liam getreu

Seeing as my last post was about iPods (even though it was about frustration), I thought I’d add this post, too. Over the last couple of days I’ve been considering the ‘white’ side — switching over to an Apple. Since I first started using computers more than thirteen years ago I’ve been using PCs. I’ve never owned an Apple, and never planned to.

But from the looks of it, the new batch of Apples, featuring Intel Core Duo processors, are the goods. They’re becoming more mainstream thanks in no small part to the popularity of the iPod, and it is starting to leave me with little excuse other than to switch. Apple’s new batch of its ‘make the switch’ ads are amazing, to top it off.

So hopefully, pending the sale of my laptop I’ll have an Apple within a month. Fingers crossed.

Last week, while I was on Habo camp, my Nano’s screen broke. I was using it a lot. Three, four times a day in ‘tough’ conditions. It was being taken my kids, by other madrichim, plugged into and out of stereos, and spent pretty much the whole time in my back pocket.

That’s where the drama starts. For those who don’t remember, when Steve Jobs first launched the Nano, he famously pulled it out of a pocket in his jeans. Since then, it’s the ‘trend’ for people with Nanos to do the same. So why should I be any different?

Lots of people have reported problems with Nanos previously, so I wasn’t very surprised when a few lines of pixels on my Nano froze.

Surprisingly, I was even less surprised when I took it in for repairs and Apple simply replaced it! No talk of fixing it, just a “well, here’s a new one.” God only knows how many Nanos Apple would have replaced by now for faulty screens. I’d hate to think of the cost.

It just shows that sometimes design is nice — heck, it’s quite important, which is why the Apple has sold more iPods than any other product, and why the iPod is far and away the most popular MP3 player in the world — but sometimes impractical.

I got back from Habo camp a few days, which was the most intense leading experience of my life. Last year I led Bedouins in Hebrew, I tought English to Arab-Israelis while staying in their village, and I also tought Israelis of the lowest socio-economic status, but none were as tough as Machane Gan Eden.

First we started on ‘Chalutz Seminar’ where all the junior leaders go up a few days before to get to know the camp site, get to bond with each other, and make material for our programs. That was tough, but at least it was semi-relaxed. We were a bit stressed in the beginning, but we were far more prepared than some of the other tzvatim which made us feel a bit better.

Then for junior camp, I was leading year eights, and we had a whopping 46 kids! We had enough madrichim to cover it, so it didn’t mean we were understaffed, just that it was tough leading. It was made more difficult by the fact that they were juniors, so madrichim must keep a close eye on chanichim the whole time — this means seperating boys from girls, making sure kids get enough sleep, that kind of thing. With younger kids — kids start at Habo camp in year three — it’s glorified babysitting with some games. At least with year eights we were able to run some educational programs and force them to question the society they live in.

Senior camp was a lot of fun. Much more intense — only because the education level was ridiculously high — and much more enjoyable. All bar one of the chanichim were madatzim, which means all the bogrim led with them on junior camp. It meant that we knew all the chanichim a lot better, and they new how to react to our programs. It made leading easier, but it also meant that they demanded amazing programs. They certainly reacted outstandingly. We couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Overall, I had an amazing, challenging time. I came back relatively well, too. To come out of such a long ordeal with just a cold was quite a change. I even managed to take some photos of camp along the way.