End of boneh orientation

On Tuesday morning we all awoke fairly early to catch a bus to Mount Precipice, which overlooks the city of Nazareth. 

The other side, however, had quite a different view. Here is a picture of my friend Aliyah and I.

Next, we took the bus down to Nazareth where we learned about the city's unique history, walked around in a shuk, and had lunch in the city center. 

After a long day in Nazareth, we took the bus to a beach in Haifa where many of us swam in the water and laid out on the beach to relax before heading back to Kibbutz. I slept most of the bus ride back, but I did manage to wake up for a few minutes to watch the sunset, which was gorgeous.

On Wednesday, we woke up, had breakfast, and then had our first main kupa asepha. I think it was pretty successful given that it was our first discussion on the subject. Of course there will be more to talk about as workshop continues, but we left off on a high note which was good. We then spent the afternoon at the kibbutz pool, which was very fun, especially after such a long morning. That night we had dinner and then went to a tekes (ceremony) with the entire kibbutz for Sukkot. There was dancing, singing, and even some speakers who talked to us about the kibbutz. Many of us dressed in our chultzot as well. It was very exciting being a part of the kibbutz life and interacting with the kibbutz members.

Afterwards, there was rikud (Israeli dancing) with the entire kibbutz. It was so much fun, even if I didn't know all the dances. The best part of the night was when most of the adults went back to their homes and only the teenage kibbutzniks and a few of us workshoppers were left. We taught them the wobble, and had a pretty crazy dance party. They wanted us to stay even longer, but we had to get to bed after a tiring day. 

On Thursday morning we had a peulah (activity) on Jewish history, and then split up into groups to build a sukkah! My group was responsible for building the structure of the sukkah while some other groups made decorations. 

Afterwards, we went to lunch and then listened to a guest speaker, a 92 year old Kibbutznik named Ariyeh who talked about his life and how he made Aliyah. Once he was done speaking, we were officially done with boneh orientation. I now have the weekend off, so I hope to use this time to catch up on sleep and explore the kibbutz some more. 

On Sunday we will start Yam l' Yam (from sea to sea). Us 37 workshoppers will join 38 Habo New Zealanders, Aussies, and South Africans on a 3 day hike from the Mediterranean Sea to the Kinneret.