By Amelia Chinn, Gesher Rosh Eidah

These past few weeks of Gesher have just flown by. We got into our routine rather quickly, but there have been many surprises along the way, such as a Yom Mayim (Water Day) and two fieldtrips. Last week, our unit had the opportunity to participate in several service projects in Milwaukee. Our group divided up and visited a food pantry, a farm and a botanical garden, and the kids had a great time. Afterwards we explored the incredible Discovery World Museum, having the chance to touch stingrays, investigate how technology works and also explore a 3D room! Our second fieldtrip was another wonderful success; we went to the Naga Waukee Park just outside of Delafield, WI where we spent the day on the beautiful trails and fields. We played field games and decorated signs for our upcoming all-camp carnival, had a barbeque and also learned fun facts about the different cities in Israel. The fieldtrip ended with a wonderful treat of McDonald’s ice cream, funded by our fabulous faculty Rabbi Helbraun.

Our all camp Maccabiah games are today, and with Shabbat right around the corner and our final field trip on Sunday, the campers have a ton to look forward to. We just switched our chugim, so the campers are able to explore different aspects of camp and meet new people. As we come to the end of week 3, I couldn’t be happier with the way our session has been going. The campers have formed friendships that will remain for years to come, and their willingness to try new things here at OSRUI has been tremendous. I am extremely excited for the next week and a half we have together; with one final field trip, the Gesher carnival and much more, this has been one of the best sessions Gesher has ever had!