buzz which is owned by Cristina and Alan Friedman who grew up in Puerto Ricoand were married at Temple Beth Shalom. They gave us a tour, interviewed the kids (a recording of the interviews will be coming soon) and presented Buzz Tee Shirts to all. Everyone was stoked and really appreciative to Cristina and Alan for their hospitality.

THE BUZZ BUNCH
After a little down time, we took off for the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas where, before the services, we got tosee a DVD of the history of the Jews in St. Thomas narrated by Rabbi Arthur Starr who, unfortunately, was off island as was the current rabbi, Rabbi Stephen Moch. Their service started promptly at 6:30 and the confirmation kids were very much a part of it. Sarah and Rosie recited the blessing and lit the candles, Luis and Jaime opened the ark and Sam and Sarah read their confirmation speeches inlieu of a sermon. Everyone present was very impressed by the speeches and by all of our kids-they made us proud. On the first Friday of each month, the synagogue has a dinner after services to which we were invited. The food was Moroccan and was given high marks by the Puerto Rican contingent. They have Temple members who prepare the dishes and each month they have a different theme. They chargethe attendees a nominal amount but we were their guests. We presented a copy of The Jews of Jihlava Book to the synagogue for their library and made an early exit as we were tired from all of our activities.

January 7, 2012:
A very good breakfast was included in our room rate and we did it justice. At breakfast, we met the resident three legged cat which, although a little freaky at first,...