Across the Ocean and Back Again

There is so much to write about our trip to the United States that I barely know where to start!  We hadf a lot of adventures there, and I had to work very hard, but Bracha told me on the plane on the way home that I had behaved in an ex-M-plerry manner.  I'm not sure what that means, but I gather it means I was good.  I know that I did bark at the horses and buggies in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, but besides that I was a model guide dog, doing my job even on crowded Fifth Avenue and sitting quietly in meetings, making friends with people and dogs everywhere I went.
There were a lot of puzzling things in the United States that I didn't understand: the second day we were there we went to see a large bell.  A lot of people were waiting in line to see it, so I thought naturally that at one point it would at least ring...but it didn't.  And they didn't let anyone touch it except for Bracha because everyone else could see it but they let Bracha feel it.  And I don't know why they keep it: it has a big crack going down one side!  Why don't they get a new one?  Anyway, here we are next to the bell..

The bell that everybody comes to see but doesn't even ring.  It's called the Liberty Bell..

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Sara and I gazing out over the Atlantic Ocean, good friends together.

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I know that Bracha loved being in Manhattan again, despite the fact that sometimes she felt a little sad because Suki had been there with her before, and that reminded her of Suki.  I made sure to sit close to Bracha and comfort her, and to help guide her through the crowded streets of Manhattan.  The buildings are so tall there that it is like walking through a large valley with high walls, and there is, er, very little place to go busy, except for the lovely huge park in the middle, which I loved.  But the most interesting thing was that when we got to Atlantic City Mike took Bracha to a large place with lots of noise and flashing lights.  It was called a Casino.  Mike sat Bracha down at one of the machines with flashing lights and put money inside.  The machine made a lot of ringing and nose and when it stopped Bracha got more money out of it!  She and Mike laughed and cheered.  I wonder why we don't have machines like this in Israel.  IT seems like a good thing to have...
The only day I was really unhappy in the United States was when Bracha got hold of one of those darned bicycles and rode off with Pnina, leaving me barking unhappily with  Mike taking care of me.  But Mike took me to the big park and  I ran and ran on the green lawn, even caught a golf ball on the fly!  But I was happiest when Bracha rode back again at the end of the day and hugged me, and told me she had missed me.
Anyway, I spent a lot of tine in Pennsylvania playing with Penny, Mike's dog, and she let me share her toys. with  me.  And I met a lot of really nice people who petted me and admired me constantly.  One of the nicest was Sara.  Sara  took to me immediately, and we sat together looking out out over the ocean that is right in back of her house.  I knew that the next day I would be flying over that ocean back home again, and I was happy that our adventures were over.  And Bracha has told me that we will be going to the United States again.  I wonder if they will have fixed that bell by the time I get back there, and if it will ring...