by Nick Desloge, Kefiada Volunteer, St. Louis

This past week has been a blast! I was picked up from the airport on Sunday morning and taken to my host family. They are incredibly nice and try hard to make me feel comfortable in a new home. On Monday, the group toured around Yokneam and Megiddo areas. We were able to go to Muchraka and enjoy a view for miles around. We also went into a Druze village and see what life was like for Druze living in Israel. After lunch, the group went to the border of Palestine and Israel to see the barrier between the two territories. It was an eye opening experience to see how divided the two countries are considering they are physically close.

On Tuesday, we all (the St. Louis people) woke up early and went to elementary schools to celebrate children's day; the children preformed a skit and showed us around the area. After that, we went to the swimming pool at the Yokneam Moshava for a planning session, lunch, and a little relaxation. Later on, everyone went to the children's day celebration. It was fun to get an idea of what kind of children we would be working with in about a week.

Wednesday was a preparation day for people from St. Louis as well as the pick up day for the Atlanta group. On Thursday, everyone met at the old JCC for a shared expectations session. After a tour of camp facilities, lunch, and more prep, everyone went to the Yokneam City celebration. At the celebration, we were able to meet up with a camp counselor and view the tremendous festivities. We even got to hear an Israeli pop star sing!

Despite being the "weekend" our group met on Friday for one last planning session. That night, I went with my family to Shabbat dinner - the food was delicious and I was able to compare the ways people practice Judaism in different parts of the world.

Saturday was a relaxed day where I stayed at home, recapped the previous week, and prepare for Sunday.

Next week is a first week at the camp!