Too Tov Tuesday

The adrenaline from our mini color war last night had worn off by the time we all woke up, only a few short hours later, to begin our day. Bright and early, by 8:30, the boys were en route to Yamit 2000, a water park, and the girls to the local swimming pool. While the pool was a core feature of the Achuzat summer 2016 - the entire pnimia went every day - this was only our second time there (and both times, only the girls went). At the pool, we played games in the water, braided hair, or simply sunbathed. I had the opportunity to teach one of my girls how to swim, a skill I did not realize was a privilege to have until my time here. Our first time together in the pool on our two day Tiyul, I approached girls in my kvutzah - Rimon, with girls aged 16 and 17 - and asked them to come play a game with me in the deep end. The majority dissented, explaining that they did not know how to swim. From then on, I, who never had formal swimming lessons and who excels only in the doggy paddle, became a swim teacher. Today, most likely one of our last times together in a pool this summer, I worked with one of my girls on kicking her feet while she swims.

After two and a half hours at the pool, we boarded our bus back to Achuzat Sarah. We ate lunch, and thus began one of the hardest parts of the day: the early afternoon. It seems that every day from 2 to 4 pm, the entire home retreats into their kvutzot. Some days, my girls simply want to take naps. Today's early afternoon, however, was influenced by a rare occurrence - the majority of my kvutzah was in the home at once, so they all wanted to hang out with one another. As each girl embarked on her afternoon plans - a nap, a job, or simply a trip out of the home - I joined two of my girls in watching the first Twilight movie, discussing the level of acting, attractiveness of actors, and overall plot line. Despite the fact that we live on almost opposite ends of the globe, we all share similar opinions on the movie and can all recall our first (of many) times seeing it.

The next major event was Zumba, our second time in two days. At this point, my entire kvutzah was either outside of the home or sleeping and not willing to get up, meaning that I got to spend some quality time with the younger girls. Dancing to our summer anthems - a mix of Hebrew, English, and one Spanish song - us Americans did our best to keep up with the teacher and to encourage the younger Israelis.

After a quick dinner, our final activity of the evening was sand carving. We sawed, grated, and sanded sandstone for roughly an hour in the hopes of creating different shapes. For some, this worked, successfully creating balls and elephants. For others, an intention to create the Eiffel Tower yielded a car. We laughed off our mistakes and roughly an hour later, headed to our kvutzot to spend some time with our kids and help them prepare for bed. Hopefully we Americans will also get some sleep before our long day at the water park tomorrow.