Today is Yom Sayarot. The day when all the boys who want to can go and tryout for a tryout in one of the elite special forces of Israel. (These units included 669, Matcal, Sheldag and others) by this I mean they get to try out for one day and if they make it, they are invited for the real tryout for the unit they want.
The tryout is comprised of running 2km under a certain time. Pushups and sit-ups, going to sleep. Waking up at a very early hour and then running some more. Throughout the whole thing, the boys sit in their groups and talk about topics picked by their commanders. The topics can be about anything and it is used to see who is the leader of the group, who talks and who doesn’t and who hijacks the conversation.
However, not everyone wants a Sayarot unit, just like me. I want to be a paramedic.
So, since I didn’t go to Yom Sayarot (as well as two other guys) the day was ours for the taking. The girls were given a schedule, since they weren’t going anyway, and the three boys were told that we can do whatever we wanted. I chose to use the day to take care of some much needed work.
I started e day going with my host father to a field to pick palm tree leaves or the roof of the kibbutz sukkah. Together, along with some other kids, we picked over 400 leaves. Once we brought our forest back to the kibbutz, I left to go and take care of driver’s forums in Haifa. The ride was 40 min (one way) and the paper work only took me 5 min to fill out. In Israel, when an Oleyh wants to convert his license, he needs to go to the DMV of Israel and gets a temporary license. With this license, he needs to schedule a driver’s Ed lesson (only one) and you can take the road test and get a full lance.
The Israeli DMV is a very nice building with nice people, unlike the DMV in the states, where no one helps you out and if you’re in the wrong line, you’re in trouble.
Here however there is an information desk when you first walk in and you are told where to go. The whole process was nice and went by painlessly.
From Haifa, I went back on the bus to Afula and took care of some more bank work. I know am finally all done with paperwork (thank G-d).
Tomorrow, the day is still ours, since the guys are still in tryouts. However, since they will be done with their tryout at about 9 in the morning, the whole Garin will go to Mircaz Canada. The Mircaz is like an indoor amusement park with a waterslide, skating ring and also a shooting range downstairs. I’m so excited and I can’t wait to hear from the guys how great was.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Working the land
It’s been a very relaxing weekend for me, here in Israel.
I think I last left off on last week Thursday. That night, we went to a concert featuring Ehud Bani and Shalom Hanoch. The concert started at 9:30 and ended around 3:30 in the morning. It was a lot of fun, because the stadium wasn’t far from the kibbutz and was also built into the side of mountain.
Even though I only got 4 hours of sleep, it was a very awesome concert and I would do it again in a hart beat.
In the morning, we went to Afula to give out apples and honey to soldiers and people at the bus station. It was a very moving experience and while most of the soldiers did not take, the ones who did were very grateful and we were overcome with joy.
From there it was off to our free weekend. It is amazing all the different walks of life that one can find in Israel. An example of this was when I was on the bus going to Jerusalem. There, I met some women who were from New Zealand and were here because they wanted to see Israel. I believe that they were evangelical Christians and on the 1 1/2 hour bus ride, we got to know each other well. As I’m getting off, the women wanted to know my name, so that they could pray for me. In return, they gave me there name and where they live and invited me over to their house when I get out of army.
The free weekend is always fun. There is nothing greater than going to see family and spending time with them.
Once we got back from our relaxing weekend, it was time to get down to business and make some money. Ever since we got here, we haven’t really been working. It’s been a regular schedule of waking up at 8, going to Ulpan and then piulot at night.
Lately however, we had to pull our weight around and help out in the field, by picking olives. It’s a lot of fun to do. Basically you lay down a tarp under a tree and then you rake the tree till all the olives fall down. Then you take the tarp and fallen olives and place them into boxes to be taken back.
Once they get back to the kibbutz, the olive boxes are weighted and placed into a big barrel, filled with water. There they will stay for a month and then they will be eaten by the kibbutz people.
So far we have picked over 400 kilos of olives. The kibbutz buys the 1 kilo for 4.5 shekels or for $1.50 if the exchange rate is good. That means that we have picked over 1,000 Shekels.
We are also in charge of a dinner one night for the whole kibbutz. This included food and entertainment. This is where all our money is going.
We are going to put on a show and a movie that we are making for entertainment. As for food, we are planning to make Mexican food, which included nachos and steak. This is why we have been working so hard for the past few days.
I think I last left off on last week Thursday. That night, we went to a concert featuring Ehud Bani and Shalom Hanoch. The concert started at 9:30 and ended around 3:30 in the morning. It was a lot of fun, because the stadium wasn’t far from the kibbutz and was also built into the side of mountain.
Even though I only got 4 hours of sleep, it was a very awesome concert and I would do it again in a hart beat.
In the morning, we went to Afula to give out apples and honey to soldiers and people at the bus station. It was a very moving experience and while most of the soldiers did not take, the ones who did were very grateful and we were overcome with joy.
From there it was off to our free weekend. It is amazing all the different walks of life that one can find in Israel. An example of this was when I was on the bus going to Jerusalem. There, I met some women who were from New Zealand and were here because they wanted to see Israel. I believe that they were evangelical Christians and on the 1 1/2 hour bus ride, we got to know each other well. As I’m getting off, the women wanted to know my name, so that they could pray for me. In return, they gave me there name and where they live and invited me over to their house when I get out of army.
The free weekend is always fun. There is nothing greater than going to see family and spending time with them.
Once we got back from our relaxing weekend, it was time to get down to business and make some money. Ever since we got here, we haven’t really been working. It’s been a regular schedule of waking up at 8, going to Ulpan and then piulot at night.
Lately however, we had to pull our weight around and help out in the field, by picking olives. It’s a lot of fun to do. Basically you lay down a tarp under a tree and then you rake the tree till all the olives fall down. Then you take the tarp and fallen olives and place them into boxes to be taken back.
Once they get back to the kibbutz, the olive boxes are weighted and placed into a big barrel, filled with water. There they will stay for a month and then they will be eaten by the kibbutz people.
So far we have picked over 400 kilos of olives. The kibbutz buys the 1 kilo for 4.5 shekels or for $1.50 if the exchange rate is good. That means that we have picked over 1,000 Shekels.
We are also in charge of a dinner one night for the whole kibbutz. This included food and entertainment. This is where all our money is going.
We are going to put on a show and a movie that we are making for entertainment. As for food, we are planning to make Mexican food, which included nachos and steak. This is why we have been working so hard for the past few days.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Nothing like some R and R
Yesterday we went to tell Aviv, for some much needed R and R. It is always fun to go see Tel Aviv, the city that is within a bubble.
The first stop on the tour was the Yitzhak Rabin memorial park. This is the spot where Rabin was murdered back in 1995. At the park there are spots on the floor where one can see where Rabin was standing, his bodyguards and also the Murderer, Yigal Amir.
From there, we went to the old city of Yafo. While it was not my first time taking a tour of the old city, with its tight and long corridors, I was never able to get over the feeling only a few years ago, Napoleon had one taken the same route.
From there it was time for some lunch and shopping at the shook. There is nothing on earth that can compare to the shook. There is so much to see, smell, taste and buy that one cannot imagine it all.
From the shook, we went to the Palmach Museum. The Palmach was the first Special Forces branch of the Israeli army. If you have not yet gone to the museum, I suggest you go. It is not like a normal museum. There are a lot of videos and you follow the story of 6 soldiers.
From there we went to the mall for some dinner and then back home. All in all, the day was a lot of fun, and a great ways to recharge the batteries.
The first stop on the tour was the Yitzhak Rabin memorial park. This is the spot where Rabin was murdered back in 1995. At the park there are spots on the floor where one can see where Rabin was standing, his bodyguards and also the Murderer, Yigal Amir.
From there, we went to the old city of Yafo. While it was not my first time taking a tour of the old city, with its tight and long corridors, I was never able to get over the feeling only a few years ago, Napoleon had one taken the same route.
From there it was time for some lunch and shopping at the shook. There is nothing on earth that can compare to the shook. There is so much to see, smell, taste and buy that one cannot imagine it all.
From the shook, we went to the Palmach Museum. The Palmach was the first Special Forces branch of the Israeli army. If you have not yet gone to the museum, I suggest you go. It is not like a normal museum. There are a lot of videos and you follow the story of 6 soldiers.
From there we went to the mall for some dinner and then back home. All in all, the day was a lot of fun, and a great ways to recharge the batteries.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Another Meeting
Life has slowly started to take on a routine. For example, everyday, I wake up at 7:30, got o breakfast; go to Hebrew class, then lunch and then piulas at 5 and 8. The night time is usually when we have free time but that to seem to be routine (basically all free time is used for either running, swimming or hanging out with friends)
However, some things are not so routine. For example, when the army comes by for a meeting. Today we had one of the un-routine days. The meeting today was on what do we want to do in the army and why did we come. We then had a meeting with a different soldier, where they basically checked up on our Hebrew and made sure that we are enjoying the kibbutz.
Besides have a conversation, we also had to fill out a questionnaire. The questions were not usual questions. They were filling in the blank questions about life, such as: "the boy gets mad when...., a good father..... I want ....."
It was basically three pages of questions. It was also timed. 20 min to answer 60 questions. I remember doing a similar test with my college counselor to find out what college was good for me. Funny how the army and college seems t be closer and closer every day.
After the questions, there was an application form that we had to fill out. the application was for an elite unit and included both medical questions as well as spatial tests and questions about how do we work in a team, what are some positive and negative attributes and other questions along these lines.
When all was said and done, we went back to our routine schedule. The night piulas tonight was to bake cookies for our host families. While there’s nothing wrong with cookies, Israelis need to learn about toll house or Pillsbury cookies and how to make them sweet.
Tomorrow we are going to Tel Aviv. WE are going to stop at all the museums and supposedly end our day at the shook to buy some things. Hope no one gets robbed again.
However, some things are not so routine. For example, when the army comes by for a meeting. Today we had one of the un-routine days. The meeting today was on what do we want to do in the army and why did we come. We then had a meeting with a different soldier, where they basically checked up on our Hebrew and made sure that we are enjoying the kibbutz.
Besides have a conversation, we also had to fill out a questionnaire. The questions were not usual questions. They were filling in the blank questions about life, such as: "the boy gets mad when...., a good father..... I want ....."
It was basically three pages of questions. It was also timed. 20 min to answer 60 questions. I remember doing a similar test with my college counselor to find out what college was good for me. Funny how the army and college seems t be closer and closer every day.
After the questions, there was an application form that we had to fill out. the application was for an elite unit and included both medical questions as well as spatial tests and questions about how do we work in a team, what are some positive and negative attributes and other questions along these lines.
When all was said and done, we went back to our routine schedule. The night piulas tonight was to bake cookies for our host families. While there’s nothing wrong with cookies, Israelis need to learn about toll house or Pillsbury cookies and how to make them sweet.
Tomorrow we are going to Tel Aviv. WE are going to stop at all the museums and supposedly end our day at the shook to buy some things. Hope no one gets robbed again.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Practice makes perfect
Yom Sayarot is coming up soon (less than three weeks). During Yom Sayarot, everybody who wants to get into an elite Special Forces unit tries out. The day is comprised of a lot of sprinting and also a lot of running and heavy lifting. Only the best of the best make it.
Since everyone wants to be the best, we are no different. This is why; yesterday we woke up at 4 in the morning and went to a beach. There we practiced sprinting up and down a sand dune. After that, we ran with a stretcher and water cans up and down the sand dunes again. It was like this for three hours. Talk about fun.
Of course the rest f the day was relaxing and interesting. After finishing the mock Yom Sayarot, we went to the beach. There is nothing more fun than working hard in the morning, and then swimming in the afternoon.
From the beach, we went to an army base in Tel Aviv, where we got to meet with some units to hear what exactly they do. It was set up as a college fair, where different units had different booths set up and each had a rep. there that you could talk to. It was interesting to hear about the different units, but it only makes the chose harder because everything sounds so good.
Of course something had to go wrong in the day and that turned out to be that from the base we were allowed to go to our free Shabot. For me that means going to Jerusalem. That meant that i would have to take a bus from the army base, into the tel aviv bus stations and from there take a bus to Jerusalem. Then I take a bus to the moshav where my grandparents live. The problem was no the traveling, but just leaving the base. Every bus that was going to Tel Aviv was packed. A bunch of people had to keep going from bus to bus, until we found a bus that would take a detour from where they were going and would take us.
As if this wasn’t so bad, I also lost my wallet on one of the buses. Luckily the driver realized this and quickly chased me down honking. I thought that I had forgotten to pay him and when I went to reach for my wallet, he opens up the door and says "forgot something?"
This is one reason why I love Israel. Where else would a bus driver go out of his way, act like a crazy person all to return a wallet of someone he doesn’t know?
Since everyone wants to be the best, we are no different. This is why; yesterday we woke up at 4 in the morning and went to a beach. There we practiced sprinting up and down a sand dune. After that, we ran with a stretcher and water cans up and down the sand dunes again. It was like this for three hours. Talk about fun.
Of course the rest f the day was relaxing and interesting. After finishing the mock Yom Sayarot, we went to the beach. There is nothing more fun than working hard in the morning, and then swimming in the afternoon.
From the beach, we went to an army base in Tel Aviv, where we got to meet with some units to hear what exactly they do. It was set up as a college fair, where different units had different booths set up and each had a rep. there that you could talk to. It was interesting to hear about the different units, but it only makes the chose harder because everything sounds so good.
Of course something had to go wrong in the day and that turned out to be that from the base we were allowed to go to our free Shabot. For me that means going to Jerusalem. That meant that i would have to take a bus from the army base, into the tel aviv bus stations and from there take a bus to Jerusalem. Then I take a bus to the moshav where my grandparents live. The problem was no the traveling, but just leaving the base. Every bus that was going to Tel Aviv was packed. A bunch of people had to keep going from bus to bus, until we found a bus that would take a detour from where they were going and would take us.
As if this wasn’t so bad, I also lost my wallet on one of the buses. Luckily the driver realized this and quickly chased me down honking. I thought that I had forgotten to pay him and when I went to reach for my wallet, he opens up the door and says "forgot something?"
This is one reason why I love Israel. Where else would a bus driver go out of his way, act like a crazy person all to return a wallet of someone he doesn’t know?
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Trips
On Thursday last week, the Garin went on a little trip.
We went up north to go kayaking in the Yarden River. It was a lot of fun. The best part was that while there was a sign that said no swimming, no one listened and we played a game called capture the boat.
Basically people jump from boat to boat, trying to throw other people in the water. At one point in the river, we all jumped out and swam for a little, enjoying the cool water.
Besides the water fun, we also went hiking. There are so many breath taking views from the top of the mountains in the north. It is also easier to understand how close we are to Syria and other neighboring countries, since we often went right to the boarder, which was only a 5 min drive from where we were staying.
Then at night, we slept at Sasa. Sasa is a kibbutz up in the north that is also hosting a Garin. Their Garin is from LA and they were all really cool people.
In the morning, we left Sasa and went to Acco to see the old ruins.
Of course no trip is complete without a little bit of trouble and of course, we were no exception.
While walking through the Arab shook, one of our soldiers was robbed. He had left his wallet in his back pocket and while we were waiting on line for some humus, he felt a hand there. He turned around to see someone staring right at him. After a few short milliseconds, the guy started running away. Of course, a Garin group of 20 kids chased the man down. This of course attracted a lot of attention and the man got away.
After the interesting time at Acco, the Garin went to Rosh Hanikra. Rosh Hanikra has the most amazing caverns, with water in them, in Israel. Rosh Hanikra also happened to be the Israeli border with Lebanon. It was interesting to see the sign on the wall that said Israel this way, Beirut that way.
After Rosh Hanikra it was time to go home. Once we arrived to the kibbutz, we quickly got ready for Shabot. This Shabot actually turned into a fun and exciting Shabot for me and two other friends. You would think that after coming back from a hike and trip that we would all be tired, but this was not the case. My two friends and I snuck out of the kibbutz and we went hiking all the way to a mountain that is not far from the kibbutz. The mountain is called Har Gilboa. There we made a camp fire, talked and slept under the stars. In the morning, we walked back to the kibbutz and slept (since sleeping on rocks isn’t exactly the most comforting bed.)
We went up north to go kayaking in the Yarden River. It was a lot of fun. The best part was that while there was a sign that said no swimming, no one listened and we played a game called capture the boat.
Basically people jump from boat to boat, trying to throw other people in the water. At one point in the river, we all jumped out and swam for a little, enjoying the cool water.
Besides the water fun, we also went hiking. There are so many breath taking views from the top of the mountains in the north. It is also easier to understand how close we are to Syria and other neighboring countries, since we often went right to the boarder, which was only a 5 min drive from where we were staying.
Then at night, we slept at Sasa. Sasa is a kibbutz up in the north that is also hosting a Garin. Their Garin is from LA and they were all really cool people.
In the morning, we left Sasa and went to Acco to see the old ruins.
Of course no trip is complete without a little bit of trouble and of course, we were no exception.
While walking through the Arab shook, one of our soldiers was robbed. He had left his wallet in his back pocket and while we were waiting on line for some humus, he felt a hand there. He turned around to see someone staring right at him. After a few short milliseconds, the guy started running away. Of course, a Garin group of 20 kids chased the man down. This of course attracted a lot of attention and the man got away.
After the interesting time at Acco, the Garin went to Rosh Hanikra. Rosh Hanikra has the most amazing caverns, with water in them, in Israel. Rosh Hanikra also happened to be the Israeli border with Lebanon. It was interesting to see the sign on the wall that said Israel this way, Beirut that way.
After Rosh Hanikra it was time to go home. Once we arrived to the kibbutz, we quickly got ready for Shabot. This Shabot actually turned into a fun and exciting Shabot for me and two other friends. You would think that after coming back from a hike and trip that we would all be tired, but this was not the case. My two friends and I snuck out of the kibbutz and we went hiking all the way to a mountain that is not far from the kibbutz. The mountain is called Har Gilboa. There we made a camp fire, talked and slept under the stars. In the morning, we walked back to the kibbutz and slept (since sleeping on rocks isn’t exactly the most comforting bed.)
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