אחרי לצנחנים, Eilat, Gibbush Sayeret Tzanchanim and start of basic training

So as most of you know already, I passed the Gibbush for Tzanchanim and have now finished my first week there. They are quite well known for their logo: אחרי לצנחנים (or after me to the paratroopers, in English) which is commonly seen on tourist shirts such as this one:

I also happen to really like their shoulder tag, which is a snake with wings, although I will only be getting it much further on into basic training, but here is a picture anyway.

I got the call on my way to Eilat and could not have been happier, letting out a bit of a shout in the middle of the Beer Sheva central bus station. Two things which have been on my mind lately since hearing I will be in Tzanchanim is that I have a 90 km march to look forward to at the end of training in order to get my red beret (כומתה אדומה) and of course, I will also have to do a 3 week paratrooper course. Although they are far away, it is still a very scary thought.

Several weeks ago we had a pre-draft trip to Eilat for a couple days. Overall it was fun, although I would probably not do it again because it takes pretty much a full day to get there. Eilat is sometimes considered the equivalent to a ‘Las Vegas’ in Israel, minus the intense gambling sessions, although it hardly compares. There were two highlights of the trip for me: one was meeting several famous Israeli singers out at a club one night, including Sabliminal and Idan Yaniv. The second one was going to this restaurant Casa do Brasil. I had never heard of it before, and didn’t really know what I was getting myself into until I got there, all I knew was that it was amazing food and I was hungry, so I went along with around 10 of my friends. To make a long story short, for around $50 you sit there at your table, all you can eat quality meat is brought to you – 11 different types/cuts of meat to be exact, all delicious. If that isn’t enough, after you have gone through all these meats (most people don’t even manage to try everything), it is a free for all and you just tell the waiter which meat you liked the most and they bring you some more. This was about 3 weeks ago, and I still cannot even imagine going back there in the future after eating so much meat, but it was definitely enjoyable and highly recommended.

Finally, this past week I started my army service, beginning with Trom Tironut (pre-basic training) at the Tzanchanim base, which is somewhere down south about 30 minutes from Beer Sheva. The goal of the week was essentially to get us into the framework of the army and familiar with army discipline without the serious consequences of not following the rules, which will come next week. There was also a 3 day Gibbush for the sayarot (elite units) within the Tzanchanim. Going into the week, I decided that I would give it a try, having spoken to many people who told me that if given the opportunity, serving in a sayeret is a superior experience. On the other hand, I had also recently heard from people who said that serving in the regular infantry (Gdud) is just as good, and a more eye opening service, in which you can contribute more to the State of Israel. The main drawback for me for doing the sayeret is that if accepted, I would be required to serve for 3 years instead of 2 years because the training is so long, which in my opinion is a big commitment. Regardless, I decided to give it a try. 

The Gibbush began on a Tuesday morning, with wakeup at 2:30 AM, and the physical tests starting already at around 4 AM. Unfortunately, on one of the first runs where we were required to run up and down a hill, still before sunrise and in the dark, I sprained my ankle. I decided to keep going, and to play it by ear as to how my ankle was feeling a bit later on, but after going through a couple hours I decided that I didn’t want to risk any long term damage to my ankle so I quit. However, I was there for long enough to realize that this was the most intense thing I have EVER done in my life, and I was only there for about 5 hours of the tryout, which ended up lasting until late Wednesday night (it was supposed to be longer, but I think because it was so intense enough people quit that they could end it earlier). The tryout involves nonstop crawling, sprinting, running with a 10 kg sand bag on your back, a long march carrying sand bags and a stretcher with 70 kg on it, crawling, sprints, and much more crawling for the entire day, until late evening. Everything I heard about the gibbush before I got there was true. No matter how much you train and prepare physically, after a short while because of the sheer intensity of the activity, it becomes only a matter of mental strength and the only thing that can get you through it is how much you want it. Several moments are stuck in memory and although I am thankful I experienced them, I would not want to experience again (even though I am sure I will throughout my army service):

1.       Throughout the tryout, probably the most common thing you will do is crawl. When I say crawl, I mean get on all fours and crawl with your entire body sliding over the ground. For me it felt like a very intense full body workout, and that wasn’t even the hardest part about it. To start, everyone lines up on the starting line, and you are required to crawl to an object about 20 meters away and back. When the examiners yell go, everyone jumps forward, swinging their arms to their sides, usually smacking the people beside them in painful places. Then, once the crawling begins, there is so much sand and dust kicked up that no matter where you are – at the front or the back of the pack - once you finish it and clean yourself up a bit before the next one, you look at the person beside you and he looks back at you and you both look horrified because all you can see is a sandman beside you. Your teeth and mouth are full of dust, and I inhaled so much dust that I was on the verge of puking after that first crawl. This fact was very simply explained by a guy in my group who said, even after the first crawl, that he is going to be coughing and spitting up dirt for the next two weeks. I have to stress that you are crawling in the middle of the desert – full of painful rocks and of course some desert plants full of thorns. Once you feel the prick of the thorns and wait a couple seconds the pain goes away until a while later you feel something in your hands and you realize that the thorns are still there although now covered in so much dirt that you can’t be bothered to try and get them out.

2.       For meals, you get manot krav (military rations) – cans of beans, tuna, halva, pineapple, pickles, and several loaves of bread to be divided among the entire group (approximately 25-30 people), 2 can openers, and a limited number of forks and knives. At first it was a somewhat civilized meal with everyone passing around the cans, sharing the same forks and knives of course, and inventing the most ridiculous combinations of sandwiches. Eventually, everyone just began to use their unbelievably dirty hand (full of sand and mud) to scoop out some food from the can and eat it, and then pass it to the next person in the circle. The day was so intense and stressful that it didn’t bother anyone, including me, but in hindsight, to an outsider it would have seemed ridiculous.

Overall, the gibbush was very challenging and intense, both physically and mentally, and I’m not even sure that if I didn’t leave because of my sprained ankle I would have been able to continue with it to the finish.

After coming back from the gibbush, we pretty much spent the remainder of the week cleaning up and preparing the base for our training for the next 4 months. This included walking back and forth over certain areas and picking up every single piece of trash (which was mostly really old cigarette butts), and walking through each of the around 10-15 shooting ranges to pick up bullet casings from the floor, which the army collects every couple months and recycles. By Wednesday night, most of the soldiers with me, both native born Israeli and immigrants from elsewhere in the world were all somewhat frustrated and fed up with the work, and the low morale could definitely be felt. However, as I’ve been told by many people before, the mood can change a lot from one second to the next in the army. Right after dinner we had to go back to the shooting ranges and continue our work. Before we got started, our commander made a point of gathering us around in a chet, waiting for quiet, and asking if we all knew what was special about that day (Chanukah!). After everyone took about 5 seconds to process that it really was the first night of Chanukah, we all began singing (actually more like screaming) Maoz Tzur so loudly that the commander had to start yelling at us to shut up, but it was amazing that from one minute to the next everyone’s mood could change so drastically and for the good. The commander then proceeded to inform us that he has been in the army for more than 2 years already, and he is so happy because after having to close the weekend of Chanukah on base for the past 2 holidays, he finally gets to leave base for Chanukah on this, his last Chanukah in the army. Of course, it wasn’t as joyful as it seemed because he still has to come back after the weekend and spend the remainder of the holiday on base, but it’s definitely better than nothing. This also made me realize that just like the commander, it will definitely not be my last holiday spent in the army, and whether it is spent closed on base away from family and friends or with the weekend off I can only try and make the best of it.

This past weekend I was lucky enough to get a Yom Siddurim (pretty much an errand day) which is an extra day off every month given to lone soldiers to arrange things that their parents would otherwise be able to help them out with – shopping for miscellaneous items, going to the bank, etc. Of course given that I have only spent one week in the army so far, it was a warmly welcomed extra day to relax and catch up with friends, no strings attached. I am somewhat excited to start this week off because there are so many unknowns. This week they will be dividing everyone up into groups/divisions and I will meet my commander as well as teammates who I will be doing everything with for the next 4 months – eating, sleeping, running, and even showering together. I have already met and become close with many people last week who I hope to be together with this week. Even if I am not placed together with these new friends, overall the people I will be with seem like good people and I can only be optimistic. I’ll also be told which unit in the Tzanchanim I will be serving in out of the following three:

202 (מאתים ושתים) or as the joke is מאתים יורים שתים פוגעים – 200 shoot, and 2 hit   OR

890 (שמונה מאות תשעים) or as the joke goes שמונה מאות טפשים – 890 stupids     OR

101 (מאה ואחד) which I have not heard a joke for yet, but this is the unit I want to be in.

That’s all for now, and I hope to stay in touch with everyone. Feel free to send me a message on facebook or comment here, although I can’t promise that I’ll respond quickly because from now on I can be on base 2-3 weeks at a time.

Mesik Zeitim, Ramat Ha’Golan Tiyul, Driving in Israel, and GIBBUSH TZANCHANIM!

Hi everyone!

There are several things which I have chosen to update you on since my last entry, the most important obviously being the tryout, or Gibbush for Tzanchanim (Paratroopers). However, for the sake of chronology I will save that for last.

Several weeks ago the olive harvest (Mesik Zeitim) on the kibbutz began. The Kibbutz has approximately 300 olive trees and most are several decades old. Every fall season, the teens on the Kibbutz, together with whichever parents come out to help, go and collect the olives from the trees, which are then pressed and sold for olive oil. The money made from this process goes to fund the grade 11/12 trip to Poland the upcoming year. Apparently there is very good money in olive oil. Pretty much, the whole process involves spreading out a large nylon tarp underneath the tree and then taking a large stick to beat the tree branches so that the olives fall off and onto the tarp. After that, the olives are collected and poured into a large container which is taken to the fans where all the debris (leaves, small twigs) are blown away and mostly olives are left behind. These are then taken to the olive press where the oil is made.  It is a group project, and just from watching for a couple minutes you can see the very basis of what a kibbutz used to be like – everyone working and helping out according to their abilities – those who are physically able are responsible for whacking the tree branches, others help remove the larger twigs that fall and pick up olives that have fallen but missed the tarp. One or two other people are even in charge of ensuring everyone gets water. As you can see from the picture below, it seems like it’s not so hard and even somewhat fun to take your anger out on the trees, but after doing it for several hours it becomes difficult and you realize how hard the work really is.

A funny story I wanted to share of the kinds of things that would only happen in Israel is about the day we decided to go to the beach. We called a monit sherut (group taxi) to come pick us up from the kibbutz and take us to the beach. Seeing as how it has space for 10 people we thought it would be okay because we were only 9 people going. By the time the taxi arrived, there were 12 of us going to the beach. We decided to quickly board the taxi, putting one person in the trunk with some bags, and squishing someone on the floor without the driver noticing. Unfortunately, it didn’t go according to plan, and he went to close the trunk door only to find someone lying down there. We pleaded with the driver saying that all 12 of us wanted to go to the beach together, and we would even all 12 pay instead of 10 paying, but he would not agree. The driver was afraid of having his license suspended if the police saw someone sitting on the floor of the vehicle. He claimed that one extra person is okay because they are in the trunk and nobody would be able to see them. So then we half jokingly half seriously suggested what if we put two people in the trunk, and for some odd reason he agreed to take us. Unfortunately, we were laughing too hard we forgot to take a picture, but it looked pretty funny.

Another amusing thing I noticed here was at the mall. I walked into an adidas store and noticed this very funny looking baby manikin all decked out in adidas gear, as in the picture below. In case you didn’t realize, this manikin was black. Not only that, all the manikins in the entire store were black. I don’t think they were trying to make a statement or anything, but I had never seen a manikin that was not white in colour before. Maybe in Israel they just make them out of a different material then they do back home... 

Back in October, for one of our group trips, we went to the Ramat HaGolan, along with all the other approximately 230 people from Garin Tzabar 2010. One of the main reasons for the trip was to meet an Israeli War Hero named Avigdor Kahalani, a former tank Battalion commander whose efforts were critical to Israel’s success during the early parts of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. I encourage you to read a little about him here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avigdor_Kahalani. After hearing him recount his memories from this intense period in Israeli history, he gave us a quick pep talk and commended us on our decision to make Aliyah and join the IDF. I even managed to take a picture with him before we were rushed out so that he could speak to another group of people that was on its way. Afterwards, we headed for a quick visit to the Golan Heights winery, my second time in the past 4 months, for a quick tour/wine tasting and then proceeded to an army fair. The fair was a huge to do, presenting soldiers from almost every unit in the army, with each one trying to sell themselves to Israeli high school students (16-17 year olds who will be joining the army in 1-2 years). Each unit showed off all their equipment and presented anything that would entice a high school student to enquire further. At the end of the fair, we saw a 5 minute live simulation of an operation including several tanks and also soldiers from the Golani Brigade. It was very thrilling but also reminded me of the reality of being in the army and of what serious operations are performed while serving in the army.

Another step I have taken to live a life like any other Israeli here is to pursue getting an Israeli driver’s license. Basically, I am allowed to use my foreign driver’s license for one year, and after that in order to drive here I need to have an Israeli license. Converting my license to an Israeli one is a time consuming process, as is everything here if you have to go to any kind of government office like the ministry of transportation. However, after getting a couple papers signed I was able to start taking a few refresher driving lessons before my test, which will be in about 2 weeks. Driving here isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, and the hardest part so far has probably been having to learn how to drive in order to pass a road test (again, after driving on my own for 6 years) and not practicing according to how everyone ACTUALLY drives. Nonetheless, I am learning with a hilarious Israeli instructor who enlightens me with comments like ‘you can’t rush when doing 2 things in life – driving and in the bed – men do both’.

Finally, Monday morning this week I was to report to an army base in Tel Aviv at 8 AM for the Gibbush (tryout) for Tzanchanim, along with 7 other friends from my Garin. Needless to say, I knew it would be a long day, even if I didn’t have to wake up at 4:30 AM just to get there on time. There were about 300-400 people there, including people from my program (Garin Tzabar) as well as people from Michveh Alon (army ulpan for new immigrants to Israel) and Chavat Hashomer (a pre basic training program for Israelis from disadvantaged backgrounds or Israelis with problems with the law). The whole day consisted of a long and tedious process of being sorted into groups, each person going to present their ID and signed doctor’s letter, visiting the medic for a quick check to ensure we’re feeling healthy that day, and then another quick check-up by the doctor. Finally, maybe by 4 PM, after being sorted into groups of approximately 40 people, we all went to do a quick 2 km run. It was very fast paced, and although they wouldn’t tell us the exact times/ranks, 1^st place finished the run in under 8 minutes, and I was probably closer to the just under 9 minute mark. After that, we spent about an hour getting army uniforms for Tuesday, which we were told would be the ‘actual’ gibbush day, and then several people, me included, wasted another 45 minutes just trying to change my pants to a bigger size because the ones I was given didn’t fit. That was the entire day in a nutshell, and after arriving there at 8 AM, we went to sleep at 8 PM so that we could wake up bright and early at 3 AM the next day.

3 AM wake up. After crawling out of bed (and by bed I mean 2 inch thick foam mattress on top of a stretcher like bed in a 10 person tent probably meant to fit 6 beds) and putting on our uniforms, one of the first things we were required to do was to drink a whole canteen (0.5L) of water. Next, we were given time for breakfast – a whole 2 pieces of bread with some chocolate spread or some jam on top, plus a cup of sugary tea. The next half hour was spent dividing us up into groups for the day’s activities, presumably based on performance on the run during the previous day. After that we were forced to drink another full canteen of water, and given some more sitting time. Finally by 4 AM we started a quick warm up/stretch, and then the real tryout began.

To start off, we did a bunch of sprints – running to a sandbag 50 meters away and back, and then again there and back, all that being considered one sprint. Each time, the reserve soldiers running the gibbush would write down the numbers of the top 5 people as well as the people who are towards the back of the pack. That took about 20-25 minutes, but my timing could be off because after maybe 5 of them you kind of lose track of how long you’ve been running. Water break was next, while we were given a group building activity just so we wouldn’t be ‘bored’. Next, each of us grabbed a sand bag and was required to take it and hold it above our heads. The only instruction was that whoever drops it or lowers it is out of the gibbush. That lasted for a minute or two and was probably one of the toughest tasks of the day – a friend of mine from a different group said that half his group gave up after this stage. Next we did another set of sprints, just like the one before, except this time after the first run there and back, the top people would grab a stretcher with 7 sand bags on it and run with it there and back. After that we got a water break with another ‘fun activity’ so we wouldn’t be bored. At this point, we went for a bit more of a ‘relaxing’ exercise. We went to a set of pull up bars, and everyone had to hang on for as long as they could with their eyes closed. I lasted for probably 45 seconds, and I only managed to outlast half the group. To push us further, we had to do it again, except this time, everyone had to be holding on and only 6 people out of the 35 people in our group could be on the ground at one time. Everyone’s arms were pretty tired by this point and people were starting to lose patience, so as you can imagine, this activity involved a lot of yelling and frustration. Obviously, the goal of this activity was to see how you function in a group in a semi-stressful situation.

Next up was crawling. Going in I knew that this was the hardest thing for me, and it indeed was very hard. We had to crawl to probably a little less than 100 meters away each time, with the examiners again writing down the first 5 people to get there. I was taking comfort in the fact that I had already done crawling once before on sand which is apparently pretty hard, except I was not prepared for where we would be crawling. It was somewhat sandy, although filled with tons of small pebbles and even glass here and there which does not help with the pain in your elbows and knees. Overall though I managed alright and kept going for the entire time. Finally, by around 7 AM, we had our last activity – masa alunkot (hike with stretchers). Going into this, I knew I had to give it my all because this was my chance to shine. I managed to carry the stretcher for about ¾ of the hike. One of the two times I gave it up for someone else to carry was not by choice – it was more a result of some jerk going behind me and literally pushing me out of the stretcher and grabbing the handle himself. This was after he pestered me for about 5 minutes that I am tired and I should give it up to someone else to carry and help him out. Getting to the end of this tryout was an amazing feeling, and it just fills you with a type of runner’s high that you can’t describe. We were finished by around 8:30 AM, and were given 30 minutes to shower and clean up after which we each had an individual interview for about 10 minutes. Overall, the gibbush wasn’t as hard as I imagined, and the commanders/soldiers running the gibbush were much nicer than expected, but then again this was only a one day gibbush, and most gibbushim for elite units are around 4-5 days.

As of now, I am still waiting to hear the results of the gibbush and whether I made it into the unit or not. It’s supposed to take a week, but with all the connections that we have we will hopefully find out sooner. In the meantime, I have been told the unit I will be joining should I not make it to Tzanchanim. I will be going to the field intelligence unit, now known as חיל איסוף קרבי. I don’t know much about it yet because I haven’t had the chance to speak to anyone in the unit, but from what I know so far it seems interesting and there still is the opportunity to serve as a combat medic in this unit as well, so I am happy.

Abu Snan, Gibbush, Hachrazat Garin, and officially becoming a soldier

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a good time during the previous month’s worth of holidays, including Homecoming weekend for those of you at Western.

One of the things I really like about being in Israel is that when the holidays are approaching you really feel it – mainly because you are forced to. The buses shut down and all the stores closes down so you have to figure out where you’re going to camp out for the 2 days of the holidays when public transit shuts down and also be sure there is food available because you can’t go shopping. Sukkot this year was a lot of fun not only because it was spent in Israel where everyone celebrates and really feels the spirit of the holiday, but also because I spent it on my kibbutz. The atmosphere was very festive, probably in part due to the fact that there were millions of kids running around for the past week because they had a week and a half off from school for Sukkot. Erev chag was spent at my roomate’s kibbutz family’s house for dinner, along with my kibbutz family and another 30 kibbutznik guests. The food was amazing and it was so much fun that by the end of the night my entire garin of 20 people was there in addition to all the invited guests.

Over the past weeks since my last update, we had the opportunity to go visit a high school in one of the many neighbouring Arab villages – Abu Snan. We played a few ice breakers just to get to know the students there a bit and then went on a quick tour of some of the religious sites in the village. Abu Snan has a population of a little more than 10 000  people, of them around 50% Muslim, 30% Druze, and 20% Christian. What really struck me is that despite what is portrayed in the media all the time about all the conflicts, you can have this school full of Christian Arabs, Muslim Arabs, and Druze, all Israeli citizens with the same rights as any other Jewish Israeli and for the most part they get along. What’s even more shocking is that several of the Druze students end up serving in the IDF and they are even supported and respected by the school administration and the rest of the students. At the end of the visit we sat down together with them and ate some delicious locally made Chumus. To top off the day, once we sat down to eat with the Israeli-Arab students, one of the school principles stands up and says the famous saying ‘שבת אחים גם יחד’ or shevet achim gam yachad, which translates to something like ‘brothers dwelling together and in peace’. I am really grateful for having been able to take part in this and I hope that small steps like these can lead to bigger advances to peace in the Middle East, or as Tyler says, PITME.

In other news, last week all the guys in my garin participated in a mock gibbush (=tryout) to simulate the gibbush that is done by anyone who wishes to serve in an elite unit (=sayeret) here in the Israeli army. The day started off with a 4 AM wake up in order to get to the beach near Rosh Hanikra (which is right beside the border with Lebanon) where we would be getting our asses kicked. First on the agenda were sprints to an object maybe 40 meters away and back. The first 4 people back earned the right to carry the stretcher loaded with 70 kg worth of sandbags while 5^th and 6^th place each settled for a container with 15L of water in it for the next sprint. After about 30-45 minutes of this at which point everyone was tired out we moved on to crawling. This lasted for maybe 30 minutes, which was the hardest part for me. Crawling on all fours with your body sliding along the floor is hard enough without the added difficulty of dragging along all that sand.

Once everyone was even more drained and several people even puked a little, we continued with runs/walks carrying a 15 kg sandbag on our backs. Overall, it was a very difficult day but very rewarding at the end – both from the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction stemming from pushing yourself through the difficulty and also from being able to enjoy the sea at 830 in the morning for about 10 minutes which was divine. 

This past week we were also taken to a nearby kibbutz called Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot (Ghetto Fighters Kibbutz). Needless to say it was a nice change from Yad Vashem in Jerusalem which I have been to at least 5 times. It was also very informative in that it concentrated on a different perspective of the Holocaust – that of the ghetto/resistance fighters. The kibbutz was founded in 1949, one year after the establishment of the State of Israel. Because most of its founders were either surviving fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto or former Jewish partisans, preserving the memory of the Holocaust was very important to them. Since its establishment, they began collecting items to this end and eventually created a Holocaust museum there. Another point of interest is that one of the partisans honoured in the museum is Tuvia Bielski, protagonist of the recently released film Defiance, and grandfather to one of the Americans who made Aliyah with Garin Tzabar to serve in the IDF 2 years ago who was living on my kibbutz until recently.

A lot of time has been spent this past week preparing a presentation for our Hachrazat Garin, where we announce the name of group and formally present ourselves to the entire Kibbutz. We put together a presentation complete with photos, videos and skits to show everyone who we are, and also announced the name for our Garin – Garin Ma’ayan. There were 2 reasons for choosing this name:

1. Ma’ayan means spring in English, and water flows from the spring. Water gives life to everything from the smallest bacteria to the greenest plant, to all of us. It allows us to live and flourish and without water, life is not possible. Likewise, our Garin will flourish and positively influence Israel and the society around us.

2. Ma’ayan, in memory of our Kibbutz mom Elaine’s son, who died in a military training accident in 2008. 

Although we didn’t know him personally, we wanted to honour his memory in this way. 

Finally, yesterday, we went through the process of becoming soldiers. Just like every other soldier in the army who goes through Bakum, the army induction base, we had our opportunity to ‘experience’ it as well. Thankfully, I prepared myself mentally for the long day ahead because the entire process took over 10 hours just to get there, get a couple vaccinations, a picture taken, a quick interview, and take care of some other minor administrative issues. Normally, every soldier is drafted on this day too, and continues on to their army base at the end of the day. However because I am part of Garin Tzabar, we do things a little differently (thank God!). Even though most of us are actually drafted into the army in November, we become soldiers ‘on paper’ at the beginning of October so that 2 or 3 years later when we are released from the army, we get out in time to potentially start the academic year in Israel, which starts mid October. Another advantage to going through this early is that now that we are officially soldiers we can travel on almost all buses and trains for free and can get through security just by flashing our ID cards, also enabling us to bypass the entire line of people waiting to have their bags checked.

This upcoming week is back to normal – me and some others working in the refet (with the cows) while most others are in Ulpan learning Hebrew. We have a couple fun days coming up, including a full day at a water park which is being planned for all of the soldiers in Israel with Garin Tzabar from 2008, 2009, and 2010. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun.

More Cows, Lishkat Giyus, and Gadna

So it’s been a while since my last post and several important things have happened since then. I have started to work regularly in the רפת (cowshed) starting work at either 2:30 or 5 AM each day, finishing around 10 AM, sometimes milking the cows and most of the rest of the time spent doing other chores around the cowshed such as cleaning the pens for the young calves, rounding up certain cows to be checked by the vet, etc. In keeping with my very detailed description of the cows, while milking the cows one day, I noticed from far that one of the cows looked like it had 2 tails. As I got closer in order to put on the suction cups for the milking, I noticed that it was not a tail, but was actually a placenta full of mud/poo still sticking out of the cow because she gave birth the day before. Apparently, unlike human births, it just takes longer to come out completely, and it usually just stays there until it falls out on its own. Just in case that description wasn’t clear enough, here is a picture...

I have decided to call my blog Basar Tari (בשר טרי) which translates to English as “fresh meat”, In Hebrew, this is used as slang for a new recruit to the army. Fresh meat because I really have no idea what is in store for me over the next 2 years. I have already been referred to as fresh meat once not only because I am only now beginning this whole complicated process, but also because this path is very unusual for someone like me – 22 years old and having just arrived from overseas. At the same time, I understand that everyone has to start somewhere, and I am ready to embark on this journey.


On Monday, we had our Tzav Rishon to determine our medical and psychological profile for the army, which ultimately determines what I am capable of doing in the army. Overall it was a bit of a stressful day, leaving the kibbutz at 7 AM returning a mere 9 hours later – at 4 PM. My results were as follows:

Psychological test (Kaba) – 54 (max is 56, so I think I did pretty well)

Medical profile – To Be Determined!

My 2 worries undertaking this whole process were my eyesight and flat feet. Prior to this visit, I had a separate appointment just for my eyes and I was told that they will not lower my profile at all (for those out there with glasses, my prescription is -5.00 and I am still capable of getting a 97 profile with just a סעיף for glasses). When it came to the flat feet, after taking 1 quick look at my feet, the army doctor (obviously Russian) says that my feet are completely flat – my arch is almost entirely unnoticeable – and if I’m lucky I’ll be able to get a 72 profile, which combat-wise is only good for artillery and would leave me with only non-combat jobs to choose from. The reason why my medical profile is still to be determined is because I was told that I have to see a foot specialist for my flat feet. It’s frustrating because I have never had any problems with my feet – I have been active with sports and running my entire life, and never have I even seen a foot specialist until now, but I can only hope for the best.

After arriving back to the kibbutz, each one of us met with our ‘adopted’ or ‘host’ families. It turns out that one of the sons in my family I already worked with a couple times milking the cows, but neither of us knew that we would be together after that. I think that the idea of having a family on the kibbutz who volunteers to take care of anything a lone soldier needs for 2 years – from cooking food to laundry to anything else that comes up is a really amazing thing and I already know that I can rely on them to help me out with anything when the need arises.

Early Friday morning, we had a mock ‘gibbush’ (=tryout) for elite units in the army. We got up early in the morning, had to be ready for 5 AM, and then it started. It wasn’t the most intense workout, but nonetheless it was very challenging. It included about an hour of walking/running with a stretcher which had on it about 75 kg, 4 people carrying it at a time, rotating between 10 people, some stretching, a lot of Matzav Shtayim (holding the push up position), some abdominal work outs, pull ups, and of course a while of sprinting as fast as you can, with the fastest people having the ‘honour’ to complete the mini sprints while carrying the stretcher. The practice ended with an hour nivut (navigation) in the avocado/banana fields around the kibbutz, in which we were given a satellite picture of the area, and given an end point with several checkpoints in between. Overall, it was a very good introduction to what is to come should I decide to try out for a sayeret (elite unit) in the army or any combat unit in the army for that matter.

This past week, my garin, along with all the other garinim from other kibbutzim, participated in Gadna on the army base in Sde Boker. It brought back a lot of memories because this is where I participated in a program called Marva 3 years ago, which serves the same purpose as Gadna, but was longer and more intense, lasting 7 weeks instead of only 5 days. The goal of these programs is to give people a taste of what the army is really like. At first I was caught a bit off guard with all the strictness and couldn’t believe I was back here for another ‘taste’ of the army, although this time a much more limited ‘taste’. However, I made the best of it, taking in the blistering hot sun, horrible food very often mixed in with a little bit of sand, and of course lots of running around and push ups. In hindsight it was an experience, and I think the best way to summarize the week is the way my friend put it “היה טוב וטוב שהיה” – it was good and good that it was (and not still is).

This past weekend I got off from the kibbutz so that I could go to Tel Aviv for my cousin's Bar Mitzvah. I was very happy to be there considering I was the only one from my immediate family who could take part in the celebration. Later that day, as is typical of the spontaneous way of life in Israel, I was offered to go see the final of Kochav Nolad (the Israeli equivalent of American Idol). My uncle, who owns a company which does fireworks and pyrotechnics was responsible for the fireworks at the performance and got some extra tickets, so I went with my cousins. I normally don't like these shows but being there in person, especially for the grand finale was really something special. Everyone there was really excited and just outright crazy!

Early Sunday morning I had to yet again go to the Lishkat Giyus, this time to meet with the head (lead) doctor. Someone must really like me there because this was my 4th time there in as many weeks. A couple days after the Tsav Rishon I went to the Lishka to see the foot specialist, where I explained my situation and was assured several times that everything will be okay and that my flat feet will not affect my profile at all. Just last week during gadna, I was told that they cannot officially give me my profile yet because now the head (lead) doctor at the lishka wants to see my feet. I’m starting to think that maybe I just have really beautiful feet, or it could just be that this is typical of bureaucracy here. Either way, I can finally say with somewhat confidence that I am done with the lishkat giyus, because after a little of back and forth with the head doctor, he agreed to give me a profile of 82. WHOOO!

I'm looking forward to having some free time the coming week to think over the decision that awaits me about where I want to serve – I will be getting my manila within the next week which is the army's suggestions of where I should serve.

I can only hope for the best and let the Israeli bureaucracy continue! Wishing everyone a shana tova and לשנה טובה תכתבו ותחתמו!

Shoving an arm up a cow's ass and watching a live birth!

So I've been procrastinating for quite some time already about starting my blog, and after working with the cows today, I thought I would have a story or two that is blog worthy.

It has now been almost 2 weeks since arriving in Israel, and I am still as excited as ever to be here. Yesterday night, we were invited to a so called 'concert' in honour of lone soldiers in Israel. By my estimates, there were about 800 people, and I was told that 100% of the proceeds go to lone soldiers (like me) in Israel. The event was more of a sing-a-long for people who like Israeli oldies, but nonetheless enjoyable. We were invited onto stage to dance, and were joined by about half of the people in the crowd. All of them were very happy and excited for us, and many old ladies proceeded to hug and kiss some of us. My Garin was essentially the only group of lone soldiers there, and it was very heart-warming to see how grateful these people were of our decision to come to Israel and serve in the IDF.

About a week ago, I was told that I have to go to the Lishkat Giyus (army enlistment office) in Teveria for a 'back of the eye' test, whatever that means. So together with 2 of my fellow garin members, we left our kibbutz at 7:30 with specific instructions on how to get there. To make a long story short, we had our first and definitely not last, taste of army bureaucracy. After arriving at the office at 10:30, waiting for a while for the eye doctor to arrive and see us (the doctor came 2.5 hours late and there were also many other people who got there earlier than us), and then busing back to our kibbutz, we got back at 4:30, a mere 9 hours later. In all fairness though, if it weren't for the fact that we are in Garin Tzabar, run by the Israeli Scouts Movement, the whole process would have been much more complicated. In the span of those 9 hours, we each had a 30 second eye check by the doctor, and on the way back we were able to have an application form printed at an optical store in order to apply for a driver's license here. I'd say it was a moderately productive day by Israeli standards.

We have finally gotten into more or less of a routine here on Kibbutz Beit Ha'emek. Most of the group starts off their day with breakfast at 8 AM and ulpan from 8:30 until 1 PM, followed by lunch, a break until homework at 4, and some more activities at 5 PM which go until dinner time and usually continue for a couple hours after. For me, because my Hebrew level is good enough to be exempt from the ulpan, I have a bit of an irregular schedule, which includes me waking up at 2 AM (yea Michael and Arieh, how's that for early? I dare you to call me a slacker now!) I begin working with the cows from 2:30 until approximately 9:30. Today was my first day and was more of an introduction so I didn't actually get to milk the cows, but still had to get up for 5 AM in order to help prepare the cows for a visit by the veterinarian. The KIbbutz has around 240 cows, and each one produces an average of 35 litres a day! In order to start producing milk, the cows must get pregnant and give birth so that they can begin lactating. One of the tasks of the vet is to check which cows are at an appropriate stage of their menstrual cycle to get pregnant, and which ones are already pregnant. DISCLAIMER: the next paragraph may be a bit graphic...

In order to check whether they are pregnant or not, they vet needs to shove his hand, essentially his entire arm, sometimes almost all the way up to his shoulder, up the cow's ass in order to feel around for the baby calf. I had the opportunity to join him in this and it was probably one of the grossest things I have done up to this point in my life, although it was very exciting at the same time. The vet also uses this method to check for any inflammation/infection and inject the cow with antibiotics if needed. On a side note, each cow poops and pees many, many times a day, and every time one of them does pee, it sounds like there is a sink faucet being opened fully for about 10 seconds, and is probably also one of the worst things I've ever smelled. Several times, the vet attempted to get his arm in but couldn't because there was just too much poop on its way out of the cow, so he had to wait. After doing many checkups, we had to tag a couple other cows with new electronic tags. In addition to numbering each cow individually, each cow also has an electronic tag clipped to its leg so that they can keep track of which cows have been milked, which occurs 3 times a day for each cow, and also how much milk they are producing.

Finally, we were notified that one of the pregnant cows was in labour and I was able to watch the cow give birth. It delivery happens without any interference, but the people who work with the cows like to monitor it and help out if needed. After the calf comes out (of course with a lot of blood and other liquids), they always have to go check the mother to make sure they isn't another one inside. This also involves the shoving of the arm into an ungodly place. And sure enough, after the guy who works at the cowshed (he has been working there for about 10 years) checks, he tells me that there are twins so we get to watch another birth. This guy si so comfortable with the whole situation that he didn't even wear gloves this entire time!

For the next couple days, I will be milking the cows during the day (or should I say night/early morning?), with time to catch up on sleep during the day and hopefully do a little bit of swimming/running/exercise later on in order to get prepared for basic training.

I am looking forward to this weekend because it will be our first 'free' weekend in which we will be able to leave the kibbutz for a couple days and visit family/friends. Following the weekend, I will have my Tzav Rishon on Monday. This is where I have my full, comprehensive medical examination, as well as a psychotechnic test (similar to an IQ test), and personal interview about my reasons for joining the army, and where/what I want to do in the military. The whole day ends with me getting my medical 'profile' and a bunch of other intelligence scores which determine which jobs I am capable of doing in the army.

I am excited to finally reach this stage of the process and hopefully it will all go smoothly.

More on the reasons behind my life-changing decision and the explanation behind the name of my blog in my next entry!