Shetach

I am really starting to feel like a part of the army. I have met some great people, and my Hebrew is coming along.

Waiting for the bus, touching up the shaving job

Getting ready for bed

3 AM wake up, ready for the shetach (field). Minus the glasses, what I normally look like around base

Monday morning we traveled to a nearby training base. When we arrived, we strapped on vests, filled our canteens, loaded up food, jerrycans, targets, and bullets into an ambulance. As soon as we finished, we trekked down to the shooting range, where the ambulance was waiting for us. Everything was unloaded, and we split up into groups of twelve before eating some lunch (our first tastes of the military rations). After that, the next ten hours were a blur of helping set up shade, loading magazines, eating, waiting, learning about the upcoming round of practice/testing, and lots of shooting. Late into the night, we finally returned to camp to get some sleep and keep guard. We got up the next morning to do it all again, but that afternoon we had a truly special surprise. Kids from around Israel had written notes in school to send to soldiers around the country, specifically lone soldiers. They also sent us snacks, but when the Mem Pay (officer of the pleuga/company) told us about the letters, I was so touched and excited to receive mine. When I was a kid, at Akiva Jewish Day School, I remember writing letters to IDF soldiers all the time. To be on the other side of that was an indescribable feeling. I got a very small, short note that I can fit in the wallet where I put my military ID, so it will always be close to my heart. After a while, in late afternoon, we were sitting and talking...and realized all the commanders were gone. I mean every single officer, sergeant, everyone was nowhere to be seen! Finally, we hear an almost simultaneous boom from the range, and we realize our higher ups are practicing, too. When they come out, some of the girls were clapping and whooping from a distance because it was so cool, but we all got a really long lecture for that a few minutes later. Later that night, after the night shooting, we were hanging out again, and all of a sudden we hear whooping and shouting and screaming and all of our commanders came running out towards us with their faces painted up and in their vests. We poured water on the ground, put the mud on our faces, lined up, and prepared to go on our first-ever (and for some girls, only) masa (basically a hike). Our masa ended up being very short, but after every masa IDF soldiers earn something. This time, each tzevet in our pleuga earned a name outside of just a number. As of that moment, I am a part of Tzevet Gefen in the Hebrew course at Michve Alon. Gefen is the word for grapevine. We were told to get down on our hands (which always means pushups), and we were confused as to what we did wrong. Instead, M also got down on her hands and we did pushups together while shouting "TZEVET GEFEN HACHI TOVOT!" (Tzevet Gefen is the best!)

The next day, we got up and started to learn about some hardcore fieldwork like camouflage, how to run with our guns (then hit the ground and aim), and crawling. It was actually really fun because I was used as an example for the camouflage exercise and got to paint my face with mud, wear branches in my hair, and hide from the mefakdot. We didn't win the contest, but it was still interesting and I loved learning about it (and all the funny looks because of how well my tzevet painted my face with mud). By the time we finished and were heading back o base, almost everyone was talking about how excited they were to go "home." Yup, after only three days in the shetach, almost all the girls considered the base to be home and were excited for the food and beds it holds. And since most of the girls assumed the showers would be full when we did arrive, I had a fantastic shower that night!

We started our full days learning Hebrew and Zionism (mostly history, wars, and important people, commanders are not allowed to talk about politics, just like in any American public school) on Thursday, and it was exhausting. It's about eight hours just in the Hebrew classroom, but altogether it ends up being about sixteen to eighteen hour-days if you factor in meals, Zionist classes, and gun checks (remember how I said they were big on safety? We get checked a few times a day to make sure we are clean of bullets).

It was such a great feeling to arrive at the train station on Friday. Everyone was tired, but after shetach week we were so much closer. I met with a bunch of people in the Haifa train station for coffee and breakfast before we went our separate ways for the weekend, and it was so relaxing to get to know everyone outside of the army setting (despite still being in our uniforms).

This upcoming week, I have my swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday! I'm really excited to finally be taking the same oath as every other soldier in IDF history in a very important city (Akko), but I'm not sure of the significance yet. We will be spending the whole day there to learn all about it. Until next time, wish me luck in classes and putting in my final placement requests!

My friend Oren from Nashville came to visit the kibbutz with his family for a bit today! I love seeing people from home!

It Has Begun... [Tironut]

I have officially been in the army for two weeks now! It's absolutely nuts. Until last Wednesday we were still in our orientation groups. During that time, we commemorated Erev Yom HaZikaron (the Eve of what is a memorial day for fallen soldiers and citizens who died in terrorist attacks) on May 5 by having an official military ceremony. It was our draft's first ceremony, and it was very emotional and special. The next day, we went home for our free day on Yom HaAtzma'ut (Independence Day). That night, I went to a barbecue with friends and then the kibbutz celebration and it was really exciting because it was my first Yom HaAtzma'ut in Israel! There was a slideshow of all the kibbutz soldiers, and then they also showed the kibbutz Lone Soldiers, and it was so much fun to see my name, pictures, course, and base up on a big screen. It was kind of silly because I am the lowest ranking soldier on the whole kibbutz but I have one of the longest names.

Cutie Pie loves Israel

Middle school dance performance

Patriotic dessert

The next day, I went to another barbecue and slept a whole lot. When I got back to base that Wednesday, we officially started our tironut (basic training) after dinner. After we were all assigned a new tzevet (smallest group), our machlaka (next biggest group) got into formation to meet the sergeant. As we finally got it right, there was a flash of lightning. The moment the sergeant came out and started to speak, there was more lightning and then it started to rain.Very dramatic! We moved to a warehouse, and continued to go back and forth between formation and pushups. I still can't tell you how long it was, but at one point we got back in formation and instead of going back down to pushup position, our new mefakdot (commanders) started to hand out these pieces of fabric and plastic. We were told to put them on the shoulder part of our uniforms, and that they represent what machlaka and pleuga (next biggest, in my course all the girls are in the same pleuga) we are in. There ended up being a freak storm that lasted all the way through the next day, so our first full day we were COVERED in mud, which wasn't as bad as it sounds. So far, I have only taken pictures in my aleph uniform, which is what we wear to ceremonies and when we are off base. But on a regular basis, we wear what is called bet, which is more comfortable and designed to get really dirty. So when we got mud all over our bets, it wasn't a big deal and actually kind of fun (in retrospect).

At that point I still didn't know how to wear my beret, nor did I get my boots yet
The red stripe means pleugat lahava and the black means machlaka 2

My first weekend of tironut I went to visit the Muszkats in Jerusalem. Some of the group who travels there from the base invited me to a chanukat bayit for the new office of the Lone Soldier Center. It turned out to be a great opportunity to meet new people and learn about yet another organization that supports Lone Soldiers. Before I left, they gave me the contact information for the office in Haifa.

Grabbing a selfie with my buddy Jesse at the bus stop

The Lone Soldier Center is dedicated in memory of Michael Levin

I got to see my long-time friend Nina before she leaves Israel

This past week has also been very eventful. On Sunday, we started learning about the M-16. Monday, we were assigned our own M-16's (100% not loaded) to carry around literally all the time on base. Even when we get dressed, we have to keep the strap around our necks! They are really serious about weapon safety in the IDF, and coming from the US (as opposed to soldiers from countries where citizens cannot have guns, where they don't necessarily know how dangerous they can be), I appreciate it. Another thing that we learned was that if an animal has died we are supposed to move our lesson away from the site out of respect. My new mefakedet (we'll call her M) is really cool, but most of the time she is really tough on us. As a result, we are already making progress in a lot of areas. M is in charge of most of what we do, in addition to teaching us the practical parts of our tironut. We've also started Hebrew classes. I got into Tzevet 8, which means that we are the only girls' tzevet for kita dalet (the fourth and highest level), and it is really hard. We even have homework this weekend! I know that I will learn a lot, but I hope I can catch up to some of the other girls, who are really cool with all my questions in class. In the upcoming months, they will be my new family, so it's really good news that we get along and are already starting to be really close.

On Wednesday, we got to leave base early! Thursday was the first ever Yom Sidurim (errands day) hosted in conjunction by the IDF and Nefesh B'Nefesh. I traveled down to Tel Aviv in the morning (in uniform) and got so much done at Beit HaChayal, where they had both private and government organizations represented to help us have the most successful Yom Sidurim possible. It was incredibly helpful (there were things I was able to organize that I didn't even know I needed to do), and it was fun seeing my friends from base. It was a little weird because the Michve Alon Hebrew course staff was all there, including our commanders, but it was mostly helpful because they know us and what we needed to do, even if we were totally confused (like me). They also got to see us being kind of silly with the boys (my SUPER TALL friend Dror and I hopped across the room as if we were in a three-legged race, but with our middle legs up in the air). We also got to meet Lone Soldiers who have been in the army for a while, who gave us advice and just hung out.

All different units, ranks, and from 3 continents! Sweden, US, and South Africa

Yesterday I learned how to shave my kumta (beret) from my friend Ziv, so it will look much better, older, and wiser from now on, especially when I wear it (which I also learned how to do from M before we left Wednesday). I go back to base tomorrow, and this week we do a three-day stint in tents for field training. Should be interesting, but probably no photos. But I will be sure to get a photo of what a look like on a normal day on base before we leave!

Yours truly, Shirit

P.S. I did get my boots Wednesday afternoon before we left, so a picture of them will also be on the way next time around!

Soldier Girl

סוף סוף אני חיילת!

(Finally I am a soldier!)

I will have to apologize in advance, this post will not be as long and exciting as you might expect (probably a low ratio of pictures to words), but life since last week has been absolutely nonstop. Until Tuesday night, I was making sure I had everything I needed for the army while still attending classes and going to work! Of course, the real excitement began Wednesday morning when I arrived at the Navy Museum. Two friends from the kibbutz came with me, and when I arrived, my friend who was a staff member on my Birthright trip met me there before her class. I wasn't there for long before I got on the bus to the Bakum, or army processing center in the Center of Israel.

There was a REEEAAALLLY big boat 

On the bus to the army processing center

There was a lot of traffic, but when we got there, we already were required to start calling people "Mefaked," or commander, and stand in double lines. Most of us turned our phones off and put them in our bags (like we were told), and thusly did not have them for the whole time we were there, so I don't have any pictures. It wasn't that exciting, just a lot of things to get done, like getting our photos taken, getting vaccinated, and talking to a career officer. One line I even had to wait for over two hours, but it gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of people. Everyone had a different order of the path they had to take in order to make sure that the lines were not overloaded, but everyone's last stop was receiving first our IDs, then bags, then trying on our uniforms! We all looked so different, a lot more mature, with our uniforms on. From there, we waited some more, and then got on a bus to the base.

My friend from Peru and I, our first picture in uniform

The whole ride was interesting, in that we had to sit a certain way, and we learned what to do in case of an attack, being an official military trip. When we arrived, it was already fairly late at night, but we got down to business. We were separated into small groups (a tzevet), and began learning the rules, how to speak to commanders, and filling in information.

I was so exhausted and confused, but made sure I took a full-uniform picture for my family

For two days, we wore the same uniforms (they gave us more, but hey, it's the army!), stood in formation, ran here, walked there, counted, counted, counted, and said, "Ken, Mefakedet!" (Yes, ma'am!) probably five hundred times. We only have an hour for showers, phones, and changing before bed, so I have almost no pictures. What I can tell you is that my Mefakedet is really cool. She tells us when we do something well, and when we don't, she doesn't yell. Somehow that makes us feel even worse about not doing the right thing becauase we really want her to be proud of us! Because of what is called distance, but I call Distance, we don't even know her name or anything about her. When we speak to her, we have to say certain things to show respect (but are not necessarily polite, very strange is the Hebrew language!). Unfortunately, she is our orientation mefakedet so we change our tzevet and everything tomorrow. Also, you can see in the photo above that I have these really awesome boots. Sadly, this is not true. It wasn't until I got onto the base that I realized that these boots are a size too small. The first day I thought they were supposed to be that tight, but when I realized while I was getting ready for bed, I was horrified. Everyone, I mean absolutely everyone, had said to triple check your shoe size at the processing center, and that I did not do! The next morning, me and one other girl told our mefakedet that our shoes were too small. She promised we would receive new ones that day. Over the course of the day, we were told to wait longer and longer, until about two hours before we went to sleep, they said we could change to our civilian sports shoes. We had to also get permission slips to show to the military police to make sure we don't get a ticket over the weekend. Hopefully we will get proper boots tomorrow because I look pretty silly with my pink sneakers!:

It's been a lovely weekend, but also very busy because my friends all wanted to see me in uniform, so I even ate lunch in it, even though I was home at the kibbutz! I have to go to sleep, now, though, because it is very late and I am back to the army tomorrow morning. I'll post again soon with more coherent stories!

My kibbutz family!

This picture is going to be on display for the kibbutz Israeli Independence Day celebration

Brothers and sisters