Thursday July 12th

Well Thursday has come and gone in Israel and another successful day of MBI was had by the MBI participants. The morning started early to beat the heat and still manage the two hour hike they had in store for them on Mt Arbel. Mt. Arbel which is just northwest of Tiberias, is a great hike with historical links to the Assyrians and King Herod. It also has beautiful views of the valleys nearby and the Kinneret off in the distance. The spirited hike which was staggered so that all the participants were not trying to do the same hike at same time. Afterwards buses 1 and 4 went to Ein Nun where they got to do a short hike enjoy a nice spring at the end of their hike. The other two buses did not have enough time to make it there but everyone met up for what apparently was a great packed lunch.

Apparently lunch on the go was quite good. For the meat eaters there were sandwiches with kebabs or chicken schnitzel and for the vegetarians there were omelet or corn schnitzel sandwiches as well as having a variety of salads in addition. After lunch they headed to Majrase where they had a short twenty minute hike to a spring where everyone got to get wet and swim who wanted. In the evening they had a peula(activity) again by bus with the goal of looking at the Goals, fears, and expectations of the MBIers as individuals and as a group. The day seemed overall to be quite successful as Leon overheard some MBIers saying, "This was the best day of MBI!" despite it being only the second full day!

Tomorrow also will be quite hot and we have to make a few changes to the itinerary as well. In the morning the group will go to the Eifat Museum which focuses on the settlement of Jezreel Valley, the 1st Aliyah, and Kibbutzim in the region. There are plays and a lot interactive parts to the Museum so it should an intriguing and informative stop. They will then head Tsfat(Safed) to have a tour of the city. They will explore one of the oldest cities in Israel and diverse population there and the elements of Jewish mysticism that really make the city a fascinating place which has a truly unique feel that you can only sense while being there. The city is also elevated on a hill with some great of views of the surrounding area.

They will come back in the late afternoon to have time to rest and get ready for Shabbat. One of the great parts of MBI is that despite all the newness and travelling involved in the trip, Shabbat is a time usually to bring back some familiarity and comfort to what is usually one of everyone's favorite part of the week at machaneh(camp). They will do Kabbalat Shabbat looking out on the Kinneret, have a nice Shabbat dinner and enjoy an oneg(play) put on by their madrichim(counselors). Finally the evening would not be complete with some Rikud(Israeli Dancing) in no better place to dance then in Israel itself!

I will be sending via email the bus lists for you all to look over. Once you receive the list please begin to post on the Guestbook with both your MBIers name and bus number this will help ensure the speedy delivery of the messages. Also as you may or may not have noticed, a day or two after the messages have been delivered I will be trying to delete them from the Guestbook site. Though if I haven't deleted your message, it does not mean the messages have not been delivered. Finally the comments section of the previous post and I think this one as well included some ordering information posted by an helpful, organized parent for getting the seventh Harry Potter book in Israel. Please see her post for more information.

Talk to you soon!