Galil Blog
Hey Galil families, this morning, we woke up and had a special surprise at hitkansuit boker (morning flag raising). Instead of the usual ivrit shimushit (practical Hebrew) skit, the madatz (CITs) surprised us all with REVO! Revo is a day when the madatz take over machaneh (camp) and kick out the madrichimot (couselors). It’s full of fun activities and themed meals, however, to all of the chanichimot’s surprise, after the madrichimot were kicked out, they were found sitting at tables for breakfast. It was a fake revo! Instead of revo happening today, we had a normal breakfast of bagels, and everyone who was choosing to fast for holy day, Tisha B’av, either played card games or napped in the moadon (great hall). Of course, following breakfast, chanichimot were sent off to do their avodot (jobs) and clean their tzrifim (cabins) before meeting up with the madatz for some fun activities they had planned. After zman madatz (madatz time), all of machaneh split up into their kvutzot (groups) for peulot (activities) run by their madrichimot. During the this time, the bonimot (builders)—our rising high schoolers—learned about the concept of art as a form of resistance. As usual, their capability when it comes to actively engaging with the ideas brought to them was astonishing. After the peulot were done being run, everyone headed over to the chadar ochel (dining hall) for a lunch of chicken sandwiches.
During this time, it was noticeable the the shorashimot (roots)—our second youngest chanichimot—were missing from the rest of machaneh. In fact, they had been missing the whole morning since after avodah. This was because it was their turn to zip along the ropes course. It was a great time at the course, as many of them overcame challenges that they had not experienced before. For example, today, the Giant’s Ladder, which has been mentioned in many prior blog posts, was only being run with one person on it. Usually, a pair goes up and support each other on the way. This time, although it took longer, many of the shorashimot rose to the challenge and completed the course all on their own. It was also nice to see everyone hanging out with their kvutzah mates who were fasting. It made for a fun day of bonding. To finish off the experience, many of the chanichimot zipped down the zipline!
Zipping back to the rest of machaneh, the shorashimot rejoined everyone in time for sports that were basketball, rock climbing, and swimming. The pool was popping off due to the high levels of humidity for the past few days. Once, everyone was refreshed and feeling clean after showering off the chlorine, we all joined together for shira (singing) and hitkansut erev (flag lowering). This led into dinner, which was a spectacular beef lo mein that got our tzevet mitbach (kitchen staff) a standing ovation from the chanichimot. Finishing the day, our tochnit erev (evening activity) was on Tisha B’av, and it had chanichimot learn about the history behind the day and understand the purpose of fasting. Finally, everyone who was fasting were given a chance to break their fasts before heading off to bed.
Special surprise tomorrow, Amos