Arrive in Tel Aviv this afternoon at the Ben Gurion International Airport. Upon arrival, the group will be met and transferred to your local hotel. Relax this evening and settle into your hotel.

Tal Hotel is just a minute’s walk from Metzizim Beach. Combining upscale style and design, the beautiful property offers guests a superb Israeli buffet breakfast, in addition to lunch and dinner options, a range of seminar halls, a breezy rooftop and a gym and sauna. They have free Wi-Fi and a 24-hour front desk for your convenience. 

All travelers will gather this evening with your national guide and receive further information on the program.

Enjoy a welcome dinner this evening at a local restaurant.

Overnight: Tal Hotel (or similar)

Included meals: Dinner

Begin your professional exchange to get an overview of the medical system in Israel related to speech language pathology and audiology issues during a visit to a local academic facility like Tel Aviv University Department of Communication Disorders. 

Lunch will be provided this afternoon.

This afternoon the group will meet with staff at a local organization like the Israeli Speech Hearing & Language Association. Learn about their organization and role in the leading, representing, guiding, and educating the community of speech therapists and audiologists in Israel. Discuss topics of mutual interest including clinical research.

Guest Program: Guests will visit the Peres Center for Innovation this morning. Stop for lunch before heading to the Old Jaffa Port. In 1954, Jaffa became an integral part of the Tel Aviv municipality. Explore the boutiques and galleries in the old city including a stop to see Clock Tower Square with buildings dating back to before the Ottoman period. Drive on to the Old Train Station, the central hub that once connected the holy land with its neighboring countries. End your tour with a visit to Neve Tzedek, first Jewish neighborhood to be built outside the old city of the ancient port of Jaffa. 

Dinner is on your own this evening.

Overnight: Tal Hotel (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast & Lunch 

This morning you will spend the day exploring Haifa. The group will visit a facility like Micha Haifa Center that provides treatment, education, and rehabilitation for hearing impaired children.

Arrive in Haifa and ascend Mt. Carmel for a view of Haifa Bay and then enter and walk through the beautiful Bahai Gardens with its amazing Shrine.

Proceed to Wadi Nisnas, a unique Arab neighborhood, known locally for its delicious culinary delights. 

Enjoy lunch at one of the restaurants in the area on the footsteps of the spectacular Bahai Gardens.

Visit Beit Hagefen, an Arab-Jewish Cultural Center. Founded in 1963, their mission is to establish shared spaces that contain the diversity of identities and cultures in Israel and worldwide.

Return to Tel Aviv with dinner on your own.

Overnight: Ramada Hotel (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Check out of your hotel and drive to Bethlehem. Visit the Church of Nativity and shepherd’s fields. Located in Palestine, the basilica is in the West Bank. The grotto is of great religious significance to Christians as the birthplace of Jesus. It is the oldest site used as a place of worship in the faith and is the oldest major church in the Holy Land.

Stop at Mount Zion to visit King David's Tomb and Cenacle, the room said to be where the Last Supper took place and the apostles gathered to pray after Jesus ascended into heaven.

After lunch in the Old City walk through the Jewish quarters to the recently excavated and restored Cardo, the Roman Road. See the Jewish Wailing Wall and the Kotel. The Western Wall is a place of pilgrimage and sacred to the Jewish people as the only remains of the Second Temple.

Continue to the Christian Quarter to walk along the Via Dolorosa to follow in the footsteps of Jesus before his crucifixion. Head onward to tour the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the location of the crucifixion and tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. 

This evening after checking in at your local hotel, the group will enjoy dinner followed by a night spectacular show at the Tower of David.

Overnight: Harmony Hotel (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After breakfast, the group will have a moving visit to Yad Vashem, the world’s foremost Holocaust Memorial Museum, and archival center. Hear about this dark time in the history of the Jews, be moved by stories of heroism and bravery, and experience special moments in the various memorials and exhibits. End the visit at the very moving exhibit at the Children’s Pavilion.
 

Lunch will be provided at a local restaurant.

This afternoon is set aside for a meeting with a local clinic like Haddasah Academic College Clinic of Communication Disorders to learn more about treatment options for people with language disabilities, speech delay, and other disorders.

Accompanying Guests: This afternoon guests will visit Machane Yehuda Market with a local guide. Enjoy some time to explore as you take in the local Israeli flavors, colors, and atmosphere. Learn about important Jerusalem families that have lived in the neighborhood throughout the years and visit some of the market.

This evening the group will enjoy a farewell dinner over a home-cooked meal with a local family. 

Overnight: Harmony Hotel (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Check out of your Jerusalem hotel and make your way to Jordan. Cross the border at Allenby Bridge where local representatives will assist in the visa formalities.

The group will head directly to the Dead Sea Spa Hotel for lunch. Check in formalities will be a bit later this afternoon giving you some time to relax and enjoy the hotel amenities or take a dip in the sea.

Dinner will be provided at the hotel this evening.

Overnight: Dead Sea Spa Hotel (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After breakfast, check out of your hotel and make your way to Petra via the desert highway. Lunch will be provided this afternoon at the Basin Restaurant. 

Petra Canyon Hotel is very close to the entrance gate to Petra and has an outdoor swimming pool and a terrace. This 4-star hotel offers a concierge service and a tour desk. The property has a 24-hour front desk, room service and currency exchange for guests.

Explore Petra this afternoon! Perhaps the words of Dean Burgon’s famous poem: ‘Match me such a marvel save in Eastern clime / A rose-red city half as old as time…’ reflect some truth about Petra. Yet words can hardly do justice to the true magnificence that is Petra. 

Some archaeologists have ranked ancient Petra as the eighth wonder of the ancient world – a truly justifiable claim. This remote dead city is one of the great archaeological treasures in the world, undoubtedly; it is the most important and famous attraction of Jordan. Much of Petra’s appeal comes from its awesome, multicolored sandstone high mountains; it is a secluded site of steep rocky slops, towering craggy mountain tops and high cliffs, into which most of the celebrated tombs, facades, theatres, and stairways are carved. Nature and architecture combine to give a mythical aura to the site. 

Dinner will be provided at the hotel this evening.

Overnight: Petra Canyon Hotel (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After breakfast head to Wadi Rum. Enjoy 2-hour jeep tour in the stupendous, timeless place, virtually untouched by humanity and its destructive forces. Here, it is the weather and winds that have carved the imposing, towering skyscrapers, so elegantly described by T.E. Lawrence as “vast, echoing and god-like”. A maze of monolithic rock-scapes rises from the desert floor to heights of 1,750 meters creating a natural challenge for serious mountaineers. Hikers can enjoy the tranquility of the boundless empty spaces; explore the canyons and water holes to discover 4000-year-old rock drawings and the many other spectacular treasures this vast wilderness holds in store.

Lunch will be provided at Sinam Camp.

Head onward to Amman for check in at the Landmark Amman Hotel. The 5* property has six restaurants and lounges with a variety of dining options. Guest rooms are spacious and have a large bathroom and work area. They have everything you will need for a comfortable stay including a mini bar, personal safe, free broadband internet, free daily paper, bottled water in your room, kettle for tea/coffee, and bathroom amenities. 

Dinner will be provided this evening at the hotel.

Overnight: Landmark Hotel (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Today professional members of the group will visit a local hospital or clinic in the morning. Later meet with a local university or government representative to learn about SLP/Audiology professionals in Jordan, policy, provision of service, access to care and other topics of mutual interest. 

Lunch will be provided today at a local restaurant like Sufra with delightful traditional dishes.

Accompanying Guests: Today guests will enjoy a visit to the Royal Society for Conservation of Nature (Wild Jordan), with a quick explanation on reserves throughout Jordan and for those interested to pop into their gift shop. Pass through shops and the old downtown and reach to the most famous “Hashem” Restaurant. Of all foods, the varieties here cater to the poor, the middle class and up to the highly famous & rich. Head next to the gold market before visiting the Hussaini Mosque. Walk onward passing through the vegetable market before reaching the Nymphaeum & then onto the Roman Theatre. The visit of the Theatre will also include the Folklore Museum. Finish the day up at the Citadel. After lunch visit St. George Church: The Madaba to see the mosaic map that covers the floor. Head on the finish up your day with a visit to Mount Nebo, one of the most revered holy sites in Jordan and the place where Moses was buried. A small Byzantine church was built there by early Christians, which has been expanded into a vast complex

Enjoy a farewell dinner this evening.

Overnight: Landmark Hotel (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After breakfast say farewell to Jordan and fly back to the U.S., with arrival the same day.

Elise Davis-McFarland, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a former president of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). She has enjoyed a rewarding career in higher education that includes teaching, program development, and leadership of speech-language pathology programs, research and executive-level college administration. Dr. Davis-McFarland's interest in international education and practice led to a Rotary Faculty Fellowship to teach speech-language pathology at the Medical University of Southern Africa. Her interest in global issues in the speech-language pathology profession continues. She has been a reviewer for Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. Her areas of research and publication include speech and language development in infants and children with HIV-AIDS, multicultural issues in language assessment, literacy development, and pediatric dysphagia.

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Please note: All itineraries are subject to change based on availability of hotels, flights and hosting organizations at the time of finalization of booking. Comparable meetings and activities will be arranged should an itinerary change be necessary. 30 days before departure, a finalized itinerary will be available and reflect final details.
 

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