Sleep in! The
chanichim (kids) woke up today at 8:45 to the surprise of a forty-five minute sleep in with no
hitkansut boker (morning flag raising) and
aruchat boker (breakfast) starting at 9:15. Why? Well today is a bit of a different day at
machaneh (camp). Firstly, the
Tzophim (post 7th graders) and
Bonim (post 8th graders) left for
tiyul (camping) this morning while everyone else made their way to the
chadar ochel (dining hall) for breakfast. They will return tomorrow afternoon after a day of hiking and hanging out with each other in the wilderness. While they are gone everyone else is on a bit of a different schedule, which is why we started the day off with a sleep in.
Yom Little Kids (Day for Little Kids) is a day designed just for the younger
shcavot (age groups). It was started right after
avoda (chores) and some
nikyon tzrif (cleaning of the cabins). The
madrichim (counselors) began the day of fun by splitting the
chanichim into two teams, red and blue, and playing a game of capture the flag with shaving cream. It was essentially
machaneh wide capture the flag with the
tzvatim spraying the kids with shaving cream as they run by! After an hour of this the
chanichim were pretty tired so they were given a little free time and rest time to relax before lunch. Meanwhile the
Bogrim (post 9th graders) were relaxing and watching a movie with each other in their
BogMo (Bogrim gathering space). They used some of their
kupa (candy) and picked a movie together while enjoying each others' company.
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| A Choter going down the slip n' slide |
After
aruchat tzohorayim the younger kids were given an hour of
zman kvutza which is time with your
kvutza. The
Sayarim (post 6th graders) were given time to practice for
Kabalat Shabbat which is when one age group, this week the
Sayarim, perform a song in Hebrew, a song in English, and a dance for everyone before we make our way to dinner on Friday evening. The
Chotrim (post 5th graders) were given the
Oneg this week, so they will be writing and practicing the skits they will be performing on Friday as well. The
Amelim (post 4th graders) hung out in one of the
tzrifim (cabins) and played games that helped them get to know each other better.
Kvutza building activities are something that we are passionate about at this
machaneh; we want the kids to understand they are more than just friends who live together for a few weeks, these are life-long friendships. They then changed into bathing suits and prepared for one of the best activities Galil has to offer - the slip n' slide. We have a very long white tarp that we use and we set it up on the hill next to the parking lot and the kids ride down on mattresses or just on their stomachs. They went from there down one of the trails to the back entrance of the pool where they threw a pool party and had some
kibud (snack). There was then some
chofesh and chill time before dinner!
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| A Boger jumping in the pool |
When I checked in with the
Bogrim they were learning some old school Galil
shira (singing) songs. These are songs that people made up when the current
Amelim were being born! After that they made a
Bogrim flag that they hung up in their
BogMo (short for Bogrim Moadon). Following that there was a pool party for the
chanichim with some chill time before they got the big news...BOCOUP! Bocoup is a day where after lunch the
Bogrim "kick out" the
madatzim and
tzevet and they do fun activities with the
chanichim for the second half of the day. It is a little bit like Revo, in a sense that its a program designed to help teach leadership skills and also a day of fun for the
chanichim. After the news of when this was happening was given to the kids, they were given some planning time at the creek. After the excitement died down the
Bogrim made their way to our
gan (garden) to participate in a meditation run by our garden specialist.
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| A Boger with his madrichim |
Aruchat erev will be served and only half of the
chadar ochel will be used because so many
chanichim are on
tiyul or eating in their
shetach (area outside of the cabin). For
tochnit erev (evening activity) the younger
shcavot are going to pile into the
moadon for some relaxtion and chill games. All of the
chanichim will hangout peacefully with each other as the wound down before bed. The
Bogrim are going to play their
tzevet in a game of frisbee for a little bit and then have more planning time for bocoup. After an hour or so they will go to the BogMo for a deep
kvutza building activity that many of the
chanichim do in
Bogrim (including myself all those years ago).
Until tomorrow,
laila tov (goodnight).
-Mike
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