Quite a Fourth of July

Yesterday was a day that I won't soon forget. It started off with a full breakfast of two hard-boiled egg whites, a bowl of the Israel version of Smacks cereal, which by the way was definitely lacking the abundant sugar content I so badly desired, and the best Israeli Insta-coffee I have ever tasted. This breakfast, although mighty tasty and one of the best I have had yet , was not the reason for my amazing day.
The night of July 3rd, I found out that I was going to be involved in two dynamic charity events on American independece day. One of which would involve running a half-day baseball camp with two of my teammates for the 11 year old Israel National Baseball Team. They are getting ready to go to the Czech Republic for two weeks on Sunday to play in the European Championship Tournament. To top it off, the camp would be held at the Ra'anana Little League field. The other was to take place at Ra'anana public park, where three teammates and I would bring league sanctioned balls and gloves to an event put on by Chaiyenu, a branch of
Chai Lifeline, which is a charity organization that helps out kids with cancer all over the world.
As our minivan approached Ra'anana Little League field, I was reminded of the innocence that young kids possess. It didn't matter that the Express were batting a dismal .189 as a team, or that we are an even worse 1-6, the kids embraced us as if we were their parents and they had just found us among a sea of 50,000 people after being lost for two hours. We taught them how to properly execute a rundown, how to run a first and third play when the runner on first steals, and how to put their batting helmets on correctly. But none of that stuff mattered as much as when we were able to sign autographs for them, talk about their experiences in Israel (most have moved here from America), and even play a little baseball trivia. I swear there was an 11 year old kid who knew more trivia than every baseball encyclopedia combined. When he asked me to give him my all time Washington Senators team, I decided it was time to throw in the towel.
After the camp was over we all boareded a bus and went to watch Bet Shemesh continue their leaguewide dominance over IBL competition. They are 9-0 and don't look like they are going to lose anytime soon. I swear it's like David vs. Goliath but in this case, Goliath always come out on top.
Anyways, four hours and a quick power nap later, it was time to take a taxi to Ra'anana Park and meet the kids from Chaiyenu. I'm not sure if they were more excited to see the players, or the boxes of goodies (see: two dozen balls, 12 gloves) we brought with us, but when the announcement was made that we had arrived, 400 kids made a beline straight for us. I felt like I was directly in the path of the Million Man March. We tried to hand things out as best we could, but were overwhelmed by the hundreds of tiny fingers grabbing at us from all directions. After the goods were passed out, we tried to console those who came emptyhanded and left with nothing but tears streaming down their faces because we couldn't give them a ball. We played catch, took pictures, signed more autographs...and arms, but more importantly put smiles on a lot of kids faces who are either siblings of cancer patients, young kids in remission, or even taking a quick break from chemo treatments. It was quite an event.
After such a full day, I went to Mike's Place last night to celebrate my independence. It is an American bar in Tel Aviv that plays live music and gives you that American feel we all miss around here. It was nice to get the taste and sound of home for a couple of hours. Tonight we play the 1-7 Petach Tikvah Pioneers. Someone has to win...right?