By: Leora Leavey and Franny Plovan, Machaneh Moshava, Bus 13
Wow! MBI has been a blast so far – we can’t believe it hasn’t even been one week!
On our first night in Israel we were put into 4 kvutzot (groups). We quickly got to know each other through silly games, and after just a few days we were eating dinner with people who live 3,000 miles away. As we’ve gradually gotten closer with one another, we’ve been sharing songs and cheers we do at each of our camps. There’s something so cool about doing the same, ridiculous cheers as loud as you can with people from across North America! Wednesday night, we all screamed our camp’s cheers in the Chadar Ohel (dining room)! The same with rikkud – during free time, we’ll put on some songs and do different variations of the same dances!
Our daily peulot (discussions by group) encourage us to open up with our peers and bond with people who hold similar values to us. These discussions have been a good mixture of meaningful (exploring the concept of shivyon erech ha’adam) and silly (trying to find our “soulmates” based on this-or-that questions). Even though our bus is made up of two different kvutzot, everyone has gotten a healthy dose of bonding, especially through bus cheers and the now infamous seatbelt song! Although we have our classic Habo traditions, we still have fun seeing the differences between machanot.
Another huge highlight of MBI may seem kind of obvious, but just getting to explore this gorgeous country has been amazing! From the beautiful views, to the vibrant shuks, to the Mediterranean Sea, everywhere we’ve been has been absolutely incredible! What better setting to make new friends and have a blast could there be? Beautiful, sprawling hills, blue, vibrant ocean water, and colorful nature does not begin to describe the country. It’s been such an incredible experience going through Shuk HaCarmel, swimming in the beaches at Tel Aviv, digging in archaeological caves at Tel Maresha, and so much more, knowing that it is the land of our people. We’ve also gotten so many opportunities to learn about different religions and cultures within Israeli society, especially in Haifa, where we went on Wednesday. It was really interesting and broadened (at least our) views of Israeli society.
We couldn’t finish this without mentioning the food! There is nothing like it! Israeli breakfast with shakshuka, cucumbers (but different – better – then in North America), and burekas is the perfect start to each day, and getting real Israeli falafel and pita or shawarma during pizzur lunches are highlights of our days. What is also so incredible to see and part of what has made us realize that we are not in North America anymore, is the kashrut certifications front and center in most shops and restaurants. A bunch of us even went to a kosher McDonald’s – crazy! It really emphasizes the fact we are in a Jewish state, which is really cool and validating.
All in all, this first (almost) week has been absolutely amazing, and we can’t wait for what is next!
