Tironut 2.0

It's been a long two weeks and a new week is starting now. As soon as we got on the buses, those of us trying out for the gibush were separated and told our time started now. Before I got on the bus, I ran into some of my michve friends in infantry units! It's so cool seeing that we are doing the same things and we are all happy. On the bus, these ladies get on and hand out prayer booklets telling us they're going to pray for us. It was funny because there was one lady talking and another taking pictures of soldiers taking the booklets but also really sweet. The gibush didn't actually start until the next day, but we were split up into groups and even moved into rooms separate from the other girls. It was also very strange just to be allowed to talk to boys. We woke up at 3 AM to get started (having to wear these funny hats), and started the physical portion. We ran and crawled for a little over an hour, and then after about a solid 40 minutes of crawling I realized I wasn't having fun anymore, and I was holding the group back when we did group tests. So I tapped out and made some new friends among the other people giving up. We hung out in a tent waiting to go back to base and found a box of rugelach that we dipped into because we had only been allowed a piece of fruit before the tests started so we wouldn't throw up or anything. About half an hour after I gave up, they said the physical portion was done. I asked, "Oh, for the day?" And the testers told us the gibush was only going to be for one day because of the fast day the next day, Tisha B'av. I was a little upset because if I had known it was only one day, I would have made it through just fine, but in the end I knew it wasn't what I wanted and I was just happy for the girls that did make it all the way through. It's still a symbol on base of who did the gibush by who has sand burns on their elbows from the crawling. (Mine's almost healed.) My commander sat me down at breakfast that morning to talk about it, just to see how I was doing and also because every girl in totchanim is curious to know what goes on in the gibushim. I told her I have up because it wasn't fun anymore and that I only went to see if I could do it and what it was like. She thought that was one of the funniest things she had ever heard! And then that was it, I was back with the mechina until we all got assignments. We had a baror, a physical diagnostic aptitude test, like the 3K I had done at Michve. This was also 11 push-ups and 3 kilometers, but we had less time for the 3K. Ironically, I took longer to run it (way more hills at Bislat, another name for my base) but I still passed and was in a higher rank than before (#17 including a few boys who had a lot less time to run it).

Green uniform turned brown from crawling in the sand

On Wednesday, we were split up into our assignments. SIX girls were accepted into the totchanim sayarot (special forces), including an Olah Chadashah I am friends with from Michve!! Then, they called the girls going to MLRS, and finally my name was called. The Masol (who is from Icun) and the commander from Icun came over to our group of girls and said, "Welcome home, 611!" After that, it was a whirlwind. We were assigned new tzevets, new commanders, new rooms, new bet uniforms, even more equipment, and for the first time in my army career I was surrounded by boys. We are doing tironut with MLRS so most of the people there are with them, so there was some confusion for the boys who weren't told their specific assignments.

The next day, we went to the bochen maslul, which is basically an obstacle course. I spent almost the whole time trying to get over the wall. It was very frustrating, but I wanted to show them I wouldn't give up. I tried about 30 times, and my scabs from the gibush actually opened up on the wall, so I left my mark, as they say (it's only even because I walked away significantly bruised). That night, we had our free hour and we're standing in formation, waiting to be released for bed. Then, they told us we had to change to bet uniforms. We were sure we were being punished, but for what no one was sure. We are told to split into tzevets. My mefaked told us to grab snacks and come sit in a circle. So we thought, oh that's nice, we're just having like a nice getting to know each other initiation thing. We arrive with bamba and chocolates in hand, when the mefaked asks one girl if she's tired. She says yes, and he tells her to wake up, good morning. We thought nothing of it. When the meeting was over, we ask him when we are actually going to sleep. He says, "I said good morning, right? Welcome to your first lila lavan." We spent the whole night fixing and customizing our equipment so it fits, is identifiable as ours personally, and identifiable as belonging to our palga (like a machlaka). It really did take the whole night, but the worst was the morning. I was so tired I couldn't understand Hebrew. Thankfully, it was Friday and we were looking forward to sleeping, even if it was on base. We still had some physical stuff, classes, but mostly just wrapped up the week. We received our guns, which are slightly different from the ones at Michve so they are shorter and lighter (my tiny self appreciates that).

The pin for 611, it'll be a while before I have this

Shabbat on base is nice. We had basically a shouting contest with the other battalions outside the dining hall Friday night, and saw friends from before the assignments. Dinner itself was crowded and fun. Then Saturday we all slept in until lunch and talked to our families and friends. It's kinda funny to see everyone in civilian clothes, with a gun strapped on, carrying magazines in one hand and a Coke in the other, somehow also balancing a phone call to their ear.

Reppin UT

After Shabbat, we had a surprise practice masa. It was really difficult, with the most gear I've carried, a lot of running (my tall mefaked's walking is my steady jog), and crawling up a hill. But when we reached the end, there was a huge fire spelling out "Gideon 14," which is the name of our battery. It was very cool and we all really feel like we are finally (well, finally for me. Everyone else has only been in the army less than a month) starting proper training and in general on track to having a place here.

Post-masa roommate selfie!

We prepared to go down to the shetach, but my tzevet got orders to stay on base an extra day to help with some stuff around base, but my group finished early so we hung out and napped. The next day we went down and joined everyone in the tents and at the shooting ranges. Honestly, I am not very good at shooting. I still haven't gotten my gun to zero out, so I'll have to try again this week. Outside of that, we just learned how to protect the camp and how to use and care for other equipment.

The week was rough. Sunday was my dad's unveiling, so I got permission to FaceTime in, and wear my aleph uniform. I was so upset I wasn't there, but everyone there reminded me how proud he would have been.

My Hebrew is improving but still gives me trouble. I have to stop and ask questions, and a few times after am order I end up just standing there, trying to get a commander's attention so he or she can tell me what to do. This week I have a meeting with what is called a mashakit aliyah, who helps soldiers who made Aliyah continue Hebrew classes or in general helps us with stuff we don't pick up on, being foreigners.

My mefaked is very cool. He's honest with us, and makes us want to follow his orders. There is still distance, but it is extremely different. I know his name, where he went to school, and when he drafted. In combat, it's important to have distance but can't be held to as high of a standard as they have at michve so we can know they are trustworthy. Sometimes he even translates stuff to English for me, but I prefer what some of the commanders do, which is explain in Hebrew like they did at michve. It's still strange to hear commanders speak English.

All in all, I'm very happy with my placement, and the people I am with, even if I am about three years older than them (I'm even older than all the mefakdim). I had a good weekend, spent some time at the beach and just relaxed. I'm on the bus to the south now, and will be off base next week, but might go somewhere other than the kibbutz to visit friends.

Just another beautiful day at the beach

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Har Peepee

On our way back to base (let’s call it S) on Sunday, we visited a couple of Totchanim bases to learn about battalions in which we could be placed for our service. It was cool to meet Totchanim soldiers in their active service, especially female combat soldiers doing the same things as all the boys, which is what all of us want and why we chose this service track. Speaking of whom, the boys were drafted on Monday. There are so many of them! At the start of our tironut, us girls will make up only 8% of the draft, which is a little intimidating. They told us a bunch of people will fall from tironut, so by the end we’ll see what the stats are like by then. Anyway, we had a bunch of introductory lectures about on-base healthcare and general stuff like that this week with the boys, and it was funny to see all of them. All of us Michve girls are allowed to sit next to each other during lectures and classes so we can translate for each other, so we sit and speak English, and then boys would try to talk to us upon hearing the foreign language, and we would immediately switch to flawless Hebrew to tell them, “We’re not allowed to speak to you,” and then switch back to English. We’re with mostly Israelis, and one girl who is French-British and made aliyah several years ago, but almost everyone at least understands English. We end up having a lot of conversations where us foreigners will speak Hebrew and the Israelis will practice their English on us, which is really funny to listen to!

I finally have a picture of my new aleph uniform! Still really big on me

The next day, we went down to the shetach (the field) for a night, which ended up being really fun. We practiced some field techniques, like building the meeting tent, digging sleeping holes, and eating manak (m’nat krav—combat meals (tuna, mostly)). Last time I was in the shetach, we were on a base with bathrooms. This time, it was just desert, so we got our first taste of what we ended up calling “Har Peepee,” (har meaning mountain or hill, and peepee meaning, well, you get it). We practiced running and hitting the ground from grenades (rocks, of which we were not lacking), and picking up people with “injuries,” so we all came back with bruises on our knees. When we came back, and it was dark, we went on a practice masa around the base, which was kind of hard because there was more running than the masaot we did at Michve, but we didn’t have guns so that obviously made it easier from the start. When we got back, we did the traditional pushups with our commanders, shouting our loyalties for our tzevet (ironically this was done non-ironically because we almost never separate into our tzevets). Then, smiling despite being sweaty, disgusting (not having showered for almost 48 hours), and exhausted, our commander asks us who wants to go home on the weekend. We all raise our hands, and one girl shouts out, “KEN MEFAKEDET!” (yes, commander!), which causes all of us to laugh even harder. When we manage to suppress giggles, the commander tells us to wear our aleph uniforms in the morning, and then releases us to our free hour (there was a lot of whooping and jumping at that point).

New bet uniform, even bigger than the aleph (but super comfortable), bucket hat included
This was right after the masa, hence why I am so red and sweaty

Thursday, dressed up in aleph and ready to head out, we go to a lecture about and then sign up for the tryouts for special forces. This is the first time ever some of the special forces in Totchanim are opening to girls, so it is a huge deal. Most of the girls want to go to the tryouts, myself included. But I am going to be honest with them in my interview that I am not particularly interested in their battalions, that I am just there to see if I can pass a gibush (tryout, but translates to “challenge”), which I have heard is an experience by itself. In fact, I am trying to go to the battalion that is slightly less physical and some computer work, but in my opinion one of the most important jobs in the IDF. It is called Icun (ee-coon), and they are the ones who notify Home Front Command to do a Code Red siren and in what area. If I end up truly loving this job, I will not push to become a medic. A big part of my reason to serve was to help save lives, and I feel that this job is even more life-saving than any medic alone can be, as every Israeli knows in our current situation.

On our way home

As far as differences between Michve and S (current base) go, they just go on and on. First being that there is less distance with the commanders. We know all of the staff’s names, we have seen our commanding officer hang from a rope while giving a lesson, they care less about letting us see them laugh, and I personally have done racing sprints with the head sergeant (the only male in our group—I won, but I don’t think he was at full speed). Another huge difference is the rules. At S, they check to make sure everyone eats, showers, and sleeps. At first this was frustrating for me because I often skipped a shower here and there at Michve, but I’ve come to enjoy it. It forces me to socialize with the girls rather than talk on the phone for my whole free hour. At Michve, we weren’t allowed to touch other people, not even girls in our tzevet, unless told or in an extenuating circumstance, while at S that rule only applies to boys, obviously. It is a different way of making friends when you are allowed to hug, kiss, punch (lovingly!), or even just to swing your arm over their shoulder. Which makes for stronger friendships faster, and different relationships in general (most girls at Michve only wanted to punch each other if they were angry, we are combat soldiers so it is only to our advantage to be able to take or receive a hit in a friendly setting for when it’s not so friendly). We are the girls that compare bruises in the showers as if they are prizes! (I don’t bruise easily, so I lost, no matter how hard I hit the ground for them. I was on the same level as the girls that didn’t work as hard.) It is a lot of fun being with such a great group of girls, and I’m really sad to know we’ll be separated next week when we go to our respective battalions, even if we are in the same battalion, we could be in different tzevets. What happens next week will determine our entire training, and thusly our entire service. (No pressure, right?) It’s been an awesome experience with these girls and knowing that we’ve been through an intense couple of weeks already, and seen some incredible stuff (the night sky in the middle of the desert trumps pretty much everything I’ve witnessed so far (you can see the Milky Way!)…even the sunrise/sunset were like a real-time postcard, and probably more beautiful than even seeing Masada at sunrise). Despite all this, I think we’re ready to start our training. It’s hard knowing that everybody knows somebody in Gaza right now (some soldiers are going on seven weeks away from home), and we consider a couple days without a shower “roughing it,” and complaining that our training will be 11 days on base and 3 at home (11/3).

Yeah, it's a hard life

See y'all in two weeks!

Mechinat Lochamot (Female Fighters' Preparation)

Last week, as I mentioned, I went to the Bakum. I ended up going on Wednesday (when I found out I got into Totchanim) and then again Thursday (when I switched my uniform and boots), but being sent home at the end of the day. I got an extra vaccination (required for combat soldiers) and met some of the commanders. After, I went home and enjoyed my weekend on the kibbutz, at the pool and sleeping.
Sunday, I made my way down to my new base in the south. There is not much to tell except there is a lot of sand and we are just girls right now. The first few weeks of us being there is like a prep for the female combat soldiers so we're more on par with the boys when they arrive for training. It's very weird being around Israelis and at 20 I am the oldest soldier right now!



Since we are on the training base for Totchanim, of course there are practice ranges. We are slowly getting used to hearing BOOMs periodically. Last week was just fun because we hung out, learned about Totchanim, and prepped our gear (I have a vest and helmet that are just my size!). We are also doing a lot of exercise. We run every day, in addition to at least one other activity. It's army tradition to do push-ups before each meal, but we convinced our commanders to let us practice rope-climbing instead. It's actually a lot of fun to just hang off the ropes! We also practiced an obstacle course, and I didn't do very well for most of it, but I did jump over a wall. My friends and I are going to be doing a lot of push-ups together because it's mainly the arm-strength exercises we have trouble with.
We are being monitored because their selection process has already started. We can be told that we aren't fit for Totchanim or even combat if they decide. A bunch of girls have already quit, and I think it's a shame, but the army is what you make it. If they believe they won't have a good time there, there's no way they will succeed. Most of these girls are going to make it all the way to the end, and I hope I'll be finishing with them!
I was completely convinced we were closing Shabbat, but we went home for the weekend on Thursday! I wasn't feeling well so I slept most of the weekend and hung out with my family and their new dog, except for Thursday night when my friends got married. There were a lot of empty tables because they didn't know how many people would be able to come due to the reserve draft.
It's really cool watching all of my friends in Tzanchanim (paratroopers), Nachal, Golani, Kfir, (ground soldiers) and so on, doing their training and knowing that I will be doing the same things in a couple of weeks (and have already started some of it). Totchanim is the most like those units, except they are closed to girls. I am so happy with my choice and with my unit, I cannot wait to start my real training!



Dancing bubble wrap popping party

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The End of Michve

Well, on Sunday I went to my kravi (combat) interview, and didn't think I did that great. The other girls and I traveled back to base together and almost immediately went to practice for the tekes. It was crazy hot, and we were stuck in our aleph uniforms.

Our official tzevet photo, mefakdot included

Monday was a rough day. This guy called a kztin miun, or a placement officer, basically hands out sheets of paper to each girl with a list of suitable jobs and then calls them in to have a 90 second conversation with them about what they want to do. I didn't get a job listing (called a manila) because I was already in the running for kravi. But because our Hebrew is on a lower level than most Israelis, most of the jobs that girls got were less than desirable. And the officer didn't particularly enjoy traveling all the way to our base to talk to a bunch of girls who didn't particularly enjoy what he was saying. Like I said, it was rough. A lot of girls came out crying, which was hard to see. I knew that if I didn't get into kravi, I would have to go through the same process, but none of my friends would be there with me, like I was there for them. So I just prayed karma would get me through it, and that these girls' karma would get them different job placements (which actually happens all the time, you get assigned jobs that aren't necessarily listed on your manila). That was most of the day. Most of the boys were at the tzanchanim (paratroopers) gibush (challenge/test), so we didn't have marching practice.

Tuesday was awesome. We spent the whole day just finishing up Hebrew classes, Israeli History classes, everything, and, of course, a LOT of tekes practice. There was this energy in the air because we knew that by tomorrow we would do what is called "breaking distance," which is where the commanders, sergeants, and even the mem mem would tell us their names and a little about themselves. But then, we found out 40,000 reservists had been called up for the operation in Gaza, so a bunch of girls got permission to call brothers, boyfriends, and cousins to find out if they were going. After dinner, my friend and I were on the phone, and then when we finished, MN called us into our tzevet's classroom. There were T-shirts, and lots of letters and notes on each of our desks, which were placed in a circle. We talked about what we knew about each of the mefakdot (all three of them), and stories from our perspective and their perspective from throughout the course. We were all so giddy and kept giggling and not really knowing what to do, because all of a sudden, instead of MN, MH, and MO, they were N, H, and O, not to mention trying to learn all the other mefakdot's names as soon as we left our classroom. Then, we broke distance with the samelet, the mamachiot, and the mem mem. It was such a weird feeling, and I still think to this day I haven't called the mem mem by her name. The second the samelet started to speak, everyone flipped out and started shrieking and clapping, because we knew the least about her and basically treated her like an all-powerful being (well, who's to say she isn't?). All in all, it was crazy fun. So I was on my way to the barracks, telling my mom about my day, when N called me over. I hung up, and she told me I got into kravi! I called my mom back almost right away. I spent most of my free hour just hanging out with mefakdot, getting to know them and sharing stories from the course.

The awesome shirt for our pleuga

Wednesday was the tekes. We spent most of the day practicing, and then when the time came, everything went smoothly. When I first marched in, I saw my kibbutz friends dancing to the (army marching) music in the back of the crowd, so it made for a lot of fun during the whole thing. I wanted to be taking pictures of THEM. N, H, and O took off my shoulder tags, which was one of the more exciting moments of my life! I hugged them right away, which was also something I had never done. At the end, we spelled out a sentence that translates (loosely) to "Our Generation, Our Obligation." Then, we gathered in a huge circle and threw our berets up in the air, which turned out really cool because we had tied blue and white crepe paper strips to the inside. All in all, I was so happy to see all my friends (Ayelet came all the way from Jerusalem, my friend Peleg came, and Sheffy, Allan, Tally, Tamara, and Dikla came from the kibbutz!), and introduce them to my friends on base.

Tzevet Gefen

I was slightly excited

Ahhh 

"Our Generation, Our Obligation"

We were woken up 20 minutes early on Thursday morning and were told to get dressed and be downstairs. We scrambled around, and when we got down, they split us into two groups: one large group, of the majority of the pleuga, and then a group of about ten girls (including myself). They explained to us that the big group was being sent to the south to help the Home Front Command hand out flyers and help old people in the bomb shelters. Our group was being sent home, as we were kravi soldiers and girls whose parents were in the country. We went to breakfast, cleaned the rooms, and distributed whatever undershirts and snacks we had to the girls going south. We said our (long) goodbyes, and then brought down all of our gear to be turned in. Right before we cleaned the classrooms, the other girls finally left. It was really hard to say goodbye because we weren't sure of the next time we were going to see them. When we finished cleaning, they told us that it wasn't safe for anyone to leave the base at the moment, so we needed to sit tight. We watched movies and ate all the goodies my friends had brought me. It was very nerve-wracking. Some girls got permission to leave because they had someone come to pick them up directly from the gate. The rest of us ended up staying overnight.

The next morning, we were sent home, and told to return to base the day before we were supposed to be at Tel HaShomer. So I had free days on Sunday and Monday! That day, I ended up having coffee with my friend Rachel and N, which was so cool to come home and say, "yeah, I just had coffee with my commander, no big deal!" But honestly it was really nice to just chill and have non-base food (and coffee). It was strange that we had only stayed one extra day, but it felt like an extra week.

During my free time, I mostly hung out, got ready, went to the pool, ate with my family, cooked, and enjoyed being on the kibbutz, my home. I even went to a bar mitzvah, which is very different from what I was expecting. It's a class-wide thing, almost like a graduation, but each family is separated and feels a lot like a wedding. The whole class did a play together, which was very cute. The next day I went back to Michve Alon to sign some papers and mostly ended up hanging out with people there. So, that brings us to today! I am writing this in the early hours of the morning so I can arrive on time this afternoon. I don't know the next time I'll be coming home, so I will take lots of notes while I am there so I don't forget anything for the next blog!

Wish me luck today!

There's a new puppy on the kibbutz

Gilad, Eyal, and Naftali

This was my last full week at Michve Alon, so we spent a few hours every day practicing for the finishing ceremony next week. There's a lot of marching, turning, and trying to be in sync without being able to see each other. The setup is split by pleuga, machlaka, then height. So I'm in the last group to enter, but in the front line for the main formation. It will be a really good ceremony, I hope. At the end, MN will take my shoulder tags (the black and red stripes) off, and we'll officially be "graduated."

Machlaka 2, right before leaving on our last Friday

Our last kravi workout was this week, and even though it was really hard it was completely worth it. We felt amazing at the end, but the next morning I woke up with some pains in my ankle and realized I had probably sprained it during the run, but it's already healed. I sat out the workout for the whole pleuga the next day, and one ceremony practice. During that practice, I saw how awesome our pleuga looks. The ceremony is for the whole course, four pleugot, and we are definitely the most in sync with one another. The boys have a harder time with marching to the beat, but some of them just don't care. When the whole course marches in a circle, I saw this guy dancing instead of marching. His samelet came up on his side and tried to get him to stop, but he kept dancing while she was talking to him. By that time, they had gone to the other side of the circle and I didn't see what happened, but when they came around again, there was a whole where he was supposed to be marching. I'm pretty sure she told him to get his act together or sit out, and he chose the latter. There were a couple other girls sitting with me, and we almost peed ourselves, it was so funny!

There are three new pleugot in our neighboring buildings, two of which are for boys going to combat that made aliyah but their Hebrew is fluent. One of the boys there is my friend from my ulpan, who is also now a Lone Soldier on the kibbutz. There are three of us from my ulpan, another one who is working until his draft to Michve Alon next month. It's so much fun having "family" on base, even though we can't really see or talk to each other, except if our free hours before bed align, and even then it's on the phone. 

We also had the opportunity to retake our Hebrew tests, the same ones we had at the Tzav Rishon, to bring up our official scores. Before I went in, MN and MH (my Hebrew teacher, yes, her name starts with H) gave us chocolates and notes to wish us luck. Mine was a bit of a mess, as I misunderstood the directions she had given me when I had to write sentences. I had to redo part of it and at that point, almost everyone had left the room already. The test-giver saw I was having some trouble and was a bit frustrated, so all of a sudden she asks me if I want a cookie. I was confused. All of a sudden, she pulls this grocery bag out of her purse and is offering a package of cookies. I started laughing so hard, but pulled myself together to eat the cookie and finish my test.

If I hadn't mentioned it before, it has been really fun to learn at Michve. With MN, there were tironut classes to learn about guns, gas masks, camouflage, etc. She also taught us Tzionut, which was all about Israeli history and culture. Most days, those were my favorites because she is just an amazing teacher. Her energy would fill up the room and I would just get pulled in, wanting to learn more and more. Of course, there were also Hebrew classes, taught by either MH or MO (MO is the private teacher, for if we need extra help). Some were straight out of the book, which was hard because we are perpetually tired and most of the course we didn't have a working air conditioner in our classroom. Every once in a while we would learn about an Israeli song (usually very modern, but also a lot of Arik Einshtein), which was always fun. we also played some games to strengthen vocabulary or grammar. As the course went on, the mefakdot began to let our tzevet use our phones in class for faster translations of words from texts, which was a big sign of trust, but mostly I just used the hard copy dictionary.

This past week we finished the book, so on Thursday we took our test, and then started another class. We talked about phrases in Hebrew and translated them to our languages. We also listened to some famous songs that were written in our languages and then translated and covered by Israeli artists ("What a Wonderful World"--> "Achla Olam"). We then chose our favorite songs in our language to translate to Hebrew. I translated a Carrie Underwood song ("Cupid's Got a Shotgun"), which was so much fun, but hard to translate the phrases and hunting references. I had pulled up the lyrics on my phone's internet, and was using the dictionary to translate faster. All of a sudden, a call comes in. Now, it was too early for anyone in the States to be calling, my friends in Israel know not to bother calling me during the week, and there was no caller ID (a blocked number). I knew it had to be the army calling, and I knew why. I showed MH the phone, and she let me go out into the hall to answer. It was the army calling me to invite me to my kravi interview on Sunday! I didn't stop smiling for the rest of the day. Tonight I'm traveling to stay with Eliana and Shmu to be at Tel HaShomer early tomorrow morning. I'm so excited, and my mom even told me to call her as soon as I finish, no matter what time of day it is.

The tag of Totchanim

As fun as this week sounds, with all the jokes and silliness and exciting news, it was also incredibly difficult. At the end of practice on Tuesday, the Rasar (high-up that is in charge of ceremonies and such) announced to us that the three teenage boys that had been kidnapped by Hamas 18 days earlier had been found. We started to cheer and clap, but he stopped us. We impatiently waited for him to tell us why we shouldn't be happy. He added that it was their bodies that had been found. It was like a stab to the heart. Many of us cried. We lowered the flag for the day, and were told to separate into chet formations with our machlaka. The kravi girls were pulled aside and told we had our workout that night, in a half hour. I called my mom and told her, which I hope I will never have to do again, but know that this is my new life. In this particular situation, they had stopped showing the World Cup to broadcast the news, and the Rasar was not going to stop our practice to tell us. But I still know that in the future we are among the first to know, which lays the responsibility on us to call our loved ones to make sure they know we are okay. And then the focus shifts to the families that lost their sons, and we all mourn together. We dedicated our last kravi workout to their memory, and pushed harder than we thought possible. In a couple of weeks, we'll be training in our kravi units (hopefully), learning how to protect the people of Israel.

This post is dedicated to the memories of Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrah, and Naftali Fraenkel, for the laughs that were stopped too soon. Your families are in the prayers of all the nation of Israel and Jews worldwide. 

Leket, Yom HaMeah, Baror

Unfortunately, on Thursday I learned that I had racked up enough mistakes that each equalled a Shabbat, so I stayed on base this last weekend. I worked in the kitchen for lunch on Saturday, but mostly rested and talked to my family. Sunday morning, those of us who had closed and the mefakdot we were with left to meet up with the rest of the pleuga in Afula. Everyone left from there to head to Nahalal, the moshav where I went to the swap meet a couple times before my draft. We changed into half-bet (aleph is the travel and ceremonial uniform, bet is the uniform owned by and worn on the base, half-bet is bet pants with a T-shirt), and picked corn for this program called Leket. They travel to different farms around Israel and gather volunteers to harvest the parts of each harvest that is, by Jewish tradition, left for the poor. The corn we harvested went to over 500 million hungry families in Israel. It was crazy fun, and good honest work.

Shabbat on base wasn't all that bad, we were allowed time to buy ice cream on Friday afternoon

After picking corn all day, we had mud everywhere

We returned to base and learned a bit about what was going to happen the next day, Yom HaMeah. Yom HaMeah is traditionally a day of personality, social, logical, and technical testing for girls before they go into the army to see better what kind of job they should be assigned to. For us, it was a day for the girls of higher Hebrew levels to do all the same things before we are assigned jobs, but the whole day in uniform and with girls from our course. For me, I felt a little silly at first being there because it has no connection to girls wanting to go to combat positions. But once I got started, it was great. I had so much fun showing off my leadership skills, building little marble slides, and even the computer tests weren't all bad (despite how hard the Hebrew was). It was in Haifa, so it was weird being about 10 minutes from the kibbutz without actually getting to go home, but the day passed pretty quickly. We returned to base exhausted, right before bedtime. That same day, some girls had already had their combat (kravi) interviews a few weeks back, so instead of going to Yom HaMeah, they went to the Bakum to exchange their alephs for kravi alephs and kravi boots. It was hard to see them already accepted into their jobs, but I know my day will come.

The next morning, they changed some of the rules. Now, we are allowed to wear the army-regulation amount of jewelry, allowed to go for runs during our free time before bed, and, biggest of all, we can call our mefakdot by name. When I say that, I mean that we call them, for instance, "HaMefakedet Shirit," or "Mefakedet Shirit." So, from now on, M's name is now MN (initials, obviously, mean protecting her privacy). It was weird at first (okay, it's still weird), but it makes things a lot easier than EVERYONE just being "Mefakedet" or "Mefakedet [Tzevet number]." Funnier still, if we don't ask, they don't correct us or tell us what name we should call them by. So there's still a lot of "HakShev Mefakedet" (Attention, Mefakedet)'s flying around. We also earned longer times to clean up in the mornings, so it actually takes less time now than it did before (strange-sounding, I know), but ten straight minutes is less time than two sets of five because of standing attention in formation in between.

We also met some girls that used to be in our pleuga, a few courses back. It was interesting, but it was hard to pay attention. We were all thinking about what we knew would come the next morning, our fitness test. We got up before the sun and did a set of pushups and ran three kilometers. Considering we had barely had any exercise in the last two months, we all did incredible. I was very much in the middle (my number was 34, but they were missing a few so it was actually 29 or 30), but about a third of the girls didn't finish in time and the best time was about 17 minutes. The average time (my approximate time) was around 18:30-45, which in the grand scheme of things is not that great. Honestly, I was just happy I passed. The girls that didn't will have to retake it later.

"Travel with caution, soldiers are running in front of you"

That night, we finally had our driving safety program. It was so much fun to do simulations, ask questions, and lead discussions with small groups from the machlaka (my station was all about seatbelts). They really got to see me in my element, in a teaching situation, for the girls that I wasn't with on Yom HaMeah. The mem mem complimented us on our two weeks of hard work and that we took it so seriously and that the program went off without a hitch on our parts. It was such a good feeling to see the girls working together and participating without the involvement of the staff. We were really told what to teach, how to teach it, and from there the rest of the time was ours, and we felt like a properly working unit. When we got back to the barracks, some amazing people from the Nefesh B'Nefesh Lone Soldier's program had come bearing cakes, hugs, smiles, and advice. As it turns out, the American/English speaker representative was Hadar's soldier! Hadar was the mem pay (mefakedet of the pleuga) for this group of people working on Hummers, and Dganit was one of her soldiers. The world is so small...

Now, I am home for the weekend, and just two more weeks of the official course left!

Jerusalem, Shmirah, Jerusalem

Let's go back in time, to about three and a half weeks ago, after Shavuot. I met up with my pluega in Jerusalem, at Yad Vashem. We split into groups of Russian, English, and Hebrew, and began the tour. It was very special to be there and be representing not only the IDF but many of us were descendants of Holocaust survivors (myself included). I got stopped during a break by a tourist who wanted to know why soldiers would want a tour in English. I explained to her that we were new immigrants and in a Hebrew course. She was very shocked but visibly pleased that the IDF takes care of its immigrants so far as to teach them the language. I agreed with her and went on to say that the course I am in is the only one of its kind in the world, of any military. We finished the tour and went outside to take in the view and started walking over to Har Herzl.

Har Herzl is the central national military cemetery in Israel. At the very top, of course, is the grave of Theodore Herzl, who is said to be the father of Zionism. The ring of graves on the level below hold Prime Ministers and other important Heads of State. The bottom level (the biggest) holds space for any soldier that died during service (even if it was a car accident or illness). The interesting thing about this level is that all soldiers are considered equal. There are Chiefs of Staff buried next to First Lieutenants, who are buried next to Major Generals buried next to Sergeants. The only order is chronological, so many times they are grouped by war. There are also sections for those who died during their illegal immigration back during the British Mandate, soldiers missing in action, and an entire memorial for those killed in terrorist attacks. We toured by tzevet, led by our mefakdot. M gave us a brief history of most heads of state (we had just learned about Herzl in our Zionism class), and took us to all the important places to see and visit. We placed rocks on whatever graves we chose. When I saw the Hannah Senesh grave, I suddenly realized it had been exactly a year (a few days off, the same week) that I had last been to her grave with Birthright, and sang to her and imagined what it would be like to tour this incredible place in an IDF uniform. When we finished visiting the terrorist victims memorial, she threw us all off guard by telling us a personal story of a boy she went to school with who was in the Maxim restaurant bombing in Haifa over ten years ago. He lost most of his family and his eyesight in that attack, but she told us how he continued to be a funny and strong-willed person. We were all on the verge of crying while she told that story (of course including M), but there was an unspoken promise of "I won't cry if you don't cry." Near the bottom, and subsequently the end of our tour, were the newer graves, and I stopped by Michael Levin's (a famous American Lone Soldier that was killed in action in the second Lebanese war). A year prior, it was at his grave that I really pictured myself as a soldier, and this time I wanted to complete the circle. I left him a rock, and we finished the tour.

I left Har Herzl with some of the girls to go enjoy the rest of the Jerusalem day. We headed over to the shuk and found ourselves in a tiny coffee shop. Galya told us this shop handmade an Egyptian drink called sahlab, and she had her heart set on getting some. We decided to hold off on ordering anything until we tasted what she had been raving about the whole way over. It was a lot more like a pudding, and made from orchids, but still incredibly tasty. Most of us ordered our own (mine without coconut), and they were so delicious. All of a sudden, Galya insisted that she take a picture of me, to document my first sahlab for my blog. I was in complete shock, and it was really cool to know my friends have been reading it. They said that they love being able to go back on things that they might have forgotten from our long days (that tend to run together) in the army. After the cafe, we headed inside the shuk and decided to find the best cherries around. We ate so many cherries tasting them from vendors, we almost weren't hungry anymore, but when we finally decided on what kind to get, we finished the half-kilo in just a couple hours. We also figured we should probably get a real meal, so we ended up with some amazing felafel on our hands (and in our stomachs!).

This was about 10 minutes after the purchase, half gone

We met up with Galya's seminary friend and went over to Ben Yehuda to grab some more coffee. Shani was heading home soon, but Galya and I wanted to get out of our uniforms. We wanted to change in the bathroom, but it was way too small. The bathrooms were up on this balcony above the cafe so we took turns guarding the stairs while we changed into civilian clothes. The patrons below had watched us all go upstairs, and then heard us giggling and moving around. There was even a couple right at the bottom of the stairs that we eventually figured were trying to break up, but were distracted by the fact that these two female soldiers suddenly emerged as a couple of 19-20 year old girls. We hung out there for a while, and then after Shani left, decided to visit the seminary over by Emek Refaim. When we arrived, I introduced myself and said where I was from. All the girls pointed in a direction and said, "Oh! She's from Nashville, too!" The girl turned around, and it was a girl I had gone to elementary school with. Her dad, a rabbi, had done my dad's eulogy, even. I was in shock to see her, but so excited to see each other after about eight years. It was truly incredible and a once in a lifetime kind of surprise meeting. The worst part was that she was about to leave in a couple of weeks, before I finished shmirah. We talked for two hours about everything. I was so sad when I was going to have to leave, but it was so great to see her. The next morning, I met my stepbrother Moshe for coffee and then headed home for the weekend.

When we returned on base the next Sunday, we had packed our bags for two weeks. We spent Sunday through Wednesday preparing for shmirah (guard duty), studying lots of Hebrew, and enjoying our history of Israel classes. I had talked to M quite a bit about my future in the army the week before. Together, we realized the best direction for me was to train for combat and from there push to become a medic. I've decided that I really want to be in the Totchenim (artillery) unit. I learned so much about it and I would be so incredibly proud to be in that unit, and that I would have an extremely meaningful service there. M put me on the list for a special female combat soldier interview with the placement officer.

Sunday, the girls that signed up for combat started our weekly combat training, which was fantastic. We started off with a 2K and a little strength training. In the middle of the week, me and three other girls from the machlaka had been chosen by the mem mem (mefakedet of the machlaka) to run a driving safety program for her. On Tuesday night, I was surprised by M with confirmation that my request for a day off had been approved. Thursday morning, I left early to go to Jerusalem to see my stepmom Jill. It was exactly what I needed to see her, as I had been missing my dad so much lately. That evening, I met up with some kids from Nashville on a two-week exchange program called GetConnected. While I was waiting for them to show up, I was walking on Ben Yehuda, talking on the phone, when I saw some red hair and a face I thought I might recognize. When she turned her face towards me, I almost dropped my phone. The last time I had seen this girl, a childhood friend, was at my dad's wedding. Once again, Jerusalem had reconnected me with a person from my past life. I eventually had to continue on to meet up with the kids, but it was incredibly crazy and awesome to see her. I arrived at their hotel, and saw my friend Hadar (the shlicha). She was a chaperone on the trip, and all of a sudden she was handing me things from my mom. In addition, there were a bunch of letters that she said were from Akiva kids. I knew that if I read them then, I would cry. I knew they were all from kids I had been in camp with, guarded at the pool, taught them at Hebrew school, or even their whole lives. We all went out and had dinner together, and it was extremely emotional to be around people from home, on uniform. Hadar said she's coming back in a few months, so I'm really excited for that!

I came back to base Friday morning, just in time for an emergency drill. As soon as we finished, we were released for Shabbat. What that meant was that there were a few meals and activities that we had to report to, but outside of that was free time. I had shmirah at the same time as dinner, so I didn't get to enjoy from what I had heard was the best meal available on base. (Of course I ate, but in full gear and before everyone else came in and started singing.) That night, I had shmirah at sundown and again at sunrise. It was actually not as bad as it sounds. Other than that, we enjoyed Shabbat and rested plenty. I read the letters the kids sent with Hadar, and just like I predicted, I cried like a baby. The letters were so simple but perfectly sweet. Around the afternoon, we were called out of the rooms. We figured it was another drill, but as it turns out there was a huge fire on base that the girls on the emergency team had to go help with. It was absolutely crazy, but then we went back to our Shabbat routine and rested up for the week ahead. 

We started, and continued, the week with shmirah. It was mostly normal, except it was "Shavuah Ivrit" or Hebrew Week. We had a contest between the tzevets by writing essays and letters, making posters, and doing presentations. In the end, the points weren't counted completely right (they left out some points that our tzevet earned on the last day, at least), but a tzevet from machlaka 1 won. I spent the whole week translating the letters from the kids into Hebrew. On Thursday evening, right before our last night of shmirah, I got to hand out the letters to the girls in my machlaka. All the girls really loved them, and it gave us that last wind we needed to get through until Friday morning. On Friday morning, we were woken up an hour early with what we thought was another fire or drill. We asked the mefakdot, "Is everything okay??" and they responded, "NO! There's a masa!" So we had to get dressed in full gear, put mud on our faces, and go on a surprise morning masa up a nearby mountain. It actually wasn't too bad, and at the end, right before we raised the flag that morning, we each received a Tanach (Jewish bible). There were also New Testaments (we don't have any Muslims in our pleuga), but tmost of he Christian girls were okay with a Tanach. As soon as we got back, we switched guards for the last time and had a chance to wash our faces before class.

It's amazing what some shoe polish can do! This was my last day with this gun

I'm going to pause here and write the rest in a second blog, to split it up.