Sunday Funday

Camp (machaneh) Galil woke up on this sunny morning feeling refreshed from Shabbat. We ate the usual Sunday morning breakfast of bagels, and then got back into our daily routine. During chore time (avodah), there was a little bit more work to be done than usual, because we didn't have avoda yesterday, although the campers (chanichim) managed to finish everything that needed to be done on time. When avodah ended, everyone spent some time cleaning up their cabins (tzrifim) before beginning their age group activities (peulot). Today, every age group (shichva) was enjoying the beautiful weather during their peulot. The art room (beit omanut) was in use, as well as the pool and other fun parts of machaneh.

Chanichim stretching before soccer

The Tzophim (post-seventh graders), however, were not participating in peulot today. Instead, they were at the ropes course! Here at Galil, we have a high ropes course and a low ropes course on our property. The low ropes are used by the Amelim (post-third and fourth graders), the Chotrim (post-fifth graders), and the Sayarim (post-sixth graders). Some of the low ropes course activities include tightropes and tire swings. The chanichim work together in team building activities, completing challenges. The high ropes are used by the Tzophim, the Bonim (post-eighth graders), and the Bogrim (post-ninth graders), so this is the first year that the Tzophim are going on them and they were very excited. The high ropes include zip line, a "giant's ladder," and the "heebie jeebies" (a trifecta of ropes challenges that are high up in the trees). Have no fear though, we have trained staff helping out on high ropes who belay the chanichim safely throughout the whole process. The way that high ropes works at camp in relation to the daily schedule is as simple as bringing the chanichim over right after breakfast, keeping them there until lunch, bringing them back after lunch and then finally ending right before peulot. In that time, the rest of machaneh went on with it's daily activities. For lunch today, we had mac and cheese,which was a big hit. All of the chanichim were full and ready for rest time (menucha) when it came next. The rest of the day went as it usually does,  electives (chugim), followed by more peulot, and then snack (kibud).
Instead of getting into details today about what each shichva did, I'd like to tell you guys a little bit more about the things that we do on Saturdays, because there was no blog post to keep you in the loop. So, Saturdays usually go like this:

Madatzim in the running sport.

Wake up is at 10:00 (like I said in the last blog post). However, if a chanich wakes up before 10:00, there is a variety of things that they can do. First of all, breakfast begins to be served at 8:30 for those early risers. Saturday breakfast consists of tasty cereal and donuts. At the same time that breakfast goes on, there is also a staff (tzevet) member in Hyde Park to supervise any kids who wake up early and would like to play there, as well as a few tzevet members running a game of gaga in the dining hall (chadar ochel). At 10:30 or so, the Bogrim run a variety of chugim for the rest of the chanichim. The chanichim can choose whichever chug they would like to go to, after the Bogrim give explanations of each. After that, there is zman kvutsa, which is time with your kvutsa (small, united community). This is basically when the whole shichva does an activity together. After that, the schavot eat lunch together, separate from the other schavot in places around machaneh. Serious chugim come next. In this activity, the chanichim can choose to attend a chug that is centered around a topic such as judaism, feminism, and Israel. When chugim are over, the chanichim meet in the pavilion for a machaneh-wide Madatz (counselors in training) peula. The Madatz plan the peula over the course of the week, and it is a big deal for them because it's the first time that they can plan something to involve every single chanich. Afterwards, there is free time (chofesh), followed by optional free swim and then kibud. At 6:00, we begin musicale! Musicale is  a time when people at machaneh have the opportunity to preform in front of everyone. Sometimes, people preform alone, and other times people preform with their kvutsa, one or two friends, or even a chanich/madrich pair. Sometimes, people prepare all week for their performance, while others wait until the day of to practice. Musicale means different things to different people, but it is dear to all.

Fun during basketball.

After musicale, we have dinner (last night was leftovers- french fries, latkes, green beans, pizzas, and more). Then, there is a short amount of chofesh before we begin kumzits. Kumzits is when we gather and sit in a circle as a machaneh to sing songs such as "Angel From Montgomery," "Wonderwall," "Wagon Wheel," and more. We sing for about 20 minutes before transitioning into havdallah, which is our end of the week ritual. To many, havdallah is the most intimate part of the week at machaneh. It is when we hold hands and create a spiral while singing phrases like "together we will walk in peace again." Once in a spiral, we sit down and often lay on each other, looking up into space and reflecting on our week. After a little while of this, we sit up and say the prayers to bring Shabbat to an end. We then move on to the last big event of the night, our big bonfire (medurah). This week, because it rained on Saturday morning, we could not use our huge medurah pit that we prepared because the wood was wet. Instead, we had a smaller medurah in view of the basketball courts, which is where we set off small fireworks in celebration of the Fourth of July. As the night goes on, the different schavot are dismissed to get ice cream (glida), and then sent to bed. As you can see, Saturdays are very fun, which is why many chanichim look forward to the end of the week.
That is all for now, check back in tomorrow for a big surprise, ad machar!