You are soldiers now, no dancing...

After the relaxing few days by the Dead Sea, it only seems reasonable to throw 117 American students into the Israeli Army for a week of
bootcamp. To a very nonathletic, sensitive girl, being in the army didn't look so ideal. (In case you couldn't tell, that girl is me...) But I was determined to put in my all, not slack off physically or mentally, and I didn't. I spent five hard days, which is miniscule compared to Israeli basic training, waking up at 5:30 every morning and not getting a break (except for 30 minute meals) until 8:30-10:00pm every night. And I loved every minute of it.

We began our army training by being seperated into groups called "Tzevets". They were not co-ed, and my Tzevet was Tzevet Echad Esreh (group 11) with 12 girls, some girls I've known since preschool, others I met in bootcamp (all are on EIE with me). We were immediately introduced to our Mephakedet (commander), her name was Michal. Although you can never EVER call your commander by their name. The first day was spent running around getting our uniforms, sleeping bags and two blankets. When I say "running around" I mean it literally. Our transportation from place to place is explained by our commander saying, "You have 10 seconds to get in two lines, 10 seconds, MOVE" Then we count down (keep in mind this is all in Hebrew) in Hebrew and get in two lines. Then with the same format she would give us 20 seconds to run from here to there and make a chet (a formation that is used in the army). It seems tedious, but what I loved about our commander was that she would constantly want us to question to ourselves or her why we do something. Why we run everywhere, why we can't call our Mephakedet by her name, why we are kept in time, etc. And it made all the difference, it helped me to understand why the army is set up the way it is, it showed me that everything has purpose in the Army, and it made the experience purposeful.

Sorry for the ramble, anyways, we continued to get our stuff together and then she took us aside to ask us medical questions and such. So the rest of us were bored, and decided to joke around and we started dancing. Because of this, our commander comes over and says, "You are soldiers now, no dancing..." Though we kept serious faces, the moment she turned we couldnt help but laugh, it was embarrasing and hilarious.

That night was hard because I felt very homesick, and we had to stay in a huge formation for the opening ceremony to meet with some of the most terrifying people I've ever met in my entire life. They were the higher ranked commanders and they were absolutely horrifying! We had to stand in position with our arms behind our backs above our belts in a diamond shape with a V in our feet, this was very difficult because it wasn't a normal position.

But the next day was awesome. We woke up early and went to a huge field where we learned some combat tactics. We learned how to walk silently, what to do when a grenade is thrown, how to crawl (which gave me some serious battle wounds), and how to utilize all the skills we had learned. It was very educational and physical. We spent the whole day there and our commander said we had done a great job. That night, I walked over to the showers and instead of being allowed into the bathroom, the teenage Israeli girls with bathing suits on opened the door, SCREAMED at me, and slammed the door closed. It was rediculous!! I was in my red plaid flannel pajamas stomping around trying to communicate to them that I really needed to use the bathroom, and my friends said I looked like an angry soccer mom watching her kid not be played... I'm sure I was entertaining but the Israelis certainly did not think so. Finally I got in and then had to go back and clean around (while running) with our commander. Then, we finally got to go to sleep!

The next morning we woke up early, ran around, and began to learn about different rankings and then we had kitchen duty. Me and three girls spent two hours scrubbing these huge pots filled with oil to make them clean, and once they were finished, they poured more oil in. It was quite comical, but kitchen duty was cool because I got to use some Hebrew to communicate what I needed to do. That day was pretty easy because it was spent learning about rankings and how to use an M16.

The next day was what everyone had been looking forward to, shooting an M16. I wasn't particularly excited or nervous, but it was definitely something I dont do on a normal basis. Not surprisingly, I did not hit my target once, but that's okay. I got to keep two of the shells which was really cool. The next day was the closing ceremony and taking down of the tents. During the ceremony certain people are chosen from their Tzevet as the best soldier, and I was really hoping to get it, but even if I hadnt, I knew that I had done the best I could and I was proud of that. Then I found out that there's one "commending soldier" from the entire plugah (whole group) and two "most helpful soldiers" from each group (there were two groups made up of tzevets which made up the plugah)... so I didnt get an award from my Tzevet, but then... I got the award for most helpful out of my group and the other groups! I was sooooo happy to have recieved this honor and I'm very proud of it as well.

So that was my army experience, though I loved it, I know that it isn't something I want to do in my future, and that though I love Israel with all my heart, I probably will not make Aaliyah when I'm older. It was a great experience and I am very proud because I put in my all and it was recognized. But if you're ever in the army... do not dance!!

From Masada to the Dead Sea

Long time no write! For the past ten days I have embarked on one of the most unique experiences of my entire life. It was hectic, messy, enjoyable, some dissapointing, and altogether: incredible. In this post I am only writing on Masada and the Dead Sea for time's sake and organization. The next two will be about the army and then Eilat.
In the beginning of the ten days we left Kibbutz Tzuba, which hadn't felt like home to us. We began our adventures in the familiar area of Jerusalem going to ancient homes of Cohenim and other religious leaders from BCE. Though this was interesting, it wasn't until later that night (or next morning?)
At 3:45 am all of EIE awoke to a blackened sky, dreary eyes and a sense of excitement as we began to climb to the top of Masada to see the sunrise and study the tragedy there. The hike was much harder than I remember, the 5,000 stairs I climbed made the New Trier staircases seem like babysteps to this. On the way up I actually had a slight asthma attack, but no worries, the good ol' inhaler kept my breathing in check. When we got to the top the sense of relief was met with an incredible view and a cold wind which felt good from the sweat drenching from our bodies. However, the cold wind soon became bothersome because as our heat died down, and the sun came up, the temperature didn't seem to change much. But watching the sun rise as we said the Shema and other prayers was both spiritual and beautiful. The rest of the details I wont bore you all with because the next three hours was filled with learning about the mass murder/suicide that was carried out on the mountain.
From there I took the cable car down and we bussed to the Dead Sea. I have been to the Dead Sea before, but it was very shallow and so I didn't actually float. This time I really got to feel the floating sensation that the Dead Sea provides. It was so surreal! It was fun and luckily no one got the salt water in their eyes. We then did the typical mud spreading which was very fun. My skin was smooth for quite some time (of course, the army then reversed that feeling). The two days spent there were relaxing and great to get a tan going. I really loved it.