Day 3 - Sports Galore!
I was not thrilled to find out that we would be having an ENTIRE day devoted to playing sports in Israel for our mega event. Any one who knows me knows that unless it involves water I am not much of a sporty person, especially when it involves hand eye coordination. So, when we were told we had to form teams for basketball, soccer, volleyball, dodgeball (my least favorite, I am that person who was happy it got banned from school, sorry guys), and tug of war I was not quick to volunteer. I finally chose tug of war thinking that would be easiest. I thought I could just stand somewhere in the middle and act like I was pulling. But boy was I wrong. The tug of war was intense, and looked way more tough then any tug of war competitions I remember. Luckily, I did not end of participating in the tug of war because of current running and biking injuries acting up (not lucky about the injury). I did not want to re-hurt myself and make it worse so I was allowed to sit out and be a "cheerleader".
Now I know I have pretty much been bashing this sport day, but all in all it was actually pretty cool, although some parts were a little poorly organized. The point of the sports day was to bring all Taglit Birthright trips in Israel at the time - over 2,000 people! Each group was competing to gain the most points based on performance and enthusiasm. The group that won got the prize of sending the six Israelis (that joined our group the next day) to America for free.
We were given materials to make a team flag and we all received orange shirts to wear. We named ourselves Just Jew It, which became our slogan after we got our orange shirts and turned ourselves in the the Orange Jews - get it, ha. ha. We pimped out our mascot, the Sachlav bear in team gear as well.
After getting off the bus where we customized our shirts and painted ourselves orange, we did a few cheers to get team morale up and waved our flag proudly as we took off to the first site.
All 2,000 of us trying to get under the one tent of shade. We would be in the desert sun all day doing various activities, and we waited to hear how the day would be divided.
We were brought to a place called Wingate Institute, where one of the military trainings take place. Our first activities of the day was to take part in drills the soldiers have to do such as tire runs.
The parallel bars, where you walk across by holding yourself up with your arms. I was pumped I made it the whole way. I was probably one of the few in my group who didn't fall, and a soldier even complimented me - although they are all nice to everyone. But I guess my work outs have paid off.
We also did the drill where you have to crawl under rope in sand. I probably should not have reapplied sunscreen right before this one.
We also did a monkey bar drill, a brain teaser, had a group photo and did a Zumba station. Zumba is another one of my least favorites, I chose to stick with guys in the back for that one. After this we were able to go back to the tent for lunch. Yum. Sandwiches made on individual challah loafs. We were then given popsicles to cool down with too. I was able to get my knee bandaged after cutting it on rocks in the under the rope crawl activity. It wasn't too bad, but I medic but so much iodine on the bandage that it looked gruesome and like a ton of blood. I was glad people were concerned and asked if I was ok, but after a while I started telling them that we were not actually competing, but being recruited for the army, and I got chosen and taken to target practice during lunch. I met some gullible people.
Recharging in the shade, with some Orange Jews team spirit.
The second portion of sports day was devoted to extreme sports. This included climbing rope ladders hung by cranes, climbing rock walls, shooting paint ball guns, and pulling a tractor. Unfortunately, this part of the day was not well planned, and having 20 or so minutes to completely activities such as these in a group of 45 did not work out so well. Not all of the members were able to complete each activity, as little as only 8 members did. This was unfortunate because everyone had to wait and everyone wanted to compete. Oh well.
The third part of day was devoted to the typical American sports that I mentioned earlier. Here is our team cheering the rest of our group on.
After we finished the sports we were given dinner, and then went to attend the closing ceremony and concert. Unfortunately we did not win, but honestly, I don't think any of us were expecting to. We were able to hear an Israeli music group, Hatikva 6, and dance the night away. And although it was more fun then I anticipated, I was glad to see the day come to a close, shower (one group had to go straight from sports all day to the airport for a 12 hour flight), and go to sleep.
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