Ma, Madatz, Madatz are Amazing!

Revo has come and gone but that doesn’t mean the Madatz have stopped working. The Madatzim, like the staff (tzevet), each form a smaller staff (tzevet katan) and have an age group of kids (shickvah) that they work with for the session. On Friday’s the Madatzim plan an activity (peula) for their chanichim in the morning before Shabbat singing (shira). The Madatz are given the opportunity and responsibility just like the counselors (madrichim) to plan a peula that ranges from playing fun water games to having serious discussions. 

Today, the Chotrim had a peula all about Israel. The Madatz started off the peula with a game of Scategories and the topic was Israel. The Chotrim split up into teams and were each given a piece of paper. The goal was for each team to come up with as many different words that they thought was associated with Israel. Some of the words the Chotrim came up with were falafel, desert, hebrew, Western Wall and various other words. 

During the peula they learned more about Israel in the form of a cake! The Madatz made two plain cakes before the peula started and gave the Chotrim ingredients to create the map of Israel in cake-form. They used graham crackers for the desert and chocolate chips for mountains. 

The Sayarim went to the creek today with their Madatz and had a peula about respect. They stood in a circle and each went around saying one idea they had about how they can respect one another.

The Sayarim are the next chanichim to move into the older age groups so the Madatz wanted to 

unify their group (kvutza) a little more. The Sayarim had really great things to say about each other and are excited to put into action all of the ideas they came up with today. 

On Friday nights the Madatzim put their chanichim to bed instead of the madrichim. The chanichim and madatzim really enjoy this time together. Typically the madatzim ask their chanichim if they would like to hear a story or listen to a song while they fall asleep. This time together allows the chanichim to get to know their Madatzim and the Madatzim to hang out with their chanichim.

Everyone is getting so excited for Visitor’s Day on Sunday! Please remember no peanuts!

See you all on Sunday and Shabbat Shalom!

Viva la Revo!

Today was Revo, short for revolution. Revo is when the CITs (Madatz) plan an entire day for the rest of machaneh and "kick out" the counselors (madrichim). Revo always has a theme and the activities planned follow the storyline. This session's theme was Viva la Revo! To explain the day a little more is one of the Madatz, Reba Cohen...

"This morning started off as a normal Thursday, until the Madatz (junior counselors) announced a revolution during Ivrit shimushit (learning a new Hebrew word).  They came in running from the Moadon to the toren (flag pole) pretending to be chased by the “chubacabra” (a Mexican folk monster).  The madrichim (counselors) were then “kicked out” out of camp and the Madatz were here to take over for the day!  They told the kids that they would be traveling to different parts of Spanish speaking countries throughout the day! When the kids arrived at breakfast they walked in to the Chadar (dining hall) that was unrecognizable because it was decorated to be a Rain Forest.  After breakfast we took a walk in the “rain forest”, which was actually one of the trails in the woods that goes behind the pool and around the camp.  The Madatzim and Bogrim were dressed up as animals in the woods to surprise the kids.  When we came to the end of the hike and after the Madatzim checked the children for ticks, there was a Brazilian themed carnival in the parking lot.  There were many stations for kids to go around and have fun at, such as a face painting station, a hair wrap station, and even a water station so everyone stayed hydrated. 

From the parking lot we had a “running of the bulls” activity in which members from the oldest age group were dressed up as bulls and ran with the kids from the parking lot up the hill.  Afterwards, they had a bit of free time before having a Mexican themed lunch filled with chicken and rice, beans, and different types of salsas. After lunch we had a nice siesta (nap) so everyone could digest before the next activity began.  Next, there was a huge soccer game that the kids played and they pretended to be on teams from Spain, Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil.  For those who did not want to watch the game or partake in it there was the option to hang out on the basketball court where they could eat churros and listen to Spanish music.  

Next, the whole machaneh (camp) went down to the pool for a party to cool off from the intense heat.  After we cooled off, the kids went up to the basketball court where we had a “Tomatina” fight. However, instead of using tomatoes to throw at each other, we used cut up pieces of red towels. 

Next, we had kibbud (snack) which was themed Day of the Dead and the kids had chocolate skulls and a Mexican chocolate drink.  Afterwards, we had chugim (interest groups) based on the Latin American culture, such as a learning how to draw like Frida Kahlo and Lucho Libre wrestling on mattresses.  The kids were then given more free time to relax before dinner.  

Dinner's themed is Night Life in Spain with enchiladas and tapas.  After dinner there will be a huge party in the moadon themed a Night in Spain.  Everyone will be dressed up in white clothing, which will look incredible with the strobe lights and the colored lights.  It was a fun day for all!"

The chanichim are having a great day and the madrichim can't wait to hear all about it at the end of the day when we put them to bed. There will be pictures to follow at the end of the day!

Working Together as a Team!

The Borgrim have had a busy last couple of days at camp (machaneh). After hosting their new Na’aleh friends for 2 days at Galil and participating in Maccabia 2012, they were ready for a normal day and to be together again as a group (kvutza). Today, the bogrim went on the high ropes course. While many of the bogrim have already been on the ropes course in their previous summers, they still challenge themselves to beat a previous time, or to do a cool trick off of the zip line. For example, many of the bogrim tried the giant’s ladder for the first time. The giant’s ladder is part of the high ropes course and usually requires two people to work together to complete it. Sometimes if the campers (chanichim) really want to challenge themselves they tackle the giant’s ladder alone. The giant’s ladder is a wooden ladder suspended in the air and the object of the challenge is to get to the top. To make it more challenging today, some of the bogrim decided that they weren’t going to touch any of the ropes and were only allowed to touch the actual ladder. Eventually they all made it to the top with a lot of encouraging friends cheering them on from the ground.

The bogrim have a lot of responsibility at Galil as the oldest chanichim. As chanichim grow older at Galil and in the movement (Habonim Dror) they obtain more and more responsibility as the future leaders of machaneh. Everyday it is the responsibility of the bogrim to give out the snack (kibbud) for the day to the rest of the machaneh. It is their job to go to the kitchen (mitbach) and coordinate with the staff of the kitchen (tzevet mitbach) of what the kibbud is and the quantity they will need. They are in charge of organizing the chanichim waiting for kibbud and making sure everyone is given kibbud. The Bogrim also plan many of their own activities (peulot) for each other as well as the machaneh. Every summer the Bogrim plan an evening activity (tochnit erev) for the machaneh which we call “Bozman” as well as a themed half of a day which we call “Bo-coup”. These activities help prepare the Bogrim for their future summers at machaneh and also allow them to work together as a kvutza and grow as leaders. 

While the oldest chanichim spent their day on the high ropes course the youngest chanichim, the amelim, spent their afternoon by the creek. Their challenge was to build a raft that would float in the creek out of sticks, recyclable materials, duct tape and glue.

There were 4 teams and each team created a completely different float design. After the floats were ready to be tested the Amelim moved closer to the water and each team launched their float. They all did a great job because none of them sank! 

Check back tomorrow! 

Maccabia 2012!

This morning the rest of Camp (Machaneh) Na’aleh joined Galil for Maccabia 2012! Before the games started, each colored team gathered together to paint their faces, come up with cheers and get to know each other since the teams were a combination of Galil and Na’aleh. Maccabia 2012 was kicked off with a song written by the CITs (Madatz) in front of the Mini-Mo to the tune of “Eye of the Tiger.” After everyone was pumped up for an exciting day, the games began! 

There were 5 sports on a rotation that each team participated in. The sports included basketball, gaga, ultimate frisbee, soccer and UTC (ultimate throwing challenge). At each sport there were two different colored teams playing each other. Each team was a mixture of chainichim from Galil and Na’aleh that included all of the ages.

A familiar cheer that the chanichim and madrichim chant here is, “we’re Habonim Dror we don’t stress competition.” So of course every game that was played today ended in a tie regardless of the score, also known as a “habo tie”. The games were meant to be playful and friendly rather than competitive. 

When the games were over everyone was invited to Hyde Park for a pizza picnic lunch. The Galil and Na’aleh chanichim mingled, created new friendships and of course enjoyed everyone’s favorite meal...pizza! 

After lunch the fun continued and there was a carnival with many different stations for the chanichim to go to. The chanchim were able to switch stations whenever they wanted and go to the ones that interested them. The stations included, mural making, yoga, meet the camps (machanot), year-round programming (eizor), israeli dancing (rikud), sports, card games, silk screen and sprinkler fun! The most popular station seemed to be the silk screen station. Here, all of the chanichim were able to bring a t-shirt to the arts and crafts center (beit omanut) and get a silk screen with a Maccabia 2012 design. 

We’ve had so much fun hanging out with everyone from Na’aleh for Maccabia and we can’t wait to do it again next year! 

Mifgash, Mifgash, Mifgash!

All the Bogrim meeting each other for the first time! 

Today was very exciting for the Bogrim and CITs (Madatz) because it’s mifgash! Camp (Machaneh) Galil is a part of the youth movement Habonim Dror North America. HDNA has 7 camps across the country (including Canada) and their camps are very similiar to Galil. Each summer the chanichim learn about the different camps (machanot) in HDNA and count down the days until Bogrim mifgash. Mifgash is when the chanichim from the different camps (machanot) meet for the first time. This year Bogrim mifgash is being held at Galil so it's very exciting for the Bogrim here to be able to host their new friends from different camps. This year Camp (machaneh) Na’aleh came to Galil for mifgash. Na’aleh is located in New York and they will be spending the night here at Galil. When the bogrim from Na’aleh arrived, the Galil bogrim welcomed them in true Galil spirit with lots of cheering and excitement. The day is spent with many activities planned by both the Galil and Na’aleh bogrim staff (tzevet). The first  activities were name games and introductions because no one knew each other yet! 

For our Madatz, mifgash is more of a reunion because they spent the previous summer together on MBI in Israel. MBI is our Israel program that the chanichim after their bogrim summer go on. The program includes all 7 HDNA camps (machanot) together in Israel for 5 weeks. The Madatz were all very excited to see their friends from Na’aleh again! 

The tzophim planned Yom Tzophim (Tzophim day)

The rest of machaneh is running on a normal schedule. The tzophim returned home today from their tiyul and had nothing but wonderful things to say. The tzophim bonded in new ways and spent the afternoon planning a special day for themselves called Tzophim Day (yom tzophim). This special day will happen next week and they are splitting into smaller groups to plan specific activities for themselves for the day. 

The Amelim, Chotrim, and Sayarim learned how to dive today during instructional swim! They were all so excited because every year on the first day of instructional swim the most repeated question is “When are we going to learn how to dive?” The chanichim were very excited to learn that today would be that day!

We are very excited for tomorrow’s Maccabia games with Galil and Na’aleh! 

Check back tomorrow to read all about it! 

Sprinklers, Water Hoses, Water Misters and more!

After a very hot Shabbat everyone is excited to be back to a normal schedule. Sadly, we said goodbye to our two weekers today but we can't wait to see them at ken events and again next summer! The ken (literally "nest") is our year round program and we typically have one or two events a month (more information to come later in the summer). 

Today the Tzofim (post 7th grade campers) left for their hiking trip (tiyul) and will return tomorrow afternoon. We can't wait to hear all about their adventures! 

We've had a bit of a heat wave here at Galil but we've been having a lot of fun in the water to keep cool! Yesterday we had water misters on the volleyball courts, sprinklers in the fields (kikar), and hoses set up all around camp (machaneh)! Many of the activities during Shabbat this weekend included water games and anything involving the new water toys! And of course there was free swim in the afternoon. But... before any campers (chanichim) can participate in an activity they MUST have a water bottle. Hydration is the most important part of the day. 

Today during workshops (sadnaot) the Bonim learned camping and survival skills! They split up into groups of 6 and each were taught how to make a camp fire. 

The nature (teva) specialists showed the Bonim (post 8th grade campers) what materials they would need for the fire and where to find the materials as well as how to actually build the fire. After they created their fire each group roasted apples and brown sugar! The skills they learned today will come in handy when they leave for their tiyul trip later in the summer! 

Tonight for the evening activity (tochnit erev) we will be having a game show about Zionism. We will be learning about different Zionist thinkers and about Israel while completing fun challenges in teams! 


We miss you two weekers! 

Smells like Shabbos up in here!

Another week has passed and Shabbat is approaching! After pizza picnic lunches on Friday’s, we have an activity which we call Hyde Park. Hyde Park is modeled after the Hyde Park in London with a little bit of a Galil twist. Hyde Park takes place right outside the dining hall (chadar ochel) in a wooded area. This is also where all of our picnic lunches take place as well as other activities (peulot). In Hyde Park there is a very large circle formed by benches, a large tire in the middle, and a rock for the campers (chanichim) to stand on when they are speaking to the camp (Machaneh). 

When Hyde Park begins every camper (chanich) has the opportunity to say something...however we have a special way of deciding the order in which the chanichim will speak. Everyone must “strut” to the tire in the middle of the circle in a creative way. The chanich with the most creative strut is able to go to the rock and this is determined by 4 judges that are chosen before Hyde Park begins. The judges are chanichim of all ages and they sit around the tire and decide who they think had the best strut.

When chanichim get to the rock they are able to give compliments, suggestions and complaints (although there are very few of those). For example, today many chanichim said “We loved Kupa Trip, we want to go again second session!” and “The muffins were so good this morning, thanks kitchen staff (tzevet mitbach).” Any suggestions that are said by the chanichim are taken seriously and written down by a member of administration (mazkirut). After Hyde Park is over Mazkirut will look over the list of suggestions and see if there is any adjusting that we can do as a machaneh. 

Hyde Park is an important part of Galil because it gives each chanich the opportunity to voice their opinions. Every chanich has a voice and is a part of the change of Galil.

Shabbat Shalom and just a friendly reminder that there will be no blog post tomorrow!