Settling into kibbutz ein dor

Hello everybody! I'm finally in Israel! We got here on Monday afternoon, and then drove and hour and a half to Kibbutz Ravid, where we stayed until Friday morning. There, we participated in some peulot (activities), went on a hike, and started to get to know each other again after 2 whole years. We all stayed up pretty late on Monday night, but I think we were all just very excited to finally be on workshop. I woke up pretty early on Tuesday morning and got to watch the sun rise over the Kinneret (sea of galilee) from my window, which was absolutely breathtaking. 

On Wednesday morning I woke up to the sunrise again. It's kind of funny because the madrichim (counselors) kept splitting us up into two separate groups and we kept on thinking, "are these our kvutzot?" However, later in the day we learned our actual kvutzot which was very exciting. I'm in the smaller kvutza, but I don't mind. My kvutza is:

Jess Glassman from Galil, Dan Shahar from Galil, Liat Paradise from Galil, Aliyah Nissim from Galil, Lindsey Taussig from Tavor, Sara Banai from Tavor, Aaron MacRitchie from Gesher, Gabe Paul from Gesher, Micah Arnson-Serotta from Mosh, Ari Egar from Gilboa, Hannah Martens from Miriam, Sara Sharpe from Miriam, Matan Reshef from Miriam, Sam Koppel from Miriam, Rachel Fishman from Miriam, Asher Zetler from Miriam and Jacob Faber from Miriam. 

Here we are outside of our house!

On Thursday morning we went for a what we thought would be a small hike, but what actually turned into a pretty difficult hike around Kibbutz Ravid. It was super hot and we had to climb down this cliff and then back up on a very steep path. The next day we left for Jerusalem for Yom Kippur. We went to Ben Yehuda Street on Friday afternoon and got falafel and gelato. 

We then walked to the hostel and relaxed a bit before the fasting began. I went to evening services with a few other people, but I wasn't that impressed with the service. It was basically a service that I could have gotten back at home. A lot of it was in English, but nonetheless I am glad I went. On Saturday we had peulot and other activities based around the meaning behind Yom Kippur. It was also Jess Glassman's 19th birthday on Saturday (first workshop birthday!) That night after breaking fast, we threw a surprise dance party for her. We all dressed in black and had a lot of fun after a pretty calm, and serious day. Afterwards, a lot of is hung out on the rooftop of the hostel where we sang kumzits. Before going to bed I hung out on our room's balcony for a bit and took this panorama.

 On Sunday we all woke up very excited because we were moving into our home for the next 3 months: kibbutz ein dor! After an hour long walk around Jerusalem with Julian Resnick, now the mazkir of HD Olami, we took the bus to kibbutz and started moving in our new homes. Our kvutza is in the smaller house, but it really makes no difference. I

To tell you the truth I actually like our house better. It's very communal. The bedrooms are all right next to each other and the kitchen and bathrooms are a few steps away as well. We just got the basic boneh schedule today, and while it seems a bit overwhelming at first, I'm sure it will be a great learning experience.

P.s cats are everywhere, meow