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, 1st 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.
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