Finally a soldier

I have not written a blog in a while, but I finally have a little free time now! I left off at Simchat Torah and talking about going back to America for some time. Well, I arrived back in Israel about three weeks ago now. Now, I am an Israeli Solider. It's hard to believe I am actually in the Israeli army now! When I put on my uniform all I feel is a sense of pride in me and how happy I am to be here. Growing up and coming to Israel for months at a time, I would always see the soldiers everywhere and think to myself, "what if that was me?" or "I couldn't imagine being one." I would always look up to them, and now I am one. The week before my draft date, all I could think about is "what if I can't do it and what did I get myself into, the next two years aren't going to be fun." Of course, the night before my draft date, I did not sleep much. I was so nervous and honestly had no idea what to expect. It's hard to prepare mentally for something like this, except to think positive.

My draft date was December 10th, so only about two weeks ago. The first day, we went to a place in Tel-Aviv all day to just fill out many medical forms, dealing with our bank accounts, receiving our uniforms, and many many shots in my arm (which was really painful!!) This day was very long and tiring. We finally left around 5ish and we all got on a bus to our base. The base was about three hours north of us so it was a long ride. I slept the whole way, which was nice. We arrived to the base around 10pm. We all lined up and separated into different groups. We all had many interviews after this which lasted until 1 am. I was completely dead. I had never been so excited to sleep in my life! We had to wake up around 6 am the next day, which was not fun. So my draft date landed on a Wednesday and I left Friday morning. It was a short week, so that made me happy! Last week was my first full week, and I think it was the longest week of my life. Because of privacy and security I am not allowed to really talk about exactly what we do or where my base is. I am only allowed to talk about certain things. The most I can say is we wake up around 4 am every morning and we have class all day until around 10 at night. The classes are of course all in Hebrew, so I think it is very mentally hard. When you're only receiving a few hours of sleep a night and then you sit in a class all day in Hebrew...your mind starts to space off. I catch myself doing it a lot, but then I do anything I can to stay focused. We have many tests on all the material we learn and you must pass it. So basically all the girls are separated into groups called tzvets. It means unit in Hebrew. In each tzvet, there are probably 10-15 girls. In my tzvet, there are 11. You are with your tzvet all day. We eat together, have class together, run together, basically everything. The girls and boys are separated, so we are with girls all day. I rarely ever see or talk to guys unless I leave the base. My base I am on right now are mostly people from around the world. This base is specially for people not from Israel. I will only be on it for three months and after I will be immersed with Israelis. Anyways, because I am on this base, my tzvet is filled with people from all over. There are about four Russians, two Ukrainians, two from France, one from England, and two others from America. The most difficult about this tzvet is the language. In class many times everyone is speaking their native language, but my mifhakedt (commander) just yells at us in Hebrew saying to only speak Hebrew. It is getting easier, but its still difficult.  Anyways, I am not really allowed to say anything more but I am mentally exhausted! I am finally going to sleep now!:)

Simchat Torah

Last celebration/holiday for a while, but not least....Simchat Torah! In case you are unaware of what this holiday is, I'll give a brief explanation. It's a holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings and the beginning of a new cycle. It's always a fun and exciting holiday! We danced and drank with the Torahs all night. It sounds weird, but its eventful! I also ate lots of delicious food before the night began at my family's house on my kibbutz. This weekend is also the last weekend with my whole group before people start drafting into the army. It's unbelievable how fast time went and I'm nervous, but also so excited for this new adventure I am about to experience. I am returning to the United States in November for three weeks and then I begin the army in December. Many people in my group start in November...I just got lucky and have a little free time before I begin! I am sure it will be here before I know it though.......

Experiencing Jerusalem and Bedouin tents

Day 2 of our traveling adventures! Yesterday, we woke up very early and drove to Jerusalem. It is about a two hour drive so it's not too bad. We got there and just explored the city really. I have been there countless times, but it's a beautiful city. We were there from around 10 am until 3-4 pm. We also went to Har Herzl which is a cemetery where all the important people are buried or soldiers who died either in war or just during their service in the army. I have also been to this cemetery multiple times and it amazes me every time. It is really beautiful and it is well taken care of. There are flowers and lots of green everywhere. It is sad reading all the grave stones because most of the people buried there are my age..so around 18-21.

So after our tour of Jerusalem, we drove very south of Israel near a city called Sde Boker. It was about a three hour drive. I was exhausted so I slept for most of the way. We drove to Sde Boker to sleep in the Bedouin tents. This is a very popular and touristy place to visit when you are in Israel. I have been multiple times, not because I want to but mainly because of programs I've done in Israel. The food is always amazing, but I can never sleep well. The tents are really dusty so it makes me sick. I think it's a really great experience to have though. Anyways, so we got there and ate dinner. Afterwards we had a bonfire and just socialized. I was still really exhausted so I just went back to my tent I was staying in. 

In the Bedouin tent!

The next morning we woke pretty early, packed up our stuff, ate, and got on the bus. We went hiking for a few hours somewhere nearby. I am not sure where, but it was fun. It was an easy hike, but it was hot. I enjoyed it though. It was really beautiful and most people would not expect Israel to have such scenery.
 

What a Bedouin tent looks like

After our hike, we had lunch which were just sandwiches we had to make earlier that day. We rested for about an hour and finally left. We then drove to a place called Mizpe Ramon, which is a city in the desert. There is a big crater called makhtesh there. It is also incredibly gorgeous. I could sit there for hours     and just looking at it. It sounds weird, but I have been there many times and the view never gets old! Anyways, after being there for a little bit we drove back to our kibbutz. It was a long bus ride and I was exhausted so I slept. Once I returned I ate dinner and now catching up with everything since we have free time until tomorrow. Tomorrow is another holiday called Simchat Torah. This is another fun holiday and during this holiday there is a lot of drinking and dancing with the Torah. Sounds weird, but like I said it's always fun to celebrate! I'll explain more about it on my next blog!:)

Tiyul

Just in case you were wondering, Tiyul is the hebrew word for trip or going hiking. So the past few days we have been traveling Israel. On Sunday we went to a museum on the Israeli Occupation in 2005. Usually I don't do well with museums because I can never focus, but this was very interesting and I learned so much even though the majority of it was in hebrew. Basically until 2005, Israel occupied Gaza in the same way that it occupied the West Bank. That included Israeli military bases and settlements, communities of Jews living inside Palestinian territory. In 2005, Israeli Prime minister Ariel Sharon decided to withdraw from Gaza.

"Sharon, a longtime hawk and skeptic of Palestinian independence, had concluded that the Israeli occupation was no longer in Israel's interest. Sharon withdrew Israeli outposts and uprooted about 10,000 settlers. It was a hugely controversial move inside Israel, particularly on the political right — the current Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, quit the government in protest. Sharon left control of Gaza to a united Palestinian Authority, governed by the moderate Fatah party from Ramallah, in the West Bank. But that's not actually how things worked out — Hamas quickly became the dominant power in Gaza. That means that Palestinians in Gaza aren't just physically separated form those in the West Bank, they're governed separately as well."

I knew about all this, but I never knew the details to it all. This is just a brief explanation for it, but I can't imagine being kicked out of my home and being forced to move somewhere else. I was also in Israel that year when it was going on. I remember I was young and all the protests going on for it, but I never knew what it was for. Now, its been 9 years and I finally understand. I remember that every one was handing out neon orange strings and we had many of them. We attached them to all our suitcases and we still have them. It's crazy to think all this time later that I would finally understand what it was for and it was actually a huge deal.

After all this, we went to the beach for a little bit and then out to eat for hamburgers in a city called Ashdod. Ashdod is about 30-45 minutes south of Tel-Aviv. They were the best hamburgers ever! Overall, it was an eventful day!

http://www.vox.com/2014/7/16/5904691/hamas-israel-gaza-11-things

Holiday after holiday!

Friends from a program I did in Israel 2 years ago

Hellooo- My life has just been so busy I haven't had time to blog at all until now!! So the week after Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) was Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is one of the holiest holidays of the year. It is a fasting holiday so I fasted for 24 hours. It is difficult, but if you sleep all day then it goes by quickly. Yom Kippur means day of Atonement. I was in Haifa, which is a city north of Israel for this. After Yom Kippur, we had two normal days of learning hebrew and then another Jewish holiday began! The holiday of Sukkot began Tuesday evening and it lasts one week. We are off all week for it, which is nice. Sukkot begins 5 days after Yom Kippur and is one of the most joyous holidays of the year with lots of food! It is such a drastic change from Yom kippur since it is one of the most solemn holiday of the year. Sukkot is always a fun holiday because for the holiday you are supposed to build a tent like model and basically live in it for the week. My family on my kibbutz I live on has a huge one. I helped them build it and we all made many decorations for it. A lot of people in Israel go camping for the holiday as well. I was planning on it, but I went to visit my friends in a city called Ra'Anna. Ra'Anna is a city in central Israel, north of Tel-Aviv. I stayed with them for two nights and it was a lot of fun because I had not seen them in about 5-6 months!

This is what a sukkah is supposed to look like!

My roommate for 9 months on a program I did in Israel two years ago

The months of September and October are busy with many holidays and many things going on! It is the best time to come to Israel because you can really experience all the celebrations and Jewish holidays. 

A little behind...

So I have not updated or written a new blog in a while....I have been beyond busy! So a few things I have been doing: well I received my draft date for the army which is December 10th! I am excited, but also nervous. I think I am ready for it though. I am not sure what I will be drafting into as of now, but hopefully I will find out soon! I first need to pick what I would like to be as my position in the army and request it. Some positions are easier to get than others. There are quite a few jobs I would love to have in the army, but I need to look into them a little bit more. Yesterday, I went to a "job fair" for some of the positions in the army. It was hard to pay attention the whole day because it started around 10 am and ended at 3 pm. Plus, it was all in Hebrew. My attention span in English is already hard, but once you add Hebrew to it than it just becomes a lot harder!

Anyways, I also went to Tel-Aviv this past weekend with friends and it was a lot of fun! We all got an apartment for the weekend and it was right next to the beach and namal (port) which has a lot of restaurants and shops. We walked around a lot and it was the best weekend ever!

hmmm, so I am thinking of what else I have been doing but I can't think of anything except for just Ulpan (hebrew class) every day. It is so difficult to pay attention because we have it from 8:30 until 1 pm every day.

playing around in class

Anyways, I am at my families house for the rest of the week because we are off. Tonight is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah which is the Jewish new year. I am in the city of Ariel which is in the West Bank. Tonight we are going to my family's house in Savyon (near Tel-Aviv) for dinner. It will probably be hectic and tons of people there. I am looking forward to having this week off, so I will have time to actually sleep!! I am going to eat and rest before tonight so have a good day! xoxo

Adventure Time

We have every other weekend off, and this weekend is a closed weekend so we must stay on our kibbutz. We were allowed to leave after class yesterday though until this morning. Half my garin and I decided we wanted to go to Tel-Aviv. Tel-Aviv is the central part of Israel and it is such a fun city on the Mediterranean Sea. We waited about 30 minutes for the bus and it took about two hours to get there. I wanted to take the train there because it only takes an hour, but everyone wanted to just take the bus. When we got there, we went to the beach and just relaxed.

Because we arrived around 5 pm, the sun was not so strong. We stayed for a few hours and then went to the mall to eat and shop for a little bit. My friend Sara and I bought sushi, and normally I do not like sushi so much but it was really good. After this, we took the bus to Yaffo/Jaffa which is the old city of Tel-Aviv. Everything looks old and historic and it is also on the Mediterranean Sea. We walked around for a bit and decided to go to a bar. It was around 11 pm, but so many places were open and there were many people out. Yaffo is more of a relaxed environment to go out in. There are usually older people there at night, where as Tel-Aviv is more of a party city for young people. Anyways, we sat outside and just talked for hours until around 1 or 2 am. I was so exhausted. We checked buses and trains to return to our kibbutz, but there were none until 5 am. We decided just to walk to the beach and we ended up all falling asleep there. We woke up at 5 am though and walked to the bus stop. It was also freezing and I could not wait to be back in my room. We finally got on the bus and we all passed out on the bus ride back! We all returned around 7:30 am. I immediately showered and went to sleep. We were supposed to have an activity at 9 am, but we ended up not having it which was an advantage for all of us. I slept until around 1 pm. I went to lunch, went to the pool to work out, and then we had to clean our house. I am still exhausted and can't wait to sleep tonight! haha

 Tonight I am going to my "adopted" family's house. I am a little nervous to meet them, but I am also excited. I was supposed to receive my host family a few days ago, but they called at the last minute saying they did not want to adopt a lone soldier anymore. I do not think I explained what an "adopted" family is, but it is pretty self explanatory. So my counselors interview and carefully choose family's on the kibbutz who want to "adopt" one of us from now until we finish the army. We go to their house whenever like it is our house, we can do laundry, and we eat dinner with them. It's like our second family! So I am having Shabbat dinner with them tonight! Apparently they have 8 kids, so I am sure it will be an experience! haha Well I need to start getting ready for tonight, but I'll let y'all know how it goes. xoxox

Well.......

The results for all my test scores are out! I don't really know what they mean, but apparently I did well. I received a 60/90 on my kaba (logic test) and a 52/56 on another test that I am not exactly sure what it was for haha. I think it may have been for my personal interview or something around there! & lastly, my Hebrew scores! So, I did not pass meaning as of now I need to go to Michve Alon (which is the army Hebrew course I do not want to do). In order to pass this test you must receive higher than a 7 out of 9. I am not exactly sure what number I received but I do know I was extremely close to passing this test. It may have been around a 5 or 6 because I was told I was on the border to passing. Almost everyone in my garin (group) did not pass either. I do have another opportunity to retake the test in two months. I am hoping to improve my Hebrew and no more speaking English! It will be so difficult, but I know it will be the only way for me to prevent going to michve alon. Oh, and just in case you were wondering how to pronounce this it is meekvay alone. Anyways, wish me luck!

TEKES TEKES TEKES

Me, Zach, & Ben

So you're probably wondering what is a tekes is or what it means. Well it basically means "ceremony" in hebrew. Usually when you say you are going to a tekes, you're going to an army ceremony. My cousin from America had his 3rd tekes in the army last night and it was really amazing! He has had three since he's been in the army, and I went to two of his. The unit he is in is a combat unit called Givati. Givati is the main infantry brigade stationed near the Gaza Strip. They are in charge of fighting terrorism in the area, along with the other IDF forces. It's a very intense unit and difficult. This tekes was for completing his advanced training and he received a purple beret (which was green before). He is now going to a Givati special force training, which will be even more difficult! My aunt and cousin flew in from America, so I met with them also. My cousin Ben actually surprised his brother Zach (my cousin in the army) at the end of his 40 kilometer hike the night before his tekes. I was not there, but Zach was so excited to see his brother. Anyways, so the tekes probably lasted an hour or so. It was all in hebrew of course and all the boys were filled with joy and accomplishment. I am so happy I was able to go to this tekes and to see my family.

Zach receiving his purple beret

the boys at the end of their gibush

After the tekes my cousin and aunt went out to eat and just chatted for a few hours. Everything worked out well and then I took the train back to my kibbutz. I got home around 11:30 pm and was extremely exhausted. I could not go to sleep though because all the boys went to a gibush. I am not really sure what the translation for gibush is in English, but it is basically an army workout. In the army, they test your physical and mental ability. It lasts for a few days and it is non stop running, crawling in mud, climbing ropes, anything you can imagine really. You probably receive an hour or two of sleep per night as well. The army does this to see how strong a person is. So, the boys went to one but this was just to get a little taste of what it would be like. It started around 9 and ended at 1 am. It wasn't so long, but I knew they would wake me up when they were finished so I decided to stay up and wait for them to arrive home. All the boys were covered in mud, but they had so much fun. I think if I had to do that, I would not consider that a "fun" activity haha. They were all so loud and hyper too, so I was not able to go to sleep until 3 am. The next morning we all had to wake up at 6 am for hebrew class, and everyone was exhausted. It's a good thing the teacher understood and let us have an hour break in between class to sleep! Everyone just fell asleep in the classroom on the floor or chairs. haah well anyways its almost midnight here and I need to finish my hebrew homework! xoxox

First call into the IDF

This says: Leescott Gius yerusalem which is basically
the army offices of Jerusalem

This past Sunday, I finally had my Tsav Rishon (basically your first call into the army). We had to all wake up around 5 am and to be in Jerusalem by 8:30. I had no idea what to really expect from this. I just heard from people what it was like, but because I had never experienced it myself I was unsure about it. I was a little nervous as well. My nerves increased because I still could not find my Israeli I.D. which is very important. I brought my Israeli and American passports, hoping they would take it. They never used my American passport, but they were fine with my Israeli one. This made me feel so much better! The first thing I had to do was a personal interview from someone in the Israeli army. It was all in Hebrew, but it was fine. The person asked me so many questions, so it probably took an hour. I was nervous and thought I would not understand anything, but I ended up understanding basically everything. When we finished the interview, she gave me a Hebrew test. This Hebrew test was probably the most important to me because this would determine if I will have to go to michve alon (three month Hebrew course in the army). There were three parts to the Hebrew test which was an oral test, reading, and writing test. I thought the oral test was really easy, but the reading was extremely difficult for me. I know how to read and write very well in Hebrew but it was about if I understood the texts and I did not. They pick the most difficult words to see how much you know. I am not sure how well I did, but I will find out my results in a few weeks. I am hoping I did well. After, we had to have a physical test by a doctor. The highest score you can receive on your physical is a 97. I received an 82, which the the second highest score. I received this because of my vision. I can still basically have any job in the army with this score though. Everything was long and a lot of waiting. It was stressful, but everything worked out well! I will let y'all know my results when I receive them! We were all there until around 4 pm, so it was a very long day. Afterwards, we were able to eat and walk around Jerusalem for a little bit. We left around 6 pm and did not get home until around 9 pm. I was so excited to finally be home and I went straight to bed.

Finally the weekend!

After an exhausting week, I have never been so happy for it to finally be Friday. This weekend we have a "free weekend" meaning we are able to leave our kibbutz and go wherever we want. We got off Thursday afternoon, so I went to Tel-Aviv. I did not really want to, but I needed to go to close one of my Israeli bank accounts which was probably one of the biggest headaches! It took me about three hours to get there and it probably took 10 minutes to close the account...typical Israel! So after that, I went to get something to eat before I started heading back to my kibbutz. I got shwarma (typical Israeli meal and one of my favorites)

Shaved chicken with chips(fries), hummus, tehina, and Israeli salad in pita bread

 When I ordered, the person told me my hebrew was really good so that made me feel more confident! So anyways, I decided to take the train back instead of the bus because the bus took too long and I wanted to get back to my kibbutz as soon as possible. I got home around 9, I showered, and went straight to bed because I was exhausted! Friday morning, I decided to take a spontaneous trip to Jerusalem to meet with some of my friends who lived there. The journey there took around 2 hours, so it was long but it was okay. I got to Jerusalem around 12 and went to my friends apartment. We had lunch there and then we went to the shuk (outdoor market) in the Old city. It was a lot of fun! Every time I go to Jerusalem, I always have to go there. Every one tries to get you to buy their products and they are really pushy so you have to be aggressive and just walk away.

You can buy anything from rugs to bracelets. Everything is cheap too!

We were there for a few hours and I bought wall decorations for my room. After we were finished, I had to go back to the bus station to catch the bus.

Because it was Friday, public transportation stops around 3-4pm because of Shabbat. I made my way to the station and made it right in time for the last bus going to Ashkelon (city in Israel). Unfortunately, there were no more buses that went straight to my kibbutz. Ashkelon is about 20 minutes north of my kibbutz and that was the closest city I could get to by bus. By the time I got to Ashkelon, it was around 5pm. There were no more buses from there to my kibbutz either, so I had to take a taxi. I usually hate taking taxis because they are so expensive, but I had to in this situation. The taxi driver was nice and it was a good way to practice my hebrew. I spoke to him the whole way back in hebrew! So when I returned to my kibbutz, I showered immediately. I wanted to rest because I was exhausted, but I did not have time to because Shabbat was about to begin. I had to attend synagogue services and meet the family I was eating Shabbat dinner with there. I went to their house and I was so tired that I had no energy to think in hebrew so I just spoke in English with them the whole time. It's a little weird to go to a family's house and to eat dinner with them when you've never met them before. By the end of the meal, I got to know them very well and vise versa. In Israel, this is a very normal thing to do but I know in America you would have to be crazy to attend a dinner with a random family like this.  The family was very welcoming and very sweet. The food was also delicious and all homemade. I stayed until around 11 and finally walked back home and went to bed!  I slept in until 11 and caught up on all my sleep. It was a very nice and relaxing day! Tomorrow is my Tsav Rishon (first call to the army) and I am a little nervous for it! I lost my tzedut tzhut (israeli ID) a few days ago and it is no where to be seen which is a huge problem. I am hoping they will allow me to do my tsav rishon, but I'll let y'all know tomorrow! Anyways, I have a long day tomorrow so I am going to sleep now. Layla Tov (Good night) <3

Krav Maga

This evening, we had a required puelah (activity) to attend Krav Maga. Krav Maga is basically a self-defense system that is used in the Israeli army. In hebrew it means "contact combat". Ever since Israel became a country in 1948, Krav Maga is now practiced all over the world. Krav Maga may look like a martial art, but it is actually a form of combat that has no rules or limitations. The point of Krav Maga is to take the enemy down as quickly as possible.

"Martial arts such as Judo, Karate, and even wrestling are considered sports; Krav Maga, on the other hand, is a regulated form of combat. In fact, the point of Krav Maga is to take the enemy down as quickly as possible. Some teachers of Krav Maga explain it as "the art of going home alive," which means that groin strikes, choking, and headbutts are considered acceptable moves."

I have always wanted to try Krav Maga, so it was fun to experience it. It was a little intimidating at first because the people leading it were in special forces, plus we were with all the guys. It ended up being fine though! We just ran a lot and did a lot of different exercises. We learned how to kick and punch properly. All the guys were more serious about it than the girls were though. We did this for about an hour or so, but then I had to go because me and another guy in my garin were assigned to cook dinner for everyone.

 We went back to our house and started setting everything up so we could cook. We were assigned to make salad and toast (paninis). It was a pretty easy thing to cook, but we just had to make a lot for everyone. We made many different kinds and a huge salad. It only took about an hour or so to prepare and make everything. I love to cook, so it was fun.

First day of school, first day of school!

First, I can't believe it's already September! This means I've been living in Israel for basically two years. Where did the time go? I never really realized how fast time goes until after I graduated high school! BUT anyways, today was the first official day of ulpan (intensive hebrew class). We woke up early, went to synagogue for a little bit, & then went to Ulpan. We have one teacher for everyone. I don't really know how it is going to work because of everyone has a different level of hebrew. I am hoping that my hebrew improves to the next level, so I do not have to go to michve alon (army ulpan) which is a place no one really wants to go to. It's not the end of the world if you go, but its better not to. The reason is because sometimes it ruin your chances of getting a better job in the army. Sometimes the commanders in the army will underestimate you as well. It's not always like that, but it just depends on what unit you want and the commanders for that unit. 

Our class did not last so long though because the president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin came to speak to us. He spoke for about an hour because of all the issues that have been going on in Gaza and my kibbutz is so close to it. I did not quite understand everything because it was in hebrew. It was pretty cool he came to see and talk to us though. He was here for about an hour or two, and then we all had lunch. After lunch, we pretty much had the rest of the day free to do whatever! I slept because I was exhausted... I'm not really sure why, but I was. Anyways, that's all for now! 

Settled In!

I spent my first weekend at my new house in Israel and it was amazing! It is such a beautiful kibbutz & I've already fallen in love with this place.

This is what the kibbutz looks like....It looks a little old, but I promise it's a lot prettier in person! haha

Palm trees everywhere!

We spent Shabbat as a garin (my group) and I think we all became closer than ever from gadna plus spending the weekend together. We had Shabbat dinner together and when we were finished we all sat around the table singing different hebrew prayers as loud as we could. It was so much fun and I enjoyed every second. Once the sun sets every Friday evening, this is a start of Shabbat. Typically we attend synagogue, have dinner right after, and sing many hebrew prayers. Also, we are not allowed to use any form of electricity or technology until the sun sets on Saturday evening and you see three stars in the sky. Usually I do not follow this, but because I am living on a religious kibbutz I must follow it. I do enjoy it because it is a good break from technology and just time to socialize with the people you are with. This past Shabbat, after we all sang many prayers we cleaned up and just played games. We finished around 1 or 2 am and then I was planning to sleep, but me and a few others all decided to stay up later and just chat. We all ended up going to bed around 3 or 4 am...no idea what the actual time was since we couldn't use our phones. We all had to wake up the next day pretty early to go to synagogue, which is about a minute walk from our house. We were all so exhausted, but it was okay because after we finished we had the chance to go back and rest for about an hour. For lunch, we all were set up with a host family to eat with on the kibbutz. The family I had lunch with was very sweet and had four children. I was there for about 2-3 hours and spoke in hebrew the whole time...I must say I was pretty proud of myself for doing that! I felt very comfortable speaking it, which most of the time I'm too embarrassed to speak it so I choose not to. Afterwards, I went home and slept for hours on end catching up on all the sleep I missed out on while on gadna, plus for going to sleep so late the night before. After sleeping for a while, we all had activities we had to attend with our counselors. We just did that and once the sun set, we all sang more hebrew prayers. Overall, it was an enjoyable and relaxing weekend! Now, I start ulpan (intensive hebrew course) tomorrow morning so wish me luck!

Gadna Week

This past week, I've been extremely busy with Gadna. Gadna is an Israeli military program that prepares you for your service in the real IDF (Israeli Defense Force). It is only a week long, but it felt like the longest week of my life! Because it is not the real army, many people who do it don't take it very seriously. My roommate and I actually decided to switch names because we thought it would be funny, so I went as Naomi all week. Basically I can't really tell you exactly what I did because it was a lot of standing around for hours doing nothing. I think when we first arrived to the base, that was the most difficult and exhausting day. Once we got there, our mifhakedek (female commander) started yelling at us in hebrew immediately. She gave us IDF uniforms to wear all week and we had to put those on immediately. At first, if we misbehaved, got out of our lines, our uniform wasn't tucked in properly or buttoned, the mifhakedek just yelled at us to fix it. Later that night she started to punishing us by making us do push-ups if anything was wrong. Everything had to be perfect and her way. But like I said earlier, because this wasn't the real army many of the people in my garin (my group) misbehaved and wouldn't listen to her. Many people also liked to play "dumb" pretending like they didn't understand a word of hebrew. Another thing my tzvet (unit) did was because we are considered a religious garin (group), we would try to get as much time to pray as we could so we wouldn't have to do as much as the mifhakedek (commander) would make us do. Many times it was very difficult not to laugh! It was very hard to take it seriously because we all knew the mifhakedek was probably younger than us. She did not look younger, but we knew she could not be older than 19 because all Israelis serve in the army at 17 or 18. Our tzvet (unit) did get in trouble a lot of times because we would talk and move too much. Anyways, after a few days of standing around all day doing pointless things the mifhakedem (commanders) told us we were going on a hike and sleeping in the shatacks (fields).

My roommate and I 

"Hiding" in the bushes 

The Shatacks

 I thought the hike would be difficult, but instead it was more of a walk. It took us three hours to walk about 3 kilometers (almost 2 miles) that was completely flat too. We had to stop every 10-15 minutes so the mifhakedem could make us get into our lines and yell at us about pointless things. During our "hike" we also could not talk at all or we would get yelled at again. We also ran a lot of the way in our uniforms, which are extremely hot because they are long pants and long sleeves. It was around 33-34 Celsius (around 94 or 95) so everyone was drenching in sweat. When we finally arrived to the shatacks (fields) it was more getting yelled at in hebrew and standing. We were all exhausted because we had woken up at around 5am that morning.  We finally were able to get a short break that day, but we just set up where we were sleeping and ate. Of course they did not give us enough food at all. They gave us just 2 loafs of bread and 3 cans of tuna for the 15 of us. We were all starving so it wasn't enough whatsoever. We were finally able to go to bed early that night, like around 8pm. It was really beautiful sleeping outside because the stars were amazing. I had never seen so many stars like that in my life. There were many shooting stars as well. As I was finally falling asleep, all the commanders started yelling and woke us all up about an hour later which was probably the most annoying thing ever. We had to go stand in line while they yelled at us in hebrew again. Of course everyone was annoyed and wasn't really listening to them. We had to do that for around 30 minutes and then they let us go back to sleep. It became extremely cold later that night because we were in the desert. We had to wake up around 6 am the next morning and everyone was so tired. We ate more bread and tuna for breakfast. I don't think I've ever eaten that much bread in my life until that week. Everyone probably contained at least one full loaf of bread within a day or two. After some time, we got to learn about guns and go shooting. I had never shot a gun before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I actually liked it, but many of the girls hated it. We were there for hours and hours waiting for every one to shoot. Finally we were able to return to our base and many of us showered because we didn't shower the night before. Even though I knew I would get gross again from putting on my smelly uniform everyone had been wearing all week, it just felt good to take a cold shower.

Adam and I

Later that night, we did more pointless things and same with the next day. Friday was our last day I was extremely happy when that day came. Even though I showered basically every day, I just felt gross because of the uniform. It smelled so bad! Also, the night before we left I accidentally ripped my only pair of pants I brought with me so that was a little bit of an issue when I had to return my uniform back.

Sara & I

Good thing I had brought shorts, but I had to wear them over my ripped pants since we weren't allowed to wear anything shorter than our knees. It looked a little funny but it was okay. That Friday morning, we also found out we were able to FINALLY go to our kibbutz (similar to a socialist community) so everyone was very excited to finally be able to get settled and see where we would be living for the next few years as a soldier. We arrived yesterday afternoon and everyone was so happy. They recently remodeled our house so basically everything is brand new. It is so nice and beautiful! I'm so happy to be here now! I'm still unpacking and decorating my new room:) Anyways, so that's all for now!

Living the Dream

So I haven't written a blog in a while, but I thought I'd start again since every one has been asking me what I have been doing and what life is like in Israel.

I arrived to Israel about two weeks ago and I've been extremely busy with the program I am currently on. This program is called Garin Tzabar. Garin Tzabar is a program for lone soldiers in Israel. When I arrived I stayed in Tel-Aviv that night and the next day I had a big welcoming ceremony at Tel-Aviv University for Garin Tzabar. There are probably about 200 on my program who made aliyah and joined Garin Tzabar. They split all of us up though, so there are probably around 20 garinims (groups). My garin has 14 of us and we will be living on Kibbutz Sa'ad. I am the only American girl in my garin, which was a big surprise! My current roommate at our temporary kibbutz is from Belgium and the others are from France, Switzerland, Denmark, Australia, and England.

 The kibbutz we are on right now is called Kibbutz Yavne which is central Israel, just south of the city Ashdod. We are staying there for a few weeks until we are able to return to our kibbutz that we will be living on the next few years during our service. Kibbutz Sa'ad is south Israel, just 3 kilometers from Gaza. Yavne is still a little close to gaza, but obviously not as close as Sa'ad. I hear the tzeva adom siren go off at least twice daily. A tzeva adom siren is a warning that there is a rocket and we have 15 seconds to run to shelter. It is sad seeing all the children wondering what they are or crying because they are so scared. Once we are in shelter, we must stay there until we hear a large boom which means its been blown up by the iron dome. A few nights ago, I saw the iron dome and it was at night so I could see it pretty well. It was pretty cool to watch & hear it! Today, I was in Tel-Aviv and another siren went off so I ran to shelter but a little 4 year old boy was hit by the shrapnel and died. It's so sad and crazy to think I was in the same area as him. So anyways because of all the craziness there now, we are not allowed to be there for another few weeks. It's a little difficult because we are not able to unpack and get settled. Anyways, the past two weeks we have been doing a lot of programming and preparing what life will be like as a soldier. This Sunday, we are all going to an army stimulation program for one week called Gadna. I am a little nervous for it, but I know I probably shouldn't be because it's not the real army. Anyways, I do love being in Israel and I am happy for my decision but it has been a little difficult. We are not allowed to speak in English which has been pretty difficult for me. Everything is spoken in Hebrew and yes, I do understand most of it but its difficult. If you ask a question in Hebrew, either our madrichot (instructors) will make us say it in Hebrew or they will respond in Hebrew. Another difficulty I've had is almost everyone in my garin is European and their culture, language, and just way of life is so different from America. I don't really feel a connection with them yet and I'm hoping that will change once everyone is fluent in Hebrew. I am not a person who will put myself out or open up to people I don't really know, so I've been quiet. But until next time....