I cannot show a lot of pictures because at least one of the teams that is here cannot be photographed. But it has been a very interesting experience thus far! We have two more days of games, then we'll spend a day touring in Jerusalem before everyone heads back to their home countries.
The first night we had a masked "speed dating" event to help all the participants get to know different people.
A couple of nights later we had a boat cruise on the Red Sea. There were water sports and swimming and the amazing thing was that we could see Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and even Saudi Arabia all at the same time! (In this photo you can only see Egypt and Israel though, oh and a plane flying into Eilat at sunset)
I believe that all of the participants are having an absolute blast!!! There has been a lot of dancing and music. In fact, I think the music has brought these groups together even more than Basketball.
I hope that these interactions make a difference. I hope that this isn't just an excuse for a holiday by the sea with no take-away. I hope that relationships are built across divides. Not just relationships that last a week, but relationships that continue long into the future. These are my hopes as I look towards the last couple days of the tournament.
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