Bo-coup Alice and Wonderland!

The morning started out as a normal day...until sports. Today was Bo-coup. Bo-coup happens once a summer and it is a day that the Bogrim (post 9th grade campers) plan for machaneh. The Bogrim run half a day of activities and meals for the chanichim that of course follow a theme. Bo-coup's theme was Alice and Wonderland. They broke the special day right before lunch in full costume. The chanichim enjoyed a day full of special food, a carnival, obstacle course, a movie and a party at the end of the night!

Why do we have Bo-coup at camp?  The Galil experience is more than just seven weeks of fun, swimming lessons, or an opportunity to connect with other Jews.  What makes our camping experience unique is the youth-leading-youth leadership model.  From a young age our campers have the opportunity to step up, speak, and give feedback for the program.  We do this every week at Hyde Park in which campers of all ages have the opportunity to tell the Galil Leadership Team their favorite activities as well as how camp can be improved.  As our oldest campers, the Bogrim get this unique opportunity to test the leadership skills they have learned all summer (and every previous summer) to use!  Next summer they will spend five weeks in Israel, then return to Galil as counselors-in-training.  Bo-coup is an important step for our campers as they climb the Galil leadership ladder.

Make sure to check out all of the pictures on Bunk1 to see all of the fun the chanichim had today!

More Tikkun Olam!

In the beginning of the summer, the Bogrim (post-9th grade campers) received a grant from the Jewish Teen Funders Network of $1,500 to give to an organization of their choice.   The grant is thanks to the JTFN Camp Philanthropy Pilot Program.  Galil also participated in 2011 when the Bogrim visited and eventually chose the Broad Street Ministry in Philadelphia as their site.
All summer this year's Bogrim participated in different activities (peulot) discussing various organizations where they would like to donate the money. After a long process, the Bogrim narrowed their options down to two organizations. Today, they boarded buses to visit these final two sites to get a better sense of what the organizations do each day. They first visited a familiar organization to Galil: Urban Tree Connection. During first session, the younger campers (chanichim) did their "healing the world" (tikkun olam) project at one of Urban Tree Connection’s sites.  Urban Tree Connection is an organization that creates urban gardens in inner-city communities.  Galil campers have been there multiple times over the past two summers as well as during our year-round program (eizor).   Today, the Bogrim visited the main farming site and met with two workers to learn more about the organization. After Urban Tree Connection, the Bogrim boarded the bus to University of Pennsylvania’s campus for a picnic lunch. They relaxed a bit and discussed what they thought about their first visit. Next stop: Neighborhood BikeWorks. This organization has camps in three different locations throughout the Philadelphia area. At these camps the kids learn how to make bikes from scratch and at the end of the summer the kids are able to keep the bikes that they built. The Bogrim have not made any decisions yet and will take time on Friday to discuss where they would like to donate their grant.  It was a great day, full of learning, fantastic questions, and hands-on philanthropy!

Back at camp, the chanichim had a normal scheduled day. During workshops (sadnaot) this afternoon, the Amelim (post-3rd and 4th grade campers) and Chotrim (post-5th grade campers) went to the Israel sad’na. At the Israel sad’na the chanichim learn all about Israel in a fun way. In order to learn about Israel, the chanichim had to “fly” there. 

The Amelim and Chotrim each received El-Al flight tickets. The madrichim pretended to be flight attendants and seated all of the chanichim in two rows. After everyone was in the flight they took off and watched the safety video El-Al provides before each flight. They eventually landed in Israel and learned all about the country.

The Sayarim went on the low ropes course today. We have two ropes course, the high ropes and the low ropes course. Because the high ropes course is only available to the older chanichim, we use the low ropes course for the younger chanichim. The low ropes course has a lot of team building elements and trust elements. The Sayarim worked together to complete the different elements and are really excited for next year when they are able to use the high ropes course! 

Tonight We Are Young, Wild, and Free

Hi Galil parents!

I’m Katherine, a member of the Madatz (counselor-in-training) crew here at Camp Galil.  Today we ran something called Revo. Revo is a day when we, the CITs, “kick out” the counselors (madrichim) and have an exciting themed day. Our theme for this session is Revo Old, Wild and Free; this means we acted as if we were old people breaking out of a retirement home and living out our bucket list.

When the kids woke up this morning their madrichim were gone (don’t worry!  The madrichim are all at camp keeping an eye on everyone, but the campers are so excited for a special day they don't notice the counselors are really all around camp).  We ate crepes with lots of toppings along with chocolate milk. After breakfast, all of the “elderly” people went on a cruise, had relaxation exercises, went on a water slide. The campers chose where they wanted to get off the cruise with stops in Jamaica (swimming), Paris (clothing swap), Las Vegas (card games), Italy (painting), and London (Olympic sports games).

Lunch had a french fry bar with toppings such as chili, cheese, and onions. After a little naptime, the campers attended a carnival with their grandchildren. This carnival featured a very popular dunk tank - Madatz and Bogrim (post 9th grade campers) got dunked! – in addition to a cotton candy machine, carnival games, clown school, and an obstacle course. After some cotton candy and ball tossing, the kids headed over to the dining hall (chadar ochel) for a snack (kibud) of apple pie and ice cream.  We called it the early bird special. After kibud the kids spilt up by age gropu (shkavot) for activites. Amelim (post 3rd and 4th grade campers) and Chotrim (post 5th grade campers) had relay races; Sayarim (post 6th grade campers) played a trivia game about oldies music, sports in the 40s and more. The Tzofim (post 7th grade campers)“ lost their grandparents in the mall” and played manhunt to find them; finally, the Bonim (post 8th grade campers) were instructed to “not break their hip” while playing a tagging game.

After that, campers choose between the movie Up and the original Willy Wonka with Gene Wilder. There was some free time before a dinner of chicken fingers and mashed potatoes. After that a small party in honor of Edith’s 100th birthday was thrown with lots of Oreo cupcakes to celebrate. Finally, we did something called Crime and Punishment (not as malicious as it sounds!), where the Madatzim (CITs) threw the counselors into the pool for certain funny “crimes” they supposedly committed.

Everyone then  returned to their retirement homes following a wild day out and free.  

{On an unrelated note, an e-mail was sent out today reminding our wonderful parents that the end of camp is fast approaching!  We ask everyone pick-up their campers on Sunday, August 12th between 1pm and 3pm.  If you need to come at a different time, please contact Bart Davis at bart@campgalil.org or (610) 847-8330 as soon as possible.  Thank you!}

Aliyah Bet and Alumni Day

We’ve had an exciting past two days. After a relaxing Shabbat, last night the Bonim ran aliyah bet for the campers. Aliyah bet is one of our special activities that we have every summer at camp (machaneh). This is the first time the Bonim plan a machaneh wide event and the first time they have responsibility of leading campers (chanichim). After ice cream (glida) last night all of the chanichim went back to their cabins (tzrifim) just to discover the Bonim telling them to get dressed for aliyah bet. During aliyah bet at Galil the Bonim create a simulated Aliyah Bet from the early 1900’s. They plan different stations around machaneh with counselors (madrichim) acting as different characters. At the beginning of the stations, each camper (chanich) recieved as passport of someone that lived during the early 1900’s that weren’t Jewish in order for them to make it to Palestine. The chanichim had to memorize their new identities for “their journey to Palestine.” Some of the stations the chanichim went through were Jewish bribers who asked the chanichim to give them their passports in exchange for money, an interaction with British soldiers and a simulated fight scene between a British soldier and a Jewish man on the ropes course. 

At the end of the stations, the chanichim ended in the parking lot which was Palestine. At Palestine there were various treats and hot chocolate for the chanichim made by the Bonim.  After their treats, everyone went to bed.

Today, after a sleep-in, we welcomed Galil alumni and donors to machaneh. In the morning we had a special ceremony for the donors that helped us to create our two new buildings, the MoAdina and Beit Adina. The ceremony included speeches by the Camp Committee Chair, Joe Ross, Rosh Machaneh Kali Silverman and a member of Madatz, Segev Yarden. After the dedication ceremony, Galil alumni arrived for a picnic lunch with the chanichim. 

We had a barbecue picnic lunch in hyde park. Many of the alumni sat with the chanichim asking them what Galil is like today and they shared stories from when they were chanichim here as well. After lunch, the chanichim went back to a normal schedule and had their age group activity (peula shickvah). The alumni had their own programming and spent the afternoon taking tours of Galil and having Israeli dancing (rikud). 

The chanichim had a great time interacting with the alumni today! 

Shabbat Shalom, Hey!

After a busy and fun special day, everyone is ready for Shabbat. To kick off a relaxing weekend, the Bogrim headed to the movies today to see the new Batman movie! This was a complete surprise and they had no idea where they were going until the busses pulled into the movie theater parking lot. 

Back at camp, the Taste of Galil campers (chanichim) helped the kichen staff (tzevet mitbach) to braid the challah we will be having for dinner tonight. They learned how to make the dough, prepare the dough in strips to braid, and of course how to actually braid the challah. They all turned out great and they are excited to show the rest of machaneh what they worked on this morning! 

The sayarim had a really great CIT activity (madatz peula) about team work. They started out by playing various games alone which made it really difficult to win or even get started. In the end they came to the decision that it would be better to work together as a team.

The tzophim had a fun madatz peula about the 5 pillars of Habonim Dror. Because we are also in the midst of the Summer Olympics, the madatz incorporated part of the Olympics into their peula. The tzophim split into 5 groups, each representing a different pillar. Each group had to come up with a synchronized diving routine (on dry land) that represented that pillar and present it to the rest of their age group (shickvah). 

On Friday afternoons, we have Game of the Week (mischak hashvua). This happens after Hyde Park and before Shabbat begins. Every week is a different sport, and this week the sport was ultimate frisbee! This is completely optional for the chanichim but many of them usually come to play. If there are enough counselors (madrichim) and Madatz playing, the chanichim like to play Madrichim vs. chanichim. There are always spectators cheering their friends on and a madrich on the microphone shouting the play-by-play. 

We are looking forward to a relaxing Shabbat! Shabbat Shalom! 

Special Day: Greek Mythology!

Today was Special Day! Every session there is one day that has a special theme that the counselors (madrichim) plan for the rest of camp (machaneh). The theme for this session’s special day was Greek Mythology. Typically, special day is broken to the campers (chanichim) in the morning, but this session we wanted to surprise everyone. Special Day was broken last night after the evening activity (tochnit erev). Special Day was broken with a fight scene acted out by the staff (tzevet). The titans stormed into the dining hall (chadar ochel) as we were finishing tochnit erev and all of the chanichim cheered with excitement! After special day was broken everyone went to bed anxiously awaiting everything that happened today. 

Before the day began, all of the chanichim were instructed to dress up as different Greek gods and goddesses. After everyone was in costume and ready for the day, we had breakfast on Mt. Olympus with the Greek Gods. After a special breakfast everyone headed to the soccer field (kikar) and basketball court for a fun carnival. All of the stations were different Greek gods and goddesses. The stations included: Zeus (playing darts with cardboard lightening bolts), Hera (a marriage station), Ares (playing ninja with foam sword and pool noodles), Hephaestus (making robots), Aphrodite (love potion cocktails), Athena (playing sporcle), Apollo (playing dance dance revolution), Artemis (wack-a-mole), Hermes (sending a message station), and Demeter & Persephone (face painting). All of the chanichim had a really great time at all of the stations, especially the wack-a-mole station. One of the madrichim placed her head in a cardboard cut out and the chanichim threw wet sponges at her. 

After an exciting carnival, the chanichim had a round robin of activities in “the underworld.” Each age group (shickvah) went from station to station together to discover what the underworld was like. The station that really stood out from the rest was the haunted house that the tzevet made. The haunted house was created in the barn (refet). The haunted house had a maze inside of it with water and tarps to crawl through. Although the chanichim may have been a bit scared, they all finished with smiles and laughter because it was really fun to crawl through it. Some of the other stations during the round robin were river styx, medusa, the minotaur’s labyrinth and a mud pit. At the river styx station, the chanichim had to get from one side of Hyde Park to the other side without touching the ground. They used chairs, benches, and milk crates in order to get to the other side and also help their friends. At the medusa station, the chanichim had a game of fencing with pool noodles and the object of the game was to get your opponent off of the mattress first. The minotaur’s labryinth was located in the Moadon and it was a maze and obstacle course combination. There were different challenges each chanich had to accomplish to get from the beginning to the end. At the mud pit, the chanichim played different games that we play here at machaneh but in the sand. All of the stations were really fun and the chanichim got a taste of what the underworld was like. 

During lunch we had Greek themed food, which was delicious! After lunch was finished we all watched a skit that led everyone into the Trojan War! The machaneh was then split into two teams and everyone raced to the basketball court for a paint fight! Following the paint fight, everyone hosed off and went to the pool for a pool party! 

Later tonight we will have a machaneh wide scavenger hunt followed by a delicious banquet for dinner. After dinner we have a fun toga party set up to close special day!

We’ve had a really fun day so far and tonight will be just as exciting! Look for pictures from today on Bunk1! 

Garden Update and Introduction to Taste of Galil

Shalom! The first half of the summer, especially the rain, has made our organic garden (gan) bloom! The campers (chanichim) enjoyed harvesting over ten pounds of onions, fifteen pounds of lettuce, and five pounds of beans. All of the food harvested is brought to the kitchen (mitbach) to be used in our meals! During work period (avodah)  campers get the opportunity to harvest and weigh the fresh vegetables. At the end of the summer, we will compile a list of our harvests and calculate the carbon emissions we saved as a result of the produce from the gan!

In addition, all chanichim have participated in discussions about food justice issues such as local eating, food deserts, and urban agriculture. The Bogrim (post 9th grade campers) played a trivia game and won veggies from the gan to begin their discussion about equal access to food in rural and urban areas. 

The Amelim (post 3rd and 4th grade campers) and Chotrim (post 5th grade campers) learned two methods for building fires: the teepee and the log cabin. We built both, then made banana boats (bananas with chocolate chips wrapped in tin foil and heated in the fire) as a special snack. The Tzofim (post 7th grade campers) have been enjoying several TED talks about large organizations and their power to enact change followed by a debate about the potential environmental benefits of these corporations. The Sayarim (post 6th grade campers) will be visiting the gan next week to learn about fires and other survival skills.

Also, today our Taste of Galil (post 2nd grade) campers arrived for four days of non-stop fun at camp!  They started the day with tons of ice-breakers and games.  After lunch they went swimming, played sports, went on a scavenger hunt, and learned lots of new Hebrew words!