"But I want to do more schedule!" - Cale

I think everybody is ending day 3 of the mifgash with Israeli paintball. Today we've already done Israeli skating (everyone clings to the boards and screams with every attempted step) and Israeli bowling (everyone claims it is their turn), so what's another culturally adapted pastime? Except the paintball game was set for 4:00, long after the schedule for the day ended.

Although she's in good spirits, the rain and resultant rescheduling of the day must have been disappointing for Genesis. She learned to ride a bike over the winter specifically for her debut by the Jordan River which was supposed to be today. Unfortunately we won't get to that ride but her penpal promised to get her on a bike in the Holy Land before she leaves.

The schedule yesterday started with a visit to our sister elementary school Lev Ha'Emek at Kibbutz Naot (yes! THAT Naot) Mordechai. They greeted us singing and whisked our guys away on a tour of the campus. Something awesome of note is that this school year they opened an enclosed basketball court which they can also use for hockey. I suggested a hockey game but it wasn't meant to be. We visited their classrooms just for a minute before it was time to rush off to college.

At the Tel Chai College for Science and Technology (your UJA dollars at work) they participated in a science experiment consisting of making homemade ice cream. After the ice cream there was lunch (it all ends up in the same place, what difference does it make which part of the meal gets there first?) and then we were off to the Menara Cliff amusement park. At Tzuk Menara we went on the roller coaster and up the gondola, waved to Lebanon and Syria, and headed back to the school. Through all of the activities, you can see in the photos that the kids are having a blast with their penpals. They're singing on the bus, pranking each other, having picnics, and generally enjoying every minute.

That's probably why, as we finished up our pizza lunch at Merkaz Canada (the trampolining, skating, arcade, bowling lane, swimming pool indoor recreation center of the Galil), Cale was disappointed when he asked me what's next on the schedule. I told him we were going to see the border with Lebanon and hear about some of the impacts it has, which he said sounded wonderful. Then he asked what about after that and I said back to school. Then he pouted and gave us the title quote for these couple of action-packed days: "but I want to do more schedule." Sorry, Cale.  Schedule for the day is done. You'll have to go paintballing without the teachers. Poor guy!