Israel Tour 2006:- Monday July 17th/Day 6

EVENING UPDATE

Shalom,

Hope you are all doing well. I will now pick up where I left off last night;

HD1

Last night they were going into family groups. This is where they split up into 4 groups of 10 people from their group, and went off with one of their madrichim (leaders). Here they had a bit of snack food, had some bonding sessions, and generally ran a nice feedback session. This was good as a support structure for within the group.

After this they had a bonfire that the group built and lit themselves, where they had marshmallows and songs.

This morning they went to some nice gardens where Rothschild was buried. After this they went on a fun tiyul, which was followed by a lovely shish kebab in pita with chips for lunch.

After this they toured around the city of Zichron Ya’akov which is known for being one of the early settlements. After this they did a hike in the Allon Gardens, which was followed by dinner.

Tonight they are going into a peulah that they organized which is dance lessons followed by a dance competition – so basically a kool disco!

Tonight they will be sleeping at Green Village again.

HD2

After this they had a peulah in a similar theme, called the “journey peulah”. Here the madrichim set the tone by lighting candles in a room, which allowed for a thoroughly worthwhile processing session. The madrichim asked questions for the chanichim to talk about, and even after they were done, many chanichim stayed on to talk amongst themselves about what they had done and how much they have got out of tour, even though they have only been there for just under a week.

This morning they went on a tiyul to mount carmel, where they had fun painting on their yom habo tshirts and signing each others. After this they had a session by some Israeli’s who taught them Israeli songs – they really enjoyed this as this was one of their first proper encounters with born Israelis.

This was followed by a different lunch of falafel.

Next they had a tiyul along the beach nearby.

They have now just had dinner, and tonight they are having a big bonfire on the beach in the style of a pyjama party!

Tonight they will be sleeping at Dor Tantura again.

All

Both groups are still extremely upbeat, and having great fun. They are really starting to form a good well bonded group, and are creating many new friends, and enhancing long lasting friendships.

Unfortunately we have had to cancel the family weekend this weekend. This is more of a precautionary measure as we would rather have them ‘all in our sight’ throughout the duration of the tour. We ask you for your understanding in this issue, and whilst we know it is not ideal, we feel this is for the best.

I have attached 2 photos of the group, and I will place more on the website (http://www.habodror.org.uk/activities/israel06/day6.html) by tomorrow morning.

Weather; 28 degrees c

Security Update

The Security Department of the Jewish Agency are continuously monitoring the situation in all parts of Israel. As ever we take our directions from their instructions and act accordingly. At the present time they are maintaining their instruction that, as a precaution, programmes for any groups due to be in or around affected areas will be modified.

All programmes in Israel are continuing with appropriate modifications being made as necessary.

Please remember to check; www.summertour.org.uk for more updates

Plan for the next 48 hours;

HD1

Tomorrow; cycling by the Alexander river, next to the michmoret beach – Hadera area.

Wednesday; Dor Beach – near to Nachsholim (north of Hadera, near Zichron Ya’akov), druze town called Dalyat El Carmel near to Zichron Yaakov, then a hike in the same area.

Both nights sleeping in Nachsholim.

HD2

Tomorrow; cycling by the Alexander river, next to the michmoret beach – Hadera area, then to Rothschilds garden in Zichron Ya’akov, then Park Alona in the same area.

Wednesday; Hadera in the morning, then Dalyat El Carmel near to Zichron ya’akov, then back to Dor Tantura, near to Zichron Ya’akov.

LUNCH TIME UPDATE

Shalom,

Hope you are all well. For the moment we will now be emailing you out twice a day. The update at lunch time will be a very short update just giving you the whereabouts of the group and a short security update. The email in the evening time will be a fuller update letting you know how the groups are doing – similar to what we have been doing in the past few days. I also have a few photo’s to include in this evenings email.

Group Update

The groups are currently in Zichron Ya’akov. They have generally been separate today, but doing similar things at different times. They have done a hike this morning, followed by a tour in Zichron Ya’akov. Both are now heading to do a fun water hike. HD1 are then heading off to a water park, whilst HD2 are heading off for a bonfire on the beach tonight. Both are sleeping in the same place as last night; HD1 are staying at Green Village, and HD2 are staying in Dor Tantura – both in the Netanya area.