time of my life

I am so tired but I won't have any time this weekend to update the blog so I am going to do it now but it might be short and sucky so I apologize in advance.

Monday the group went to Nazareth to tour different churches. We went to the church where Mary found out that she was pregnant with Jesus. The churches we saw were gorgeous. Monday night

I went to Barbarosa (a bar in Ramat Yishai) with two Israeli guys that live in our dorms and with Becca, Hannah, and Danielle. We met up with Shani who is one of the teachers that we worked with on the kibbutz. That was a lot of fun. On Tuesday during the day we went to Bet Shean which is a ton of cool ancient ruins from Roman ti

mes. There was an ancient Roman public bathroom which was very awesome. We sat on the toilets and made constipated faces, you can see those pix on facebook. After that we went to the Sachne which is a natural spring.

We went swimming and played in the waterfall. We got back around 3:00 so I decided to be spontaneous and go to Tel Aviv. In Tel Aviv Mattan and I went out with Shy and a couple of his friends. We went to a bar called Yam Bar and it's on the beach in Herzliya. It was very chill and nice. I am glad I went because it was the last time I'll see Shy because he is going to Maryland for a few weeks and he leaves in a couple days. Today we went to class in t

he morning and then swam at Ramat Dawid (Yoav's kibbutz). We then went to Nahalal which is a pretty famous Moshav in Israel. Right now I am just hanging out and doing laundry and I am going to bed soon because I'm exhausted. Tomorrow should be fun, Mattan is coming up north and we are going to visit his friend in Nazareth.

Zippori and Tel Aviv

I had the most incredible weekend! Friday morning we woke up and went to Zippori National Park. It was very beautiful and there were tons of very cool ruins. Apparently Zippori is where the Mishna was written. This is a picture of an ancient Roman theater. Zippori is where the Romans and Jews lived together and there was a lot of controversy because the Romans lived a very materialistic lifestyle and the Jews had to figure out how to either adapt to that lifestyle or keep distant from it in order to maintain their moral standards. This theater was used for entertainment that was crude and sexual and it was a place for prostitutes to come. The Jews were forbidden to go to the theater because it was against Jewish morals but many Jews came anyways because it was a very extravagant and fun thing to do during that time period. After Zippori, we came back to the dorms and got ready to leave for the weekend. I took a bus to Tel Aviv and Mattan picked me up at the bus station. We went to his place and got ready and then went to meet his dad and his dad's girlfriend. They live in Ra'anana. They were so sweet and gave us cookies, coffee, watermelon, and chocolate. It was so nice to meet them. After that we went back to Tel Aviv to pick up Mattan's friend Shy and we drove to Maccabim where Tamar lives. We had Shabbos dinner and it was so wonderful. She made sooo much food and I had to try everything, I was so full afterwards. After we left Tamar's we went back to Tel Aviv to party. Mattan and I dropped Shy off and then went to a birthday party which was kind of weird and not giving off very good vibes so we left early. We went to meet up with Shy and

(Ishay, Me, Shy)

his friends at a bar called The Clara. It was enormous and very beautiful. The bar is completely outside and there are couches and tables and the railing goes around the outside of the bar and you can look out onto the ocean. The waves literally crash up against the side of the bar railings. It is very cool, I tried to take a picture but it was too dark. On Saturday Mattan and I picked up his friend Yaela and drove to a beach on the Med. sea about 30 minutes north of Tel Aviv. Shannie lives in that area so she met us there and so did Mattan and Yaela's

other friend Nitzan. We stayed at the beach for a few hours and just played in the water and laid out and drank smoothies. It was so relaxing but I burned the back of my legs a little bit. At the beach we saw these kites and went to check it out and they were connected to surfers. Apparently the kite gets blown by the wind and it makes the surfboard fly like ten feet in the air. You have to be really good at it for it to work I guess, apparently Mattan has some friends that can do it. After the beach Mattan and I met up with Shy and we went to Max Brenner which is a chocolate factory and restaurant. They have an entire menu of everything chocolate. I got a dark chocolate truffle milkshake. It was to die for.

This picture is of Mattan and me on the beach drinking the best smoothie ever.

Everyone got back this morning from Tel Aviv and wherever else people traveled and we had to go right to class. We had a four hour class but it wasn't too bad because we talked about some really interesting things. Tonight we are doing Israeli cooking at a Moshav in or near Afula, I'm not quite sure. It should be good.

(Happy 1 year Anniversary Stef and Shalom!)

Feeling better!

So today was amazing! I am finally feeling a lot better, yay! It was the last day of camp and we had a party all morning. There were huge blow-up toys like a moonbounce and a "rock wall". There was a DJ and someone leading games. It was so fun. We danced and played all morning. I worked the hotdog and chocolate fondu stand with this guy Moshe and one of the teachers named Shani. We were laughing and joking around and Shani thought it would be funny to put chocolate all over my face, which of course instigated the other counselors and campers who also started rubbing chocolate all over my face. It was gross and messy but of course hilarious and so much fun. This guy that was leading the games had all of the counselors come to the front of the gym and we had to wear these hats with whistles hanging from them and we had to try to catch the whistle in our mouths. I did not succeed. After washing off the fondu and cleaning myself up a little bit, the helper in Edna's room thought it would be funny to get me soaked so I spent the rest of the morning in soaking wet clothes, thank goodness Anat had an extra camp t-shirt that I could wear to class. After the party in the gym we all went to our classrooms to spend quality time together and say our goodbyes. We got paper bags and everyone signed them and we all received certificates and mugs. It was pretty emotional, although I am going to miss the kids so much I am also happy that we will have an easier couple weeks for the rest of the trip. The camp was such an incredible experience and I loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat. While we were coloring on our bags the kids started drawing all over me, so of course I joined in and drew all over them which just backfired even more. Needless to say it was a very messy day for me, luckily none of the marker was permanent but I still have shapes on my knees and some highlighter on my cheek haha.

In class today we watched a movie called "Sallach Shabati" with Zero Mostel. It was hilarious. I also had a little pow wow with our professor and came up with a few ideas of what to write my paper on. I'm going to write on Exodus for sure but there are a few concepts I can talk about. The paper only has to be 3-5 pages so it shouldn't be too hard.

This weekend is going to be fabulous, I am going to Tel Aviv. On Friday night I'm going to Tamar's house and doing Shabbos with the whole fam. I can't wait to see her and Shannie and to meet Shannie's fiance. Friday night Mattan set up a bunch of his friends to go out and practically our whole group will be in Tel Aviv so we'll all meet up and go out clubbing. Saturday I plan on spending every waking hour on the beach in Tel Aviv. I was supposed to go to a wedding in Tel Aviv on sunday night but now I found out it's not until Aug. 2 and I don't think I can go that night because we have a huge BBQ with the camp staff. Oh well :( The BBQ will be fun and all the teachers want to take us out to the bars which will be hilarious and also very fun. Okay I am going to shower now because I am still full of chocolate fondu and marker.

I'll try to write again this weekend.

sick :(

So the past couple days haven't been too exciting. I've had a bit of a cold, just feeling stuffed up, sore throat, and run down. It sucks but I'll get over it soon. Yesterday I went to camp but felt really crappy so I went to the nurse and she gave me some stuff for my throat and I laid down for the rest of the morning and Keren brought me tea and Anat gave me pizza. The women at camp are the best, they made me lay down and rest and Keren told me I HAD TO GO TO SLEEP. haha. It was nice having some people care for me and make me feel better because I felt so bad that I was missing camp. After camp we had class and then we came back to the dorms and had dinner. Ellie, Becca, and I walked to Spoons (a coffee shop) in Afula. We have gone there two nights in a row, we are obsessed with it. They have really good cappacinos and dessert. After Ellie and I feel better we will go back again, maybe tomorrow or the next night. I'm so happy that I am so close with Ellie and now Becca. We are like a little threesome. Today I went on the field trip with camp but after a couple hours I just felt too awful to stay, it was so hot there and I felt like crap so I went back to the dorms. I took a long nap and then skipped class and got some food with Yoav and laid in bed all day. I'm finally feeling a little bit better, I really needed these past couple days to rest. Tomorrow will be an easy day at camp because we are watching a movie and not going outside because there is a heat warning. Then we are swimming at Yoav's kibbutz and then going to class. Apparently our professor Matt is sleeping over at the dorms tomorrow night and we're going to party it up with him. That should be fun.

The field trip today was at the Marzipan factory and the John Deere factory. Marzipan is gross but it was fun because we got to make our own shapes, I bought some souvenirs.

Last night I skyped with Steve for almost two hours which made me so happy. I'm missing him a lot and can't believe it's only a month until I'm going to Las Vegas.

I'll write more tomorrow or the next day.

Goodnight!

And we're back.

HELLO EVERYONE! I'm very sorry I haven't written in so long, it has been a crazy past few days and I have had literally zero time to get on my computer until now. So I guess I left off on my birthday. My 21st was a lot of fun. We had camp in the morning and Danny, Edna, and the kids were amazing, they threw me a party and decorated the room and gave me cards and a cake. It was so wonderful. After camp we went to class which was okay, typical class. After class we went to a Druze family's home and had a feast. There was SO much food. This family is a very wealthy Druze family and their sons are the highest ranking Druze officers in the IDF. Wednesday we had a field trip with our campers, we went to Ma'alot and went ice skating, swimming, and go-carting. It was fun but exhausting and I got hurt on the go-carts. A kid rear ended me four or five times. On Thursday we went to a regular day of camp and then from camp we left for the south. We stayed in a Bedouin tent tourist site where we rode camels and slept in the big tents. The next day we went on a 3 hour 4x4 off-roading jeep ride in the desert. It was terrible because of how bumpy it was but the scenery was gorgeous. Then we hiked through Ein Gedi and went in the natural pools. Last night we stayed in a youth hostel. It was fine, this morning we woke up at 3:30 and hiked Masada, up the snake path (the hard one). It was so tiring but such a great experience. This was my second time hiking Masada. I then went shopping and got some Ahava, and then we went to the spa and dead sea which was very relaxing. We are finally back at the dorms and I am so happy to be "home". Tomorrow is back to regular week of camp. Sorry I'm not posting pictures in this update, I will put them on facebook soon.

Talented

Today was the second day of camp and we had a lot of fun although it was extremely exhausting. In the morning we played some games with the kids that relate to learning about Kenya. They made masks of animals and then made bows and arrows out of sticks and strings and played a hunting game. Then Danny and I taught the kids a dance to the song "In the Jungle". We performed for the entire camp during breakfast.

It was hilarious. We got the dance moves from a YouTube video that Edna showed us of a hippo and a dog dancing to the song. After breakfast, Danny and I lead the group in a Yoga class that the kids really enjoyed. We did Yoga positions and had the kids say the nam

e of the animal in English that the position represented. Nora and Lori were at camp and they watched and thought it was really great.

After Yoga, a woman brought animals to the class and taught about the different animals and we all got to pet and

hold the guinea pig and baby chicks. After camp we went to tour the city of Akko. It was very cool. The "shuk" (market) smelled terrible because they're famous for their fish. It was seriously making me gag as we walked through. We went to a couple very cool museums, one was of an ancient Turkish bathhou

se, or as us Jews would call it, "shvitz". Tonight we are just hanging out and probably going to bed early because we are all so tired from our long day.

Life Changing

Today was unbelievable. We woke up at 7:30 and left for camp around 8:00. When we got to camp we got introduced to our groups of kids by playing "get to know you" games. We then had breakfast and went on a "treasure hunt" of the kibbutz to teach the kids where the different places are at the kibbutz that they will be going to throughout camp. After the treasure hunt we received our t-shirts and hats and we began the "Around the World" program. Our teacher Edna is teaching about Kenya. We played trivia games and bingo. It was really interesting and fun. The kids in my group are incredible. I'm going to see if I can remember all their names. Okay there is Eden, Baruch, Noa, Vered, Shahara, Asaf, Ofir, Noam, Otzar, Tal, Tali, Katrin, Matan, Alex, Meital, and Avital. WOW I can't believe I just remembered all my kids names haha. They are all about 10 and 11 years old. The girls in the group were all crowded around me for the whole day, they couldn't stop touching
me, playing with my hair, looking at my manicure, say oooh ahhh over my jewelry. It was so sweet, everyone is so amazing. After camp we went to Yoav's kibbutz to go swimming. Then we went back to the dorm to get ready for class. We had class for a few hours and then we had a really nice dinner with Nora Barron (the donor for the trip), Lori, the mayor of the Jezreel Valley, Matt Silver (our professor), and the camp staff. The food was so good and I ate way too much. Tomorrow will be a long day again, we have camp in the morning and then we are touring the city of Akko in the afternoon into the evening.