First Visit to Israel

In 2003, we traveled to Israel for the first time. We spent one week in Jerusalem volunteering at a soup kitchen. We volunteered through the Livnot program.
This was my introduction to the feral cat population of Israel.
My main job at the soup kitchen was to schlep the trash out to the dumpster. The dumpster was a main feeding point for about twenty feral cats.
I wasn't able to make eye contact with them. I knew I would want to bring them all home and I knew I couldn't do that.
On this trip, I did decide that I wanted to make Aliyah. Little did I know at that time that pets would be an important part of that step.