This week is a week of sadness and despair as we prepare to leave Lotan. The work branches have let us go and are now struggling desperately to survive. As we look forward to the final pub night we can only assume it will be a lonely and miserable place without us.

A party was thrown for Benjy on Friday night to celebrate a remarkable miracle. One might say he has mastered Swedish. Saturday saw our last Shabbat and host family dinners of Kibbutz experience, something we have enjoyed enormously during our time here. On Sunday night, after finishing our last ever work shifts, all ten of us hopped on the bus to Eilat and sat down to a slap-up burger meal complete with emotional speeches, laughter and the best garlic mayonnaise I've ever had. This morning (Monday), our madricha (leader) Hannah took us on a surprise-ish trip to a crocodile farm. Admittedly that sounds rubbish, and I'd be lying if I said we expected otherwise but honestly it was great. As well as getting to see a pool of 200 enormous "youngsters" we got to handle a tiny crocodile for ourselves.

It has also been a week of reflection on the last four months. It is unbelievable how quickly time has flown by and yet none of us can remember ever not being friends. It is fair to say that, with the exception of the Famous Five, no group of people has ever got on so well. I think as a group we should feel proud of everything we have accomplished here. We have all worked incredibly hard and really have immersed ourselves in the community. Both the group and the kibbutz itself will be sorely missed when we leave but we know what lies in store is going to be incredible. In just a few days we will welcome our Southern shnatties to the group and begin Etgar or Machon. The programmes will be very different to what we have experienced so far and bring new friends, excitements and challenges our way.