Our Favorite Places in Camp

My favorite place in camp in my bunk because I love sitting on my bed and reading. I love to read. -Miriam


My favorite place at camp is the observatory. I like the observatory because you can see a lot of nature surrounding it and in the middle there is a circle. If you stand in the center of the circle and you speak there is an echo! -Dylan


My favorite place at camp is my bunk! It's a place where I can talk to my friends. I can also sleep and be in a quiet and calm place. My bunk is a place where I can always be myself. -Taliana


My favorite place is the Whizin field. I like it because of the swingset, jungle gym, cement tunnel, and rock climbing walls. The jungle gym is for climbing and having fun. I love the tunnel for talking and hanging out. The rock climbing walls are great ways to get some excercise. -Madelyne


My favorite place in camp is Kikar-tzion because it is a sophisticated place to be in. -Paige


My favorite place at camp is the concrete tunnel on the Whizin field. It is a nice place to cool off, good for talking, and a nice place to chill with friends. It is also a good place for "me" time. -Violet

Nitz-Abrim Photoshoot?!

It's hard to decide on one group picture, so why not try multiple poses and post them all?

Respect Da' Blog! Nitz-Abrim Goals/What we are looking foward to!

Violet:
-ropes course
-Banquet
-Writing more

Dylan:
Even though camp is almost over I am looking forward to the Banquet. I am also looking foward to taking pictures all around camp. One of my goals is having the best summer Ever. 


Paige:
I'm looking forward to...
-Banquet
-birthdays
-our mock wedding
My goals are...
-ropes course!

Miriam:
I'm looking forward to going home. My goal is to go on the ropes course.

Taliana:
I'm looking forward to Banquet. I love to dress up and see the end of session slide show. One of the things I really want to do is roll down the hill. I'm in chug Blogging and in my chug I want to do interviews.

Madelyne:
I'm looking forward to...
-banquet
-sleepover
My goals...
-being a counselor
-being on staff
-going on the ropes courses

Leor:

Mud Hugs!!

On July 8th, 83 Machon campers returned from their one week tiul (overnight) called Tzadah. They were gone for 5 days and 4 nights. They spent 3 nights in Big Bear and 1 night at Lake Casitas. On the last day, they walked 7 miles back from Lake Casitas to camp. When they came close, they stopped outside of the Ojai fire department, got hosed off, and rolled around in a mud pit outside of camp. 

I talked to Maya, a Machonie in tent 20. She said it rained every night in Big Bear, and while on the overnight the whole edah felt a lot smaller, even though her own tent is just 8 campers. Surprisingly, despite the rain, the campfire was always going and their stuff never got too wet. 

Benji Davis, rosh Machon, came in with an Israeli flag and introduced the Tzadah Army. The Machonies were so muddy that even after showering for about an hour the mud was still present. 

It sounds like Tzadah is a super fun trip and I can't wait to go when I am in Machon!

The mud-covered clothing that was worn by 83 Machon Campers

"Nitzacademy Awards"

by Aviva F.


Sunday through Thursday, all the edot have a peulot erev (night activity).  I love seeing how other edot are dressed up for their night activities at dinner. One night Abirim had an activity where the kids of the top bunks were dressed in college gear and the bottom bunks were dressed sporty. Some of my favorite activities so far have been:
-Nitzacademy Awards
-The Luau
-Farmer's Market


The Nitzacademy Awards was one activity I remember really well. 


In front of the Whizin building, Nitzanim had one of their many night activities, and it was a Disney themed academy awards! Each bunk performed a song from an original Disney movie. Bunk 1 had "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. Bunk 2 (my bunk) was given "I'll Make a Man out of You" from Mulan, and bunk 12 had "Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King. 


After everyone performed three awards were given out. Bunk 1 was given the "Best Vocal" award because one of the girls in the bunk was singing the song as the rest of the bunk danced. My bunk won the "Best Dance" award and bunk 12 won "Most Comedic." 


I really liked this activity because for the bunk activity earlier that day we got to learn our dance. It was really fun. 


Last Tuesday, we had a luau. There was licorice and guava juice (yum!) and everyone got to swim at night. The Farmer's market was also really cool. There were six different countries (USA, China, Italy, Japan, Israel, and Mexico). Each country made a different dish from the country, but instead of real food we used candy (chips and salsa for Mexico). Each person received 10 "Nitz-bucks" (worth two 5's) and everyone had enough money to choose two things. I chose candy from Japan and Mexico. 


I can't wait to see what other night activities we will do. 

We Love you Rick!!

by Aviva and Paige
The Rick Recht concert was a huge success. Everyone enjoyed the songs and his speeches. People were literally bowing down to Camp Ramah's Jewish idol.


Tent 7 sollelim boys wrote "I love Rick?!" across their chests.



Sollelim took the stage with Rick Recht at one point in the concert.



Rabbi Joe enjoyed the concert too.



Rick Recht's son, Tal sang with him.



Bunk 1 girls went crazy over Rick.



Rick Recht's dedicated fans bow down in his presence.

Favorite Place in Camp

My favorite place at camp is the buddy trees because they are a nice place to relax, read, and sleep. Every Friday the Machon/Amitzim buddies meet there too.    -Aviva F.

Israel Day by Aviva F.

By Aviva F.
-petting zoo (Alpaca, chickens, and bunnies)
-Pill Cam display
-Pita Making
-Cherry on a spoon relay
-slip n' slide water fight
-cow chocolate milking
-face/nail painting
-pop a balloon with your friend
-Israeli figure matching game
-music!

My favorite part was the petting zoo and the pita making. We had to wait a long time in line for the pita. It was really hot. Some people did the water games because of the heat, even though I didn't (I didn't have a swim suit).

Tomer, a tarbut teacher, cooks the pita that campers and counselors got to make.

Calla (left) and Allegra (right) hold a bunny together at the petting zoo.

Campers were able to race holding a spoon with their mouth and a cherry tomato on it. Did you know cherry tomatoes were developed in Israel?

Two Gesher boys try to pop a balloon with their stomachs using teamwork in the Pop A Balloon station.

A Counselor demonstrates the pill cam, that was invented in Israel. The pill cam is a tiny camera that can be put inside the body and can look at our body from the inside.

Goals/What I am looking foward to

By Aviva F.

Goals:
Ropes course
Participating in Maccabiah (sports or relays)

Things I am looking foward to:
-Maccabiah
-4th of July
-Concert