AJ, Eli and Jordan
Today we are writing from our first day at Neve Shalom! We arrived safely last night and have had a great stay so far. Today we saw the Mifgash kids. They met us at Neve Shalom this morning and we had a couple of ice breaker games so that we could meet the nine new kids they brought with them. After the ice breakers, we all headed to an outdoor cooking activity where we were able to bond and have fun cooking. We learned how to cook shakshuka, pasta, and a salad and it expanded our communicating skills because we had to communicate with kids that aren’t fluent in our language. 

After we cooked, we went to play water tag. It is essentially laser tag and capture the flag, but with water guns. We were combined with the Mifgash kids then split into two groups. We then spent the next hour relentlessly and mercilessly spraying each other in the face with water guns. After water tag, we sat in a closing circle and the Mifgash kids gave us some gifts. We then said our goodbyes and went for ice cream before heading back to eat dinner and change for the Yom HaZikaron Ceremony.

Later, at night, we went to a Yom HaZikaron Ceremony. The ceremony we went to was specifically based on lone soldiers who had died and victims of terror. There we heard stories of people who had fallen during battle. We got to experience Israel’s Memorial Day and see what it was like compared to the American Memorial Day. Although it was very sad and emotional, it was a very important experience for all of us.