kefiyada last day

yes today was the end. this week was great working with a new camp called kayetzet (although i've heard that using this name isn't too cool). today was yom japan (japan day). saying goodbye to the kids was sad, i will miss them. after camp we had a farewell/recap/feedback session at the jewish agency office. then i crashed, woke up about 8pm, falafel for dinner, back to the hotel, then back out for 800ml of hoegarden at a place called lola about 20 minutes from t'veria. fun on youtube with somefriends when we got back and now i'm crashing till i have to get up for a 530 taxi to tel aviv where i'll spend tomorrow and the night celebrating my friend elissa's birthday. she got a room at the carlton so i know i've got a floor to sleep on. after that my tentative plans are to head to eilat and then sinai in egypt.

back on the train

quick run-through of today: up early for breakfast, for me that means 7am. we went to a waterpark called Luna Gal with the kids, it's on the otherside of the kinneret from t'veria. it was a great day...throwing kids around in the pool, etc. after all the physical exertion i was exhausted, napped at the hotel, then headed downtown. met up with other members of the program and had a wonderful dinner at a lebanese restuarant on the tayelet (boardwalk) called "sahara." then we all headed to beit gabriel, a cultural center here in t'veria where the peace treaty between israel and jordan was signed in a room, appropriately enough called the peace room. it sits next to the jordan valley college. we saw die hard 4 at the only movie theater in the area (beit gabriel). ice cream at a great spot after and now back at the malon (hotel). quick and dirty.

whathappened?

i fell off on posting. i need to retrace what i did after i left off. in broad strokes: between the balagan in haifa and now i spent a wonderful weekend in tel aviv (sometimes affectionately abbreviated to t.a.) and began working with a new camp this week. i'll do some detective work and get back in the habit again tomorrow. still having a great time.

not sure what today is

so what's up...don't know what today is...want to say wednesday. have to get my days down in hebrew. today we did the thing that gave me the name for this blog. we went to the balagan...balagan in hebrew is "mess" and that was an apt description.

it was essentially a chuck e cheese on steroids and without as faithful adult supervision. there were simply too many kids...it was great! laughter and yelling everywhere. i had a wonderful time playing basketball, catching up with some of my fellow madrichim, bouncing around in inflatable jungle gyms, you get the picture.

balagan is apparently russian in origin, or at least that's what my jeep tour driver told me yesterday. the phrase yala balagan takes mess and puts it together with the arabic word yala which means something like "let's go." together it means literally "let's go mess." it's a fun one.

so we did the balagan it was near haifa, about a 45 minute bus ride from t'veria (tiberias). got back and went and helped some of the israelis who work with the jewish agency preparing for their "youth futures" camp program which starts this week and which we will be assisting them with next week. i made a giant falafel and a giant pizza out of paper...i mean big, i'll post pictures...with a great guy named avner.

after that it was back the ha astoria hotel. i went for a great run on the outskirts of town and made my way to a high point where i could see most of the city. i wanted to get out in the rural parts but couldn't find my way, next time. t'veria is situated on a hill so running is all hill training.

now i'm back at the hotel, one of the members of my group, avital, was really kind and brought be back some pizza while i caught up with the internet. we're going to head to a kibbutz in a little bit and meet some of the locals. ok...no editing, just getting this all down. l'hitraot.

The First 2 Days

So here it is a blog...I'm more tired than I'd like to be but I guess that's a good thing. All I can ask of myself is a quick recap of the past 2 days events.

I arrived early in the morning on Sunday straight from Tel Aviv. A quick shower and I was on my way to meet the kids. As soon as I entered the room they were talking to me, it was great. The best way to learn a language in my mind now is to go to a foreign country and work with children. They never stop talking!

We played a game of soccer (football here) and made cars that propelled themselves using a balloon expelling its air. At first I thought the camp was a school that was in session. The kids were wild and fighting more than I expect American children in the same situation to do. I later found out that it's a actually a summer daycamp program, so that explained the rowdy behavior.

After my time at the school we went to the Jewish Agency offices for a lovely lunch and some formal introductions, very much appreciated. After that it was back to the hotel, exhausted. I managed to make it down to the pool and finish reading Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (just ok). Then it was straight to bed to try and regain my voice which I lost in Tel Aviv.

Today I was up and enjoyed an Israeli style breakfast. Off to the camp where we were quick to get on a bus and spend the day at the pool on a nearby kibbutz. After that it was a gratis Chinese lunch on the Kinneret and then a wonderful jeep tour of the area. I'll write the details later. Then I got dropped off downtown and spent time looking for things I need. A walk up the hill back to the hotel..long and hot even in the dark...then rest...then shwarma and a Carlsberg...then back to the hotel...sometime on the internet (now)...and maybe a quick visit with the Birthright kids who are screaming and partying on my front porch...or maybe bed. Until later.