Melbourne Diller Teen Fellows

Monday was an early morning wake up to get to Salukia, where we had an Israeli breakfast and a summary activity where the fellows wrote personal comments to each other, they then had a chance to say thankyou to their hosts, what they learnt from each other, about their views on Israel and how they have grown during community week. then there was an activity run by our Roshim, Anita, Batya, Romy and Nadav which beautifully concluded our self managed week. After these summary peulot, we got on the bus to head off to congress. The excitement was indescribable. Everyone was so tired from the week but could not wait to meet the rest of the world, teenagers that have experienced things to similar to us yet in such different ways.   We made a stop at Kibbutz Gonnen for the classic ice ‘cream’ and toilet break, and to find out our tribes for the adventure that was yet to come. On the bus to congress, being the creative bunch we are, we decided to make an entrance and a great first ...

Sunday was chosen to explore the spectrum of culture in the Golan. Our morning started at Kibbutz El-Rom, kindly hosted by Dror, one of our Golan fellows with a short peula. The activity was extremely interesting and introduced the day perfectly, encouraging fellows to remain open minded regarding cultures they had not been exposed to yet. We then drove to meet a man from the Druze community. He opened our eyes to their way of life, both religious and social. The talk was concluded with delicious laffas kindly prepared by Druze women. We played a quick game before hopping back on the bus to Kibbutz Ortal where we all volunteered. Fellows all worked together feeding, painting and cleaning. All the hard work was a rewarding experience for all. We were then treated to a yummy Kibbutz lunch before rushing to tour the kibbutz and see their dairy farm. Finally, we went back to Katzrin and were lucky enough to have a session with member of Ehud Banai’s (a famous Israeli singer) b...

Friday was an absolute amazing day of fine coordination and last minute alterations that was absolutely phenomenal in all aspects. Starting off in the middle of woop woop in the black stump with a few billys for Poyke the night before, the day began with a 5:30am wake up, clean up, as well as the two options of meditation and an orthodox service. Everybody was absolutely exhausted! Most people only had 4 hours sleep, but that was not to worry. As Nachshon of the day, and with Maagal Boker postponed for the time being, I made the executive decision to play a few games to past the time. Ash’s classic ‘Good Doggy’ and getting someone to leave the circle and eventually saying ‘moo’ by themselves. After Maagal boker finished run by Ash and Nirit about Shabbat, we were off (and may I say on time at 8:30) on our two busses heading towards the Mayan Almin. Upon arrival, we did a Shabbat Peula on how everybody celebrates Shababt differently in their own subjective way that they find sp...