Hanukkah Vacation (The whole country in one week)

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I'm back at the Kibbutz now after a week or so traveling around my very "Big" country...well its pretty small, but man...I saw a lot (and Eilat). 'American Israeli Joke'


My first night of Hanukkah (חנוקה):
I went to Sam's apartment, a friend from my IsraeLinks trip in '08. Caitlin, also from IsraeLinks, was there and one of her friends too. We lit the first candle and then Sam and I went to go find a Shul (Synagogue). We walked to Hadar, a neat community in Haifa. The first Shul we found was closed, but right on the corner we found a Chabad. (My favorite chose of Shul) It was all Russian though, but still the same service I knew from Boulder. We walked back to his apartment afterwards and ready for us was a very nice Shabbat Dinner. After Dinner we had a very strange encounter with a man and his son in Sam's apartment building. The man invited us up to his apartment for drinks. It was very late and all in Hebrew, so I can't tell you much, but it was fun...
The next day we all went back to the Russian Chabad House, came back and ate lunch. After Lunch, the man from upstairs invited Sam and I to his Shul for Afternoon Prayers. It was very close. When we got in, we saw that it was a Sephardic Shul. This was a very rich experience and they treated us like royality. I got to carry the Torah to the Bima and I also got an Aliyah. (Called to the Torah for the reading, a very honorary custom.) THATS it for Shabbat and the first night of חנוקה.

My second night of חנוקה:

I had also planned to meet up with some friends from CPLV (My Summer Camp) in Tel Aviv Motzi Shabbat (After Shabbat/Saturday Night). So after we lit the second candle, I got on a bus from a very wet and rainny Haifa, to Herzalia to where I got picked up by Yogev, my camp friend, and we then drove to Ramat Gan (Just East of Tel Aviv). There we met up with Roni and Anna, more friends from camp. We sat and had coffee and snacks for hours and caught up with each other, while I had a chance to practice my Hebrew...Which I may add is getting pretty good, well...not really speaking, but Understanding.


The time flew by and I had no chance of making it to the Kibbutz that night, so I stayed with Anna in Petah Tikvah, just north a bit from Tel Aviv. The next day, I caught a bus back to the Kibbutz. *I have to add that Anna was amazing and very helpful. I got to the Kibbutz at 11am, four hours late for Class! I also missed the big mid-term test...I got yelled at by my teacher, but it was חנוקה and I got away with it. I then had to start the test on my own, while my whole class started making חנוקה decorations. This was a very hard test, as it was testing us on three levels of Hebrew. So much for day two...

My third night of חנוקה:
Sunday night, the Ulpan had its חנוקה party. We had spent the whole week before preparing. I only had to do one thing for the party, light a candle. My whole class had to light a candle in the honor of something. Mine was, Peace in the Middle East and the World. I felt like I was in the Miss America Pageant. It was very fun night and I ate even more Sufganeot (Jelly Filled Donuts). *I might post some videos of it on facebook... The next day I had to go to Work!


My candle in Hebrew: אני מדליק נר לכבוד השלום. שיהייה שלום במזרח התיכון ושלום עולמי בכל העולם
My candle in English: I light this candle in honor of peace. That there be peace in the Middle East and all around the world.


My fourth night of חנוקה:
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I had to work because the the first level class had off class and work. My class had Thursday and Friday off.


Monday night, a friend that lives on my kibbutz, Tzach, invited me and some girls, Arielle and Ellinor, to a natural hot springs in the north, just off the Jordan river. It was very relaxing and nice.


My fifth night of חנוקה:
On Tuesday Night, I went to the Kibbutz's Hanukkah Play for the Kids. It was really quite the experience for a Theatre Major. One it was all in Hebrew, but for Kids, so I got most of it and two it was a mix of children dancing and adults acting. It had nothing to do with Hanukkah, or anything Jewish, just a play about a puppy that lost his brother and he went looking for him. It was all very nice. Plus we lit a giantHanukiah.


My sixth night of חנוקה:
I left the Kibbutz right after work on Wednesday and headed off to Eilat (The southern most part of Israel on the Red Sea). My friend from College, Katie London, is there for a few months working in a hotel on a program. I packed my stuff and went out to the gate of the Kibbutz. I always Tramp (Hitchhike) to the near town, Kiryat Ata to check the bus. However when I got in the first car to stop, the driver asked what my destination was and I said Eilat, via Jerusalem. He replied with that he was also going to Jerusalem and I could go with him the whole way. WOW! Second time this had happened. I got to Jerusalem two minutes after the earlier bus to Eilat. Damn, the next bus, which I planned to take anyways was in three hours...so I decided to get some lunch and wait for the bus. After I ate, I went to the info desk in the bus station and found out that the 5pm Bus to Eilat was sold out! Awww, What! מה? So I had an hour to get to Tel Aviv to get a bus to Eilat. I didn't get to Eilat until 10:30pm! While I was on the bus, I heard the prayers for the sixth candle, on the radio. I got off to meet Katie and we went right out to get some dinner and check out the boardwalk.


The next day, we woke up and got some breakfast with Katie's Boyfriend on the boardwalk. This was the first I got to see Eilat in the light. It was pretty dusty and I couldn't even see across town, which is mostly hotels. It was warm though and I got to wear shorts.


My seventh night of חנוקה:
We went out to dinner at one of the hotel's that Katie's friend, Kara, works at. It was pretty bad, but I got another Sufganeot... After we went to get ready to go out for the night. It got kinda crazy and I met a ton of their friends. We all lit the seventh candle together in another hotel lobby where only staff live. I met two 17 year olds, one from Russia and one from Kazakhstan (Yes, it really is a country). These guys were working at a hotel, but they just got fired and are moving to Kiryat Ata...WTF...no one wants to live there, by the way, its the town right by my Kibbutz...so that was cool meeting some guys from where I live in the north. 

The next day, Friday, I had to head to Jerusalem for Shabbat. A few minor problems though...The only ticket I could get to Jerusalem was at 1pm and would not arrive in J town until 5pm, 30min after Shabbat starts. (I wanted to keep the Shabbat and I was staying at a religious family). So I went to the bus station at 10am to try and get on the first bus to Jerusalem, but no luck...so I got another great idea! There was a 11am Bus to Tel Aviv. So I got on it... Well that was a mistake, as I soon realized. I thought it would be the same amount of time to Tel Aviv as Jerusalem...I don't know why, but I did. I thought I would get to Tel Aviv at 3pm and then be able to make it to J town in time...well the bus would not get to Tel Aviv until 4:25pm...No Good/לה טוב, but I was going to an amazing person's house. Rivkah, my friend/fellow guide on this summer's Birthright trip. She got on the computer and started cross refrenceing my buses stops and buses to Jerusalem. I ended up switching buses and making it to Jerusalem at 4:20pm!!!!! 10 Minutes to Shabbat, not 10 minutes to the grace period of shabbat. I ran off the bus and right to a taxi. I told them the address and to go fast! I arrived at Rivkah's house right as the sun was going behind the horizon.


My eight night of חנוקה:
I was to late to light candles, as they had to be lit before Shabbat. They had eight hanukiahiot lit. Which was very spectacular. I went to a Shul across the street with Rivkah's Brother for Shabbat. Dinner was great for Shabbat. Rivkah has one older brother and six younger sisters. Plus three other guest where at dinner. I love a large Shabbat dinner with a bunch of loud Israelis! Really, it was a lot of fun.


Shabbat Day was amazing, as I went to Shul once, ate another large meal for lunch and took a walk with Rivkah. I really had one of my best and rememberable shabbats. Her family was amazing and I felt very welcome. I really got to practice my hebrew too!!!


That night I met up with a friend from the Ulpan and caught a bus back to the Kibbutz. I wanted to get back and get some rest, because Sunday and Monday the whole Ulpan was taking a trip to the Negev (Israeli Desert).


Ulpan Trip to the Negev:
The Ulpan I'm in takes a few trips durning the program and this week's trip is of the Negev, for two days. We left at 7am and took a bus to our first destination of Maresha (Click for Link). It was a very old site of city with a ton of underground tunnels and rooms. We spent a few hours on our hands and knees and see massive rooms under the ground.


Next we went to a "Hot spring" at the edge of the desert, just north of Ber Sheba. It wasn't really so much as a hot spring, but a full on Spa, with some hot pools. Very nice and relaxing, but not like the one I went to in the north the week before. Here is a great pic of the sunset.

Then it was getting late so we headed to the famous, Bedouin Tents , at Kfar Hanokdim. I was at the same place with my Birthright group this summer. So about the same...Food, Music, Fire, Desert walk/prayer. I really had a good time, even though, my group drives me crazy at most times.


On Monday, we woke up and ate, and went Camel riding. My third or forth time... It was just the same as all the times before, but a bit longer. Not a good thing...My eggs were in my belly...no pun intended.
Then we set out for a three hour hike in the desert near the Dead Sea (ים המלך). It was a very easy hike, with amazing views! I really enjoyed it, more than any other part of the trip.


After the Hike, we went to Dead Sea to Float! Been there done that, but in the Summer. The water was very cold, well pool temp. We floated for awhile and then headed back to the Kibbutz.


The End!


Now back to class and work!

Picture Update

Ariel and I on top of Mt. Avital, overlooking the Israel Syria Boarder. 

Sufganiot (Jewish Jelly Filled Donut)
I got to fry them for Class...really good.

Jerusalem after a rain storm

Horses on the Kibbutz

Kibbutz FieldsBlurry, but thats some very famous people. I was sitting in an Audience for an Israeli TV Show. אור ישראלי More about this in a post...

I'm going to the Army May 4th, 2010

Hag Samach Everyone! Happy Thanksgiving/Turkey Day.

First off, My Thanksgiving... Well because I'm with a bunch of American's we held our own dinner for the Ulpan. A few of the girls decorated and cooked all the food. Chicken, Sweet potato pie, stuffing, salad, and spiked apple cider. Not quiet like my families great cooking, but it worked. They did make Pumpkin Pie, but it was with Coconut milk...no kosher...not lactose free...and I hate coconuts. Oh Well. The best part of the day was that in class we made turkeys with our hands...it was just like 4th grade.

Second...
I got my second Yom Gius Letter from the IDF. Its my draft date. The first letter said, September 5th, 2010...a day before my 23rd Birthday. Well that night I got a call from the army, my friend, saying that she changed my draft date to the 4th of May. I also got the official letter this week.

When I go on May 4th, I will get all setup for Mikve Alon, Army Ulpan. Depending on how good my hebrew is, will determine how long I will be in the program. After a few weeks of training, I will start hebrew classes. Sometime durning Mikve Alon, I will get to figure out where I will be serving the rest of my two years.

I'm so glad Static Electricity doesn't Kill

To start off this post I want to recommend a book to all those that are interested in serving in the IDF. Brotherhood of Warriors by Aaron Cohen.
It is a great book about a kid that grew up in Califoria, got tired of his home, went to Military school in Canada and then make Aliyah, joined the IDF in a special forces unit.
***I read it in a day*** Its a really good read.


Army Update:
I haven't gotten my draft letter yet from the Army this week. I'm starting to get to know the Israeli way and decided that I might need to start making some calls to see where my file was. I called Nefesh B'Nefesh...they couldn't do anything, so I called a friend of mine that works in לשכת גיוס, she is the girlfriend of a guy in my Ulpan. This turned out to be a great idea. I called her up and she looked into my file. Turns out my file had not be finished yet, but there was no explanation she could give. She emailed the head of the board in Haifa. I also wanted to get into the Army Ulpan starting in December, but it is a bit close and everyone kept telling me that it was full and I would have to wait until May. She emailed the officer about both issues. So he gets back to her, that my file can't be closed, because I am in my first year in Israel and Olim don't get drafted their first year. I had sent in a letter forgiving that right a few months ago, but I guess it got lost. So I sent in another yesterday. Well so that pretty much pushed me right out of being drafted in December.

Problem... I now have to figure out what to do from Feb 2nd to May... I have no clue what to do now, but I do have a few options.
1. Stay at the same Kibbutz and do another ulpan for three months or stay on the kibbutz if there is room and work...
2. Find another Kibbutz Ulpan that will start in December and go until May.
3. Find something to do until August and then join Garin Sabar. This is a really good program which is another kibbutz ulpan, but it is a group of Olim all going to the army together. They provide ulpan and pre army training. A really good option, but far away.


Work Update:
So for the title of this post...  On Monday I got moved temporary inside the factory to work at the end of the assembly line. This was one of my hardest days of work in the factory. It wasn't hard physically really, but the stuff never stops and if you take too long of a break it all gets backed up and everyone is screwed. I was on my feet almost 7 hours in my shitty work boots, in a very loud factory...and it was raining outside. We made huge piles of PVC sheets and let me tell you... this builds up a lot of static electricity that came to a surprise to me. I should have seen it coming though, I would get two-four feet away from the pile and all my arm hair was on the rise. I had to straighten out the last sheet my partner just put on the pile and I leaned over the pile to do so. As soon as I touched the sheet, I jumped a foot up in the air and let out a scream...HOLY Shit, that hurt, but mostly surprised me. I have been electrocuted a few too many times in my life, even by a wall socket and this had to be one of the biggest shocks I've had...so I'm so glad Static Electricity doesn't KILL, or leave any damage.

Well, I've got a oral presentation on Thursday, so I've got to go practice now. Its 20 mins of me speaking in Hebrew about how I became so attached to Israel. Maybe I'll post it...for the Hebrew readers.

Rain Rain Rain Geshem

I am now finally better this week! I feels very different and I forgot how good it feels to fell good. Funny how that works right?

Well I went back to work last Friday and it had to be the coldest morning I have had in Israel. I worked for about an hour, decided that I would get sick again if I stayed outside, so I went back to bed... and then got ready to travel to Jerusalem for the weekend. I was going just to hang out and get off the kibbutz and to see my friend Lisa from College. My ulpan was doing a tour of Jerusalem on Sunday, so I would be able to spend all weekend in Jerusalem and meet up with them on Sunday.

One month of being Sick...Israeli Style

The most spoken Hebrew Line for me this past four weeks has been: אני הולה. אני מרגש לא טוב. (I'm Sick, I feel not good.) *I might of spelled the hebrew wrong...

This is quiet the story, I'm going to start at the beginning, for you to experience it from my point of view, please forget everything you know about the end result for a minute...btw, I'm not too sure about the time/dates so it might be fuzzy...

So just before Rosh Hashanan, I started to get a bit sick. A lot of the other people in the ulpan were sick in the few weeks before me, so I was just the next victim. It was a sore throat and running nose. It wasn't very bad and I just had some throat numbing pills. After a few days of not getting better I went to the kibbutz clinic to get it checked, make sure it wasn't some bad. They said it looks like its viral and should be fine in a few days.
#1
Diagnosis: Sore Throat
Treatment: Stronger numbing pills

The next week it was a bit worse and I started to get headaches, not too bad and no fevers. I didn't work and it was the holidays in Israel so there was a bunch of days off anyways. I still went to class and did my homework. GI #2 (Code name for the "house mother" she is number 2 in the Ulpan Staff). She tells me that I need to get my throat tested it I want to miss work. I am not feeling well enough to go work in my shitty job, mostly because of the very loud noise that would not be the best for my headaches. I go to the clinic for a second time.*BTW, the clinic on the kibbutz is very informal but ran by my heath fund. Its free for me to see the doctors and nurses and get simple tests. The good side of universal health care. They swab my throat for a test and tell me it I just have a cold, should be a few more days.
#2
Diagnosis: Sore Throat/ Cold

Treatment: Nothing

Result of test: Nothing

So a few days later I'm not better, I have a cough, very runny/stuffed up nose, and more headaches. I go back to the clinic. I walk in and sit for half an hour and the nurses tell me there is nothing they can do, its just a cold, no tests, no meds...

#3

Diagnosis: Cold

Treatment: Nothing

I go back a few days later, I have a pretty bad cough and head really hurts, this is about the end of the 2nd week of being sick. I go in, they say, you need to see the doctor, and they type me in for that afternoon.

#4

Diagnosis: Severe coughing

Treatment: See the Doctor

That afternoon, I go to my doctor's appt. He is a nice man that speaks english very well. He listens to all my symptoms  and listens to my heart and lungs, takes my blood pressure and temp. He says its just a cold. I should be better in a few days. I get Israel meds this time...very strong...

#5

Diagnosis: Cold

Treatment: Cold Medication (Day and Night)

The next week, I still can't work and the headaches are getting worse and the pain meds and cold meds are not doing anything. So I am dragged to the clinic by GI#2, who has yelled at me almost every morning about going to work and just getting over my cold. I get called into a meeting with the Ulpan Director about being "sick" and not working. I can't keep going on like this...I need to go to work. They don't think I'm really sick and maybe I'm just depressed about my job. This is in the 3rd week.

Well, I get dragged to the clinic, she tells the nurses that I still am not better and that she wants to see me talk to the doctor. I talk to the doctor about my headaches and my cough. He listens to my lungs again, and finds that he kinda hears wheezing in my left lung. Finally they find something wrong, so much for a three week cold...a few more days I should be fine the doctor says and stop taking the cold meds.

#6

Diagnosis: Bronchitis

Treatment: Antibiotics 150mg and cough syrup

The next day, I still don't feel any different. I feel worse, well the headaches are bad...nothing is helping. Friday, I wake up early to to tell GI#2 that I can't go to work, I am feeling really bad today. She doesn't think anything is wrong with me. I tell her my forehead is hot, she takes my temp, no fever. She wants me to go to work. She yells at me for five minutes in front of two ulpan girls about how she can't put up with me and I have to go to work. I get mad and say FINE I will go to work... I go get dressed and go to work, felling like shit. I work for a about two hours, its loud and hot. I take some breaks and can't really handle being at work, so I leave a few hours early for the day. There is no boss really on friday, and I really feel like shit. I hid out in my room for the rest of the day and weekend. Trying to feel better.

Week 4

Sunday I go to class... teacher yells at me for not doing my homework...I tell her i have really bad headaches and I can't focus very well. She also thinks I'm faking, but she is a bit nicer.

Monday same thing, I get yelled at again by GI #2... whatever... I sleep all day.

Tuesday, Class, same thing as sunday.

Wednesday, I decided not even to tell GI #2 I'm not going to work, I'll just avoid her... I go to breakfast late. I decided to go to the clinic to one, avoid GI #2 and two, to get more cough syrup.

Well Well Well, who do I run into on the way...GI #2, riding her golf cart. She stops, and gives me the yelling I have been trying to avoid. I tell her, I'll go to work and do nothing and let me headaches get worse. She tells me, this is not what the program is about. We will talk to the Ulpan Director. I can't be here if this is what I'm going to be doing. I yell, I'm Sick! She drives away, I almost start to cry, but don't , for real. I get my syrup and go back to my room and sleep all day.

#7

Just more Cough syrup....

Thursday, Dooms Day.

I wake up with a killer headache, very congested, and coughing like crazy...I must be faking...  I sit though one and half hours of class feeling very very sick. The teacher calls on me a few times and I say I can't. She tells me I really need to do my work and participate. I say I am not feeling very well. After watching my clock until the break, I go right to the Director's office. I'm thinking I'm about to be kicked out of the ulpan, this might be a good Idea. She right away asks what has been going on with me...like I'm in trouble. I start to cry, for real, tears and everything mostly from the pain of my headache. She says, well I think we should go to the hospital, not very willingly, but I'm crying. She gets an Ulpan car and takes me right away. We arrive about twenty minutes later at the hospital, well the main Clinic for the area, just like a hospital. I get seen pretty quick by a nurse, go over the basics, all fine. She sends me to the doctor's office. We wait a bit and see him, he listens to my lungs and my symptoms. He then orders for me to have X-rays of my nose and lungs. I go to another floor and get my X-rays, and wait for the results. They are in Hebrew, and in Doctor. We can't read what they found, but they found something. We go back to the Doctor, he says, just as I thought. You have a Sinus Infection and Pneumonia in your left lung. Take this two meds, you'll start to feel better in a few days and come back in a month to have X-rays again to make sure your fine.

#8

Diagnosis: Pneumonia and Sinus Infection

Treatment: Antibiotics 650m

WOW...

On the way back to the kibbutz, I say thank you to the director for taking me. She says, well to tell you the truth, I feel guilty about this. You really are sick. Next time to feel really bad, make sure to cry...

I go back to my room to rest, she has someone bring me lunch. GI #2, come to my room in the mean time. She says, she owes me an apology for yesterday morning and she is sorry, but you have been sick for a month...

Great, thanks...I say, very sleepily.

Well after a few days and no one yelling at me, I feel much better. My headaches have gone away, I only blow my nose a few times a day and my coughs are decreasing...well not after walking. I still have trouble breathing after walking...but its getting much better. I am starting to feel like myself again...lets see how I feel in a few more days.

Oh man, I love Israel! I really am going to like this in a few years...

לשכת גיוס (IDF Recruiting Office)

I'm on my way to being a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, צבא הגנה לישראל, IDF.

My first step in joining the IDF is to:
1. Get a draft letter, a year after my Aliyah
2. Go and sign up before a year.

So I went with Option number 2. לשכת גיוס


I left early in the morning and reported to the office in Haifa, my local branch. I was with another Ulpan member and we went together. We got to the front, a line to get into the building. We gave the guard our Tudet Zahut, ID Card, and they entered it into the computer and gave us a temp army card.


*OK, so I am thinking this is just a trip to talk to a guy in a office for 20min, tell him we want to go sooner than we get our draft papers, he takes our info and we leave.


They told us to go to a room on the 3rd floor. Not too much info... Well we get up there and see about 15 people waiting outside the room with about 20 desks, all already full. We find out that we have to scan our temp card onto the computer just outside the door. I pop as number 18 in line. Great, seems like it should go fast... Well after about of an 1:30min, I get called into the room and sent to one of the 20 desks. I wait about another 20 mins for a soldier to show up. She first speaks to me only in Hebrew and refuses to speak English. I have no clue what is going on now. I could speak enough Hebrew to get through all the personal questions about my ID and general family info. I think this is it, but I wanted to speak english to make sure I said everything right, because she was giving me a funny look. She says she can't speak English to me, but I don't understand. She goes and gets her boss and then the women over comes over and speaks to me in Hebrew, almost quizzing me on my understanding of Hebrew and leaves after a 5min conversation. Then I wait about 20min for my soldier that was interviewing me. She comes back and says we can talk in English now. We go over my family info and I guess she was looking at me funny because I guess I said that my brother was dead. This is a big deal because, if you have a dead sibling and are then the only child, your choices in the Army are greatly reduced, no front line units. Well we finish the info about me and I think I'm done.


My soldier leaves for about 10 mins and then comes back and starts asking me Hebrew questions. I have no clue why at this point, but it turns out that this is now my Hebrew Test to enter the IDF. So much for just a visit to tell a guy that I want to join early... I begin to think that this is going to take a lot longer that I expect. I see a female soldier I know, she is the girlfriend of a guy in my ulpan and her sister lives on my kibbutz. She tells me not to worry, that all of this is standard of English speakers in Ulpan. Good.


Then another soldier comes and asks me more hebrew test stuff. Then the other soldier comes back to finish the test. It went really bad, I hardly understood what I was reading and writing, but I could read well and I could speak very basically. After the test, she asks me if I have ever learned another language. I said I learned German for four years of High School credit and two years worth of college credit. I said that I could read it and know very little of what it was saying and that my speaking was very basic. I hope this will not become a mistake later on in my service....???


We finish everything, as I think, she tells me that I need to go to room downstairs and go my pee test. I walk down the stairs, then she comes running after me and takes me about to her desk. She forgot to have me sign a paper and fill out a psycho questionnaire...This was the weirdest thing I had to do the whole day. Questions like to you feel different that others? Do you ever experience a gay mood, feel Happy for more than a day or two? Not Gay, Happy, very old questionnaire. The thing was that most of the questions seemed negative and you could answer, Never, Rarely, Sometimes, or often. I signed the office draft agreements. I can be called up now anytime, I can't leave Israel for more than 3 months, I will take an IQ test...ect.


Then I leave and go and take my pee test. 5 min quick and I was giving a medical sheet with an OK for the pee test and sent to another room. I go in the room they do blood pressure, height, and weight. They asked about my eyes, I told them I have glasses and contacts... well the eye doctor is not there. I have to come back another time or get an official eye exam at my own expense and fax it to them. Then they send me to the medical doctor. Guess what? A big line, all the same people in front of me in the first line. While waiting I find out that we get a free sandwich. Yay, the first thing I get to eat all day. I wait another hour and get called into the doc's office. They do a quick physical and ask about my past medical history and anything that could limit my service. It took about 20 mins. Now this is where I should have got my profile for duty. *Profile is how the IDF sees what you are fit to do in service. 97 being the highest number and what I hope to get. Well I don't get a profile because I still need to do my eye exam. My eye sight should not hurt my score, but I am disqualified from being a pilot, which I can't go anyways.


Then they send me to another room to have my IQ test. I wait for 45 mins and then get called into to do the test on a computer. They explain it to me. Time limit and shapes... It was really crazy, a bunch of patterns with shapes and I had to pick which shape I thought would be next. It was very hard and I didn't get to the last two questions...yikes... Well they don't tell you how you did, because as they said to my friend they want to be nice and not tell you if your dumb. After this they tell me I'm done with all the processes and that in a few weeks or months I will be contacted by the IDF to get what jobs I'm qualified for and what I would like to do in the IDF. btw, I don't know yet, what I want to do...


*Point of Info: Most soldiers in the IDF are 18-21. Most of the soldiers working at לשכת גיוס are female about about 20.


Well I wait for another hour for the other guys from my Ulpan I'm with. It is now six hours later. I only had a shitty sandwich and nothing to drink and I only slept four hours the night before, because of the Broncos game. I am still sick btw, so this day hasn't been very nice to my body. I have a killer headache and want to get some sleep. Now I'm not the biggest fan of the other guy I'm with and now I have to travel back to the kibbutz with him. Not my idea of fun.


Well it takes about 1:45 mins to get back, bad traffic.


I went to bed at 8pm til midnight, woke up for a few hours, and then slept until I was very ruedly awoken at 7:30am. Oh NO! I and my two roommates totally slept though three alarm clocks and we forgot that we had to be at the dining room at 7am because the whole ulpan was leaving on a bus to Tel Aviv at 7:30 for a tour of a museum.


Well more later, hope you enjoyed my first army experience.