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!
