History, Sports and Raft building...What more could you want!

NOTE: For anyone being picked up in Haifa for Free Weekend. There is an outdoor parking lot next to the mall, this is where the drop off will be.

Yesterday kicked off the first full week of MBI. The group started with a hike in the morning at Nahal Amud. Nahal Amud is most well known as the only walkable valley that connects the upper and lower Galilee.

After exploring the flora and fauna of the Galilee, MBI headed over for a bit of interactive history at Kibbut Ifat. This is an interactive museum where the chanichim talk to characters from a pioneering settlement. They talked about the different jobs they had, how they dealt with their group dynamics, and what it was like to settle Palestine. After each group had met all of the characters they all came together for some good ol' rikud (folk dancing).

Later for their tochnit erev (evening activity) the chanichim had a rousing celebration for the world cup finals game. They chose which team they wanted to support, created cheers and had some friendly heckling of each other. There was a lot of ruach (spirit) in the small room where the game was being screened.

Today was the first day of Rafsodia. For most of day the MBIers were hard at work on the banks of the kinneret. In spite of the heat wave in Israel right now, no one has become dehydrated yet! this is an amazing accomplishment. Hats off the all of our responsible chanichim and madrichim.

As the sun set on a lovely and productive day the chanichim split up into their kvutzot and had a discussion about overcoming their dragons (dragons being a metaphor for personal challenges.) Rafsodia is a great opportunity to continue the bonding as a kvutzah and to really solidify their relationships before the touring of the country commences.