Machaneh Tnua Achot

Today the MBIers said goodbye to Ohalo and the beautiful banks of the Kinneret(Sea of Galilee). They set off to Yaar Levi to the forest and campsite there where they will be staying for the duration of Machaneh Tnua Achot(Sister Movement Camp). The morning was more relaxed as the MBIers got a chance to settle in and get acquinted to their new home. The Israelis their age came a bit later then expected and joint activities only commenced after lunch.

The MBIers were split into their smaller bus groups and each group was joined a number of Israelis their age who are from our sister youth movement, Hanoar Haoved ve Halomed. Each group played different icebreakers and get to you know games to start getting the new people to know each other. It also was a chance to grapple with the language barrier with the MBIers trying to use the Hebrew they know and the NOAL(Hanoar Haoved ve Halomed) youth tested their english skills. Fun, practicing and learning another language was great part of the afternoon.

Afterwards they had a peula(activity) to start to have an exchange to learn about the differences between Habonim Dror and Hanoar Haoved. While Habonim Dror North America is largely structured around our machanot(summer camps) and kenim activities during the year, the Israeli structure is quite different. While they do have summer camps, they are often 5 days to a week long and the focus is much more on the activities in the ken. In most areas the ken meets 1-2 times a week and clearly plays a different role then in North America. It was a great exchange of ideas and sparked a great energy and connection between the MBIers and the NOAL Israeli participants.

After dinner in the chadar ochel(dining hall), the MBIers took part in some fun in an Israeli game called a Salatron. It was a sort of color war with lots of different games and competitions. The joint group had really fun evening and capped off a great day with a lot promise for the rest of Machaneh(camp).

Tomorrow the MBIers will take part in a couple peulot(activities), shabbat chugim, and get ready to take part in much of the usual shabbat activities. It should be a nice way to end the week. Tomorrow I will post more about the return information as incredibly MBI has just over a week to go.