My name is Sam Callahan. I am here to speak to you about Greene Family Camp. Camp was really great. I want to tell you about two different ways that camp was great.

The first way that camp was great, was because of all the fun activities that I got to do. I particularly love the game called Gaga. Gaga is really Israeli dodge ball. You play in an octagon sand pit with a ball that you have to keep on the ground and hit people on the knees or below. The goal is to be the last one standing! I loved it because I got pretty good at it, and it's really fun.

I also liked Dodge Ball because there were a lot of sports skills, and it was really hard. My team in Maccabiah, other wise known as Color War, got second place in Dodge Ball!

I also liked a program called Ash Laila because everyone had to work together. This was an evening program, and everyone was divided into groups and you and your group had to go through a path to Jill Hill, which is one of the campsites at Greene Family Camp. It was a little challenging because we always knew where the people were who were trying to prevent us from reaching our goal! We had to work together to make sure that people didn't get touched, so we could all get to the end point.

I learned to play Poker at Greene Family Camp, because my Mom sent me the book “Texas Hold'em for Dummies”, and we all learned together! This became a bunk activity, and on the last night of camp we had a big game with poker chips, and I won!

I took Fencing lessons at Greene Family Camp. I really liked it because it was a continuation of my karate except with actual fighting with swords! I was really good at it, and nearly beat every other kid taking the class with me! I liked it so much I may take classes in San Antonio!

One of the reasons camp was special is because of all the people. Everyone was very nice, and everybody was having a good time All of the people were Jewish.. Being around Jewish people all the time made me feel a lot more normal. In my bunk everyone was friends. The really good friends I had were Eric, Nathan and Paul. They were my good friends because we had a lot of fun together. I liked my counselors and Avodah ( counselors in training). I liked them because my Avodah told great stories, and Ben, my counselor, helped us learn how to play Texas Hold'Em. My other counselor, Tal, just was really fun to be with.

Tal was one of the first people I got to know who lives in Israel. It was really neat to be around so many people that were Israeli, and spoke Hebrew.

I want to end my speech about Greene Family Camp by talking about Shabbat and Services. As a Reform Jew, I wasn't used to going to services every night. At camp, I got used to going to services every night, and I even kind of liked it. So then, when I came home, it was hard for me to get back to my normal schedule. There was a Shabbat that I really liked. That was the one during Maccabiah, during color war. We didn't do normal songs, but instead we sang Maccabiah songs. I like Saturday schedule because it was more relaxed and I could practice with my cards.

I'm going back to camp next summer, because it is so much fun! I can't wait until next summer! School is just in the way!

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