An hour in complete darkness

Last Wednesday (the 30th), I got my 2nd non-Mom haircut. I went to a place called Highlights nearby. Allie had gone and so had another girl from the program. The guys that own it/work there are from South Africa, though they have lived in Israel the majority of their lives. They do, however, speak perfect English. Allie loved them, and though they were more expensive than the first place, I figured being able to communicate exactly what I want and get it was worth it. Well...I was right! I am still growing out the bulk of my hair, but I got fun new long bangs and layers to spice things up! He (Jonathan) even straightened it for me. I don't think it's ever been so straight- I don't have the appropriate straightener or patience. I didn't wash it for 3 days, just to keep it!



That evening, I went with some girls from my program (Dina, Shari, Stephanie & Jen) to a town about 30 minutes south of Tel Aviv to the children's museum because they have a Blind Exhibit. You are given a cane and led through complete darkness by a blind person. Talia was our leader. I don't know how they did it, but your eyes never adjust! There are several rooms you go through, each set up with objects, smells and sounds of real life places, like a pond, a cabin, an outdoor market, a harbor (where we "rode" on a boat), a city street, and a cafeteria. In each room, we had to feel and listen around, exploring and trying to figure out what was there. As I was passing a fence on the city street, a dog started barking. I actually jumped! We were told to bring some change ahead of time and we bought snacks at the cafeteria. We had to bring change so that we could feel the different sizes and figure out how much we were paying. On the way to the table, I dropped my bag of chips and Talia picked it up immediately. I was pretty amazed! We sat and discussed our experience and asked Talia questions about her life as we snacked in the darkness. Talia said that when she first started working there, it only took her a few minutes in each room to learn her way around. I don't think I could have done that. I felt like I was fumbling around the whole time, proud of myself when I found something new on my own that no one else pointed out. The whole point was to, for at least an hour of your life, not just imagine, but actually experience, what life would be like without the gift of sight. It was a very mind-opening experience.