A lot of this post may make no sense to you -- in fact, parts of it make no sense to me.

The organizers of the trip have told us nothing about what is included (other than the airfare, the hotel, and meals they have arranged at a kosher restaurant. I would be surprised if any of the children eat kosher, but the organizers probably arranged a good group discount with the restaurant. They have not even told us how the children will get to TLV -- which is roughly 200 kilometers from their city. Will there be a bus? If so, is it included in the 3500 shekels? Will the parents have to drive the children? That would be two r/ts (one to take them to the airport, the second to pick them up. That totals 800 kilometers of driving.

About a week after I started this thread, they announced that payment must be made by March 1, otherwise there would be an extra charge (they did not say how much). That was less than a week away and the family did not have the 500 shekels (which was their share). Instead, I went with the mother and paid the 3,500 myself. Then, last week, the teacher sent all the parents SMS messages saying there would be an additional show in Holon (near Tel Aviv) and any child who participated in it would have to buy special shoes, a long sleeve black sweatshirt, and black stretch pants. That was two days before the show, but fortunately, the parents had just gotten their monthly pay and had the money.

All of this, of course, is in addition to the annual charge for being in the class. It really annoyed me and I told the mother to speak to the teacher and get a full, complete, amount for everything they would have to pay for the next year. The teacher said she could not do that and the mother then decided that the daughter will not continue next year.

As far as the daughter returning with Czech money which cannot be spent here is concerned, I don't want her coming back with any foreign currency. I am going to tell her that if she arrives in Israel with anything except shekels, she has to give the remainder to me. She has very little opportunity to "go wild" with spending and I want her to really treat herself. There are plenty of things to buy in Prague and I am going to suggest that if she has money left, she should go to one of the shops that sell puppets and pick one up for her sister.

I am not a particularly wealthy person, but at age 77 I do not have many expenses, I figure that I have at least enough to last me for another 20 years (which I will most likely not reach) and have made out a will splitting all that I have between my son and my daughter, and am estimating that will come to about $50,000 each assuming the stock market doesn't crash down on my head. Still, while I actually enjoy spoiling the two girls in this family, it infuriates me to see how this dance school operates, especially in a city where many families are in bad financial condition.