By Lauren Greenberg
When I had first heard we were having a BBQ dinner in the forest; my mind went straight to my camp’s camp out dinners — scary stew with mystery meat, overly mushy vegetables and never enough food for everyone.
The catering pulls up in a truck with a kitchen attachment, and they start unloading their supplies onto the path in the woods. They set up a full industrial kitchen in the middle of a forest and started to cook away. I knew this was not going to be a camp cookout type meal.
I was so pleasantly surprised to see what our BBQ dinner consisted of. There were six buffet tables of some of the most delicious food I have had in Israel. The first table was a make-your-own salad table, with insanely fresh vegetables. The next table was the spreads and dips table with some of the best hummus I have ever tasted. The third table was the meat table. Instead of scary stew with mystery meat, you could see at least three different kinds of protein, including grilled chicken, schnitzel, and falafel. Both types of chicken were unbelievable. The next table was the sides table including rice and other grains. On the fifth table, there was hot soup, which helped warm us up in the cold December night. The final table included drinks and cookies for dessert.
The food was truly unbelievable, and I still hope that the catering company will surprise us by catering another one of our programs. As amazing as the food was, and as much of foodie as I am, the dinner was not my favorite part of the night.
After singing with Yonina and delicious food around a campfire, I did not think the night could get better, but then the Israeli music came on. Since many of us grew up in Jewish communities who used music as a way to connect us to Israel, Israeli dancing is something every camp kid experiences many times a summer. Some dances were universal to everyone who went to camp all doing the same moves and teaching those who didn’t know. Some dances were individual to certain camps, and someone would step up to lead everyone. I felt as if I were at camp and had known these people for years. At that moment I knew I was having an incredible unique abroad experience. There is no other program where a group of Jewish college students from entirely different backgrounds could come together and in two days feel completely comfortable with each other as if they had known each other for years. We were all dancing, laughing, and singing together, and that night I knew that Nachshon was the perfect program for me.
