Day One Camping

On Tuesday Kenny,Dvora and Shaul (our tour guide) joined us on a two day camping trip up North.

The first stop was the Banias Nature Reserve where we saw the ruins of ancient Greek and Roman Temples.

We tried out the ancient tool that was used for writing.

Afterwards we ate a delicious shnitzel lunch.

Due to the rain we changed our plans and went to De Karina,a third generation chocolate factory. We learned how chocolate is produced from a cocoa bean and that white chocolate is not made from the actual cocoa bean. We watched Karina creating different varieties of choclate.

After observing the process and breathing in the luscious chocolate smells we got tastes.

YUM!

After the chocolate factory, we explored the ruins of a Jewish settlement from the time of the Talmud (Byzantine period) and davend Mincha there.

Then we were back on the bus headed to Ramot, the place we stayed for the night. We unpacked, settled in and made supper. Thank you to our driver David for barbequing, the food was "scrumdumdidlyumcious". We also made some hot soup to warm us up.

'Some of us just can't get out of the kitchen'

Jack pitching in a helping hand

After dinner we all sat around, chatting, singing and playing different games.

For a late night snack we enjoyed S'mores!

"Gone Campin' ", catch you when we get back

Paper mache

Monday night we painted our paper mache projects... can't wait to bring them home!

Always on the go

On Friday we were off again, this time we walked to Nachal Kibbutzim. On the way we stopped and checked out an old guard tower that is no longer in use today.

This Friday night we split into pairs and went to different families on the Kibbutz for the Shabbos meal. Thank You to all our hosts, we really enjoyed.

On Motzei Shabbos we went bowling.

We are all CHAMPS!

Ilan helped Jack and showed him how to bowl properly.

Thanksgiving

Last week was "THANKSGIVING", well it was for us. You know what they say, better late than never. We came early to help set up for dinner. We had a great time filled with games, music and delicious food.

On Thursday night we had baking with Judy. Check out our creations!

Thanks Yonatan for teaching parsha to your classmates, a job well done!

Hamat Gader

On Tuesday, we swam in the hot mineral springs at Hamat Gader and visited the Alligator Park and petting zoo on the grounds. Then we relaxed for a nice picnic lunch.










The springs here are the only place in Israel where the water is untouched by hand and the mineral composition and temperature of the water have remained unchanged for almost 2,000 years. The springs are well known for their healing properties. Oh boy did it feel good!!

Meanwhile, Ruchi was spending a "girls day out" with Dvora which included a trip to the mall, ice cream, baking cookies, and a fun Arts & Crafts project.

Special Guests

On Monday night we had a chance to design our own magnetic boards that we will be taking back to New York. They will look great hanging in our rooms!! Thank you Etty And Maya for all the help.





On Monday afternoon we had very special visitors, Mark and Deedee Honigsfeld and their nephew Ori. We had a great time showing them around the Kibbutz and having them to lunch.