11/21-11/23 bakum and nachal!

11-21

We woke up 5am and made our way to base, I stopepd to meet Baruch , he had papers he printed.for me that say my parents are in the counrty so I can go see them . We took the 650 bus back to base and got to the last station where we met everyone including the commanders around 10. I stood up the whole ride again. No seats !!. We waited there for a while and took a bus to the base . Got there just in time for lunch. Tommorow we have a ceremony for finishing these 3 weeks of doing nothing at Mikeveh Alon. Pretty stupid. We practiced the lineup and marching from 4pm to 10pm. It was probaly the most annoying thing I've ever done. Left right left,  stuff like that just in hebrew.  My family landed in Israel 3pm today. I'm getting off somtime this week to see them for a few days!! We had time to shower like everynight. I had a protein bar someone gave me and went to sleeep. I've never been more tired in my life. I was falling alseep standing today!! Goodnight

11-22

We woke up early again, got ready for the day.  We practiced all day for the ceremony!! Very annoying, I went to the "bathroom" a few times it was that bad. For lunch they set up a last meal for us. It was pretty nice. We practiced the lineup a few more times until the parents show up. It takes around 30 minuts each time to practice. Parents and family finally showed up. Its not an important cermony we are celtbrating doing nothing for 3 weeks. We all lined up marched, said the hatikvah, people got the best soldier award, and that's it. People threw there kumtas in the air like they actualluy did anything so far. Later tht night we had a talk with all our commanders. They told u their names, and about themselvs. We told then what was good and bad about the 3 weeks . Then weere joking around a few peopler impersonated them. It was very funny. We then went to our rooms to shhower and go to sleep . We were all happy we are finally done and can go to our real units .

11-23

We woke up early and reall did nothing all day except eat and sit around. We were all waiting to leave to Bakum. The buses came and we got split up into different groups and made our way there. The second we got there they rushed us off the bus , our temporary commanders started screamin at us. The first thing we have in thew interview with the katzin miyous (decided where you go ) . I want to go to Golani. I was next in line just hoping they give me what I asked for. I walk in salute and sit down . He asked me for my ID #.  They put me in Nachal. I went 3 more times to diffrent guys and they all told me there going to tre and change it overnight. Which is possible but well see what happens tommorow. Most peopple got what they wanted butnot everyone since its picked randomly. We are going to sleeep 11 waking up around 5. Hope they change it.

11-24

I woke up at 5 and we ate breakfast , and sat around for a while and waited. Everyone got a sticker with a number. It means what unit you are going too. I wanted golani. My sticker said otherwise. But I still didn't know. They seprearted us and we waited all day. I went to try to speak to people to change they wouldent let me. I tried so many times but they all say the spots are full which they aren't. So at least I get some red boots. The army also just got a new company boots. There so much better than the old ones. They have arch support and they are nicer. We only got one pair of these , I would of used one fopr the army and one to wear out. So I ended up at the Nahal Base later that day. I wasn't happy at first. The Mefaked likes me also since I know what I'm doing. Somthing funny happend . One of the kids didn't know that you actually have to respect your commanders and listen. So the Mefaked was talking to him and the kid just taps him on the shoulder and says in hebrew" don't worry bro its fine" .The Mefaked was so angry that he touched him but it was soo funny!!  There are a few americans I am with now and the rest from other places. We are sleeping in 14 person huge tents. There actually not as bad as I thought it would be, there is a heater and sleeping bagsn but if you want to charge your phone there is a charging station outside the tents for everyone to chage it. There is a nice shul on base donated by FIDF in Panama. It a really nice builidng. Doesn't fit in witht the base. It is kind of a small base. But the field in the back is huge!! I'm going to sleep. Goodnight.

11-25

We woke up 6:45 on base, he told us last night to be outside 6:00!! Someone walked in the tent and said we had an hour extension, pheww. Today we got some more paper work done . I was also tryng to get off base to see my family. There annoying about it. But I kept asking. We got some equiptment today. Vest, winter coat, brand new knee pads, scavias( reeally warm uncomftorable material blanket) ,2 canteens. That's it for now.
The food on the base I am not liking so far. The only thing I like is that they have whole wheat bread here. We had our Barur (pushup , situp, and 2k(1.2 miles) run test) I always get full on the pushups and situps which is 86 situps and 75 pushups. I can do more but they don't let you. I did the run in 8:40 my best tinm so far, I went from 10:20 to 8:50 now that. We had some food after that. I finally got permission to get off base tonight. I left the base at 8 and had to take a taxi since buses didn't run from the base at that time.
I got the the hotel and saw my sisters and brother, they all ran to me. My father and mother were at a bar. So my dad knew I was coming . My mother didn't. Evryone in the bar knew. I met my dad , went into the bar jumped and sat next to my mother. She got scared and turned away , she though some soldier was trying to pick her up. She look again and saw. It was me . Everyone in the bar weas so happy and so was she. It was a good plan hehe! I stayed there for a while and got back to the hotel later on and went to sleep 630am after being up for 25 hours!!

11-26

I woke up at 8 after 2 hours of sleep, had a sick breakfast in the apartment. We left to tel aviv for the day to go to a lot of different shops, forgot the name of the area.  I didn't get anything but food obdviousle, but was ewith my family ther whole time so its fine. We gotback to jerusalem just intime for shabbat. Me and my dad went to the kotel to pray. When we walked back , we walkd threough the jewish quarter I showd him where I slept during my aish prgram, and walkd back to the hotel . Took around 30 minutes ( dad was out of breath Hahah) . We had dinner with the bar mitvah trip, and then hunout in the lobby. I stayed there witha friend all night until 3am and went to sleep.

11-27

I woke up 12 just intime for lunch. It was the sebet by the hotel. We ate there and they spent the rest of the day with my family in the park. After shabbat we packed and went to eat before my family leaves. Good restuyraunt nextr to the hotel that we ate at by my bar mitvah trip 6 years ago. We ate and Isaid bye to my family and got in a cab to go to my apartment. I oragnized all my things and go ready for tommorw. Back to base.

11-28

I woke up at 7 and got ready to go to base. I got on the bus to the central station and then from jerusalem to be'er shevah . From there I have to go meet all the soldiers. and mefakdim at another station and from there we go to our base when everyones there. It only took aroun 2 hours to meet them. Today on base we didntr really do anything besides more paperwork and a hebrew test to see if you get help in you classes. I will probably. This is just trom tironut , so we don't do anything until sunday really. Going to get some more sleep. Goodngiht

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 I woke up and made breakfast for the first time in so long. We then went to pick up bed frames for our apartments. Now my room actually looks normal. We met up with a friend and had lunch by his house he also had the new Call of Duty game. It was fun to play. I felt at home . I went back to the apartement 4 and realized it was still dirty so I sweeped and moped the floors . I'm cleaning it little by little until its perfect. We made dinner for later . Its a lot of work having your own apartmernt, laundry, dishes, cleaning, making food. Pheww. My family is coming to Israel Sunday for a week. Can't wait to see them.

Saturday we woke up at 12 and had breakfast and relaxed in the apartment all day and ate. Now I'm. gong out for alittle bit I have to be up 5 tommorw to go to base.

last day at mikveh alon

11-18

We woke up 3am to get all of our things ready to go to Jerusalem. We had to clean up, pray , eat breakfast take care of a few things and we left to Jerusalem at 6.
We got there around 9 and  already started having tourists taking pictures with us.
We had a tour guide take us around the old city in the Jewish quarter where I lived two months prior to starting the army.

We finished that around 12 and they finally gave us lunch after we had an hour to go to the Kotel and more pictures with tourists.
My friend and I snuck upstairs to get shwarma since they didn't get enough food and were still hungry.

Afterwards we went to Yad Vashem and that was very interesting.
There are rooms you walk through and each room is leading to the next part of the war.

The most interesting thing was the last room.
It was a circular room and  you walk in and look down there is just a hole and a small pond.
And around your are hundreds of books filled with names of the people killed in the Holocaust. The hole represents 2 million names that were found yet.

People walk out of there crying and it was a good experience to be there though.
We didn't get a chance  to see everything but I'm planning on going back

We then found out the rest of the names of people that got into tzanchanim. Two my friends. If I was staying for 2 years I would of got in, but I signed on for 14.5 months

We then went to the bus station to go home. I got caught on my phone after the time were suppose to sleep so I had to stay an extra hour after along with 20 other people until we can leave.
We got off 30 minutes early.

I got to my apartment and waited for Gabe and Coby. We bought some food for the apartment and now we can eat!!

I went out with a few friends for a little bit now I'm home and up for 24 hours already and going to sleep.

Sports Day

We woke up at 440am and had to bring all of our equiptment outside to return it since we are out of this place in a few days and we agree moving to our units. 
We didn really do anything today except run around alot.
Later we had a speech from a guy who's son died in the second lebanon war, it was mostly in Hebrew .


Then at 6 we started sports day. . It was our group of 60 and 2 other groups of 60. Consisted of basketball, soccer, tug of war , pushups contest (but only when they say go down so its much harder) then sprinting. I played in basketball but not for too long. Our group lost that. Our group also lost soccer. 
Now for the stregnth we had tug o war. The first round we beat the 3rd team . Second round we beat the 2nd team and third round we beat the commander. 7 on each side . I was in the front of the line. My hands got cut up. it took so much stregnth but was worth it. We won that. We then had the pushups contest, our group one with chaim doing 120 pushups within under 20 minutes not being able to drop once it looked so hard, I didn't particitpate in that since I did the tug o war. Now for the spriniting, I was going to do it since I'm as fast as all the etheopians, but they went instead and our group won. We won all the stregth games. So ewe technicallyt won everything. It was actually a veeryy fun day. We have a while to eat and be in bed 8:30 we are going to jerusalemn tommorow.

Barur

We woke up at 4am and started our barur, I got the max pushups(75), max situps(86) and I didn't run I wasn't in the mood plus is doesn't count for anything. We had "breakfast" after and I ate nothing really. We found out we were going on a trip today I didn't even know. We left and the first place we went to is a tank base farther up north. We saw a small demonstration of the tanks shooting. T
he first round shot was so loud, everyone jumped back. It was crazy and unexpected. We learned a few things about the tanks and made our way to the next base. We went to a old base that they don't use anymore. It overlooks Syria and Lebanon. Its only a few kilometers away. Syria has a dam full of a lot of water they take the walls of the damn down if Israel sends tanks so it floods the whole area and the tanks can't come in. We ate lunch there and went to farther up north to small Golani base on the Syrian  border. It the 13th brigaede in Golani and they watch the border all the time. They have APC's ( armored personnel carriers) they are heavily armored like tanks , they carry 11 soldiers and the new ones have AC/Heating. There are camera around the whole tank . The top machice gun is controlled by a joystick like in video games.
( See I knew the army was like a video game) . 
They have a force field on them, and they cost a lot of money, not sure how much. They demonstrated for us how quick they can get ready if there is a war. It took under 3 minutes to be in the APC and ready to go. We left after that to go home. We got back around 6 and did some workouts. We had dinner after and again, no protein... We had some lessons on how to pick up an injured person and then went to our rooms to shower and go to sleep. 
We have to be up 440 am . 
We have a whole day of sports , should be fun. Goodnight

11/13-11/15

11-13

We woke up at whenever we wanted for once, we had to go to lunch at 12 , lunch was not like last night dinner but it was good. We went back to the room after and rested all day. We had to be ready at 6:00 in work uniform. Everything had to be clean. We went to the court to do some workouts. We started with like 80 pushups in sets (easy) then when everyone was doing pushups I said " on the knuckles" and the mefaked said no, I like making things harder. So he made me stay sitting in the air with my legs 90degrees and gun in the air. It was hard but fun. Then we did some ab workouts. Right after we had dinner, nothing great. We then had a long speech with one of the top commanders on base. He told us about himself and just wanted to ask if anyone had and questions. Then we had another lesson on guard duty, and what to do if the siren goes off. We have to be in outside in uniform, with full equiptment in 7minutes ready. We got some time to shower. We are convinced they are waking us up so were all ready. I have guard duty from 2-4am , patrolling the whole base. Guard duty was horrible.

11-14
I only got 2 hours of sleep. I have off today until Tomorrow afternoon to take care of some things. I left 7 to 8 am to Jerusalem and got there around 12. I went to the orange store with Moshe and I needed bank papers to switch the bill.  So that was a waste of the day. I went back to the apartment and showered, I can finally take a normal shower alone. I did all my laundry, 3 loads, I used dishwasher soap since I didn't have any regular yet but it worked fine. I went on the computer and checked all my personal things for a few hours and waited for coby and gabe to come home. We did the dishes and cleaned up little bit and went to sleep.

11-15

I woke up at 8am refreshed. Since we don't have clean water I boil the water the night before and put it in the fridge. I washed up and went straight to the bank to fill out the paper for Orange (the phone company) after that we went to the Katzin Hair , they give us papers saying we are lone soldiers. I went to the orange store alone after which is all the way back at the house. They made me wait 45 minutes before taking me. I have to be back on base at 2pm. Its 11am and takes 4 hours to get here so I'm already late. They took care of my bill and activated international calling so I can call people outside of the country finally. I went back to the apartment, and found out I have an extension to be back at base 6:30. So we relaxed little bit and made a list of things we need to buy for the apartment. Its long. We left to the bus station 2, (I said we should leave 130 so we don't miss the 230 bus but no ones listens) we got there 235 and missed the bus. We had to wait an hour for the next one so we got some food. The next bus came and we just made it on the bus it was full we were the last 3 people on sitting on the front steps. I stood up the whole ride until some people got off. We ended up by the base at 7:30!! We didn't get in trouble or anything , but well see tomorrow. We have a barur(running , pushups and situps test) but I don't know if it counts for anything. Waking up at 4am for it but I'm not tired now so I can't sleep.

Shabbat onbase

11-12

We woke up at 5am got into line up. First we prayed and ate breakfast. I'm learning to like plain hard boiled egg whites. We then each had an interview with the katzin miyun (they decide where you go in the army) so we all chose 3 unit options that we want. I put 1.Golani 2 .Nachal 3.Givati. We then had to run around base and do the usual sprint,  pushups and more. We had to clean our rooms, mop the floors , clean the showers and bathrooms perfectly. We just finished having a speech and the commander threw a rock (grenade) and we all had to run, but instead I picked it up and threw it back..ahahah I got in a lot of trouble for that. everyone was worked out, and I had to run around the building and do smochooms,(pushup , stand jumping jack and back down ) a lot. Then I had to do planks and shoulder pushups legs 90 degrees on the wall. I enjoy it for some reason. Then we had lunch. No one was allowed to go to the shop to buy stuff because of me. Oops.

 We then had a long speech with all the commanders and the MM . He told us all how we were all very bad this week and we don't do anything ontime.he called out a lot of people that did things bad and gave them punishement. Like shabbat on base next week, or going home and hour or 2 late. I didn't get anything somehow hehehe. We have to all stay here for shabbat anyways. They have meals for us and its time to relax we don't have to do anything except show up to meals in uniform. We had dinner on base. I thought it would be the same thing we usually have. We walked in and it was 20 tables set up nicley with table clothes and bread on each plate. We had waiters and a 3 course meal. Never would of thought we an get that on the base for shabbat. Now I don't mind staying on base so much. Now were back in the room, we actually have time to talk to eachother.

11-13

We woke up at whenever we wanted for once, we had to go to lunch at 12 , lunch was not like last night dinner but it was good. We went back to the room after and rested all day. We had to be ready at 6:00 in work uniform. Everything had to be clean also. We went to the court to do some workouts. We started with like 80 pushups in sets (easy) then when everyone was doing pushups I said " on the knuckles" and the mefaked said no, I like making things harder. So he made me stay sitting in the air with my legs 90degrees and gun in the air. It was hard but fun. Then we did some ab workouts. Right after we had dinner, nothing great. We then had a long speech with one of the top commanders on base. He told us about himself and just wanted to ask if anyone had and questions. Then we had another lesson on guard duty, and what to do if the siren goes off. We have to be in outside in uniform, with full equipment in 7minutes ready. We got some time to shower. We are convinced they are waking us up so were all ready. I have guard duty from 2-4am , patrolling the whole base.

First day on the shooting range

11/11

Woke up at 4am not knowing what kind of day we have ahead of us.

We started off by getting dressed with all of our equipment, including the combat vest. We walked a while to the shooting range.

At first our commanders made us roll, crawl, jump down, get back up and more on hard rocks that cut you and hurt but its fun.

Then whenever they throw a rock (grenade) everyone has to run and dive for cover. So I threw one for fun and everyone dove excerpt for me so I got in trouble (just like HS)  and I had to  stay in masav shtiim (pushup positions) for a while but I enjoy it for some reason.

We did masav shtiim a lot today

We barley had any food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There wasn't enough food for all the people and for all the working out we are doing our bodies require more protein but they don't really care. Plus I don't eat dairy so if their is protein its usually cheese.

At the range I shot 4 separate times, getting better each time and one night shot that was pretty cool. The whole day we only shot around 20 to 30 bullets each.

The first time shooting in the army wasn't so bad The old long M16s that we are using, have iron sights, a lot of recoil, they are heavy, and they look like they were used in Vietnam.  

We then had a speech about guard duty and what we do during the time, no eating, no phones, no sitting, no talking.

You can only stand and guard for 2 hours at a time. We walked back to the base finally. Now the day gets even worse, wiith my legs already dead…

We ended up having to walk to every checkpoint on the base so we know the spots where that we have to guard, It took over 2 hours on an empty stomach with no water, just when you think its over..you keep walking more, my legs are already dead from the gibbush and running all day.

I just think of getting to the end so I can buy my ice cream that I wanted all day, I was too tried to even talk at this point we have been up for 20 hours in a row.

They gave us an hour break to do our personal things. I got my ice cream finally (its the only food you can get at 12am on base from the machine) . There’s  a list of who is doing guard duty, I'm not up until tomorrow night at 8-10pm I think in one of the closer spots on base!! Its perfect, and when we have guard duty we get over 8 hours of sleep. So I get the full amount tonight. Surprisingly I have no blisters on my feet, I usually would. I guess my feet are getting used to abuse and my shoes are finally fitted right.

22 hour day!!! I'm going to get all the sleep I can. goodnight

Week 2

Week 2

11-8

We woke up at 4 and got ready for the gibbush. We needed to bring our whole kitbag. We ate shtach (field) food in the parking lot for breakfast. We have 4 buses full of people from this base doing the gibbush. We took the bus to the base in Tel Hashomer. The same base where all the army testing was done in the beginning

 This base happens to be huge. We ran a 2k run on sand, up and down hill too determine what group we will be in tomorrow. I got the run in around 9:05 I think. The Ethiopians are always in front doing it in 6 or 7 minutes. We got to have dinner and go to sleep early around 9pm we were all sleeping. I had the extremely hot US army issues sleeping bag and my sound poof headphones. We were all in tents and of course my tent happened to be the one with no lights.

11/9

They told us we can't leave our beds until 3:10am and we have to be ready and dressed at 3:15am, and then gave us only 5 minutes. We drank 2 canteens of water (3 Liters) which is actually pretty hard and had an apple.

We were separated into our groups of around 20 people. I happened to be in a group with a few guys I already know. We were all given tags with a number on them. So we started off the guibbush with sprinting. 20 seconds to go around the bag and back. They give you these impossible times to do things just so you push harder. We did sprints for 30 minutes straight in order to drain all the energy out of us.  

After that we had to crawl under some wire, back and forth for a while, we are all dripping sweat and cold at the same time since its early AM. We did crawling for around 20 minutes. Now we took the stretcher and put 7 sandbags on it to make it a total of 160 pounds I think. We did more sprints first.4 people back take the stretcher  and go on another lap.

They like to see who is going to push more. That was for another 30 minutes. We then did an exercise that we had to keep our legs in the air while lying down. This wasn't hard for me. We had to then talk about something for 30 seconds not anything that has to do with yourself or politics. Just saying something random will do.

We were then placed in formation and were told to close our eyes. The commanders moved us around and said to find our place without opening your eyes and not saying names or numbers. The last thing was a march with the 2 stretchers. We walked, ran, walked, ran, until the end.

We got outside the gates and were told us its over. It wasn't even hard and I barley tried since I didn't want to be in this unit anyway. We got to shower after and wash all the dirt and sand off of us and changed into whatever we wanted.

We had lunch finally at 12 we were all so hungry. Later on we went back to the base and slept on the ride there. Back at the base we learned more about how to use our M16 since we are going shooting tomorrow. We have to sleep with this gun this week its not that bad, it puts an incline on the mattress like those beds you see on tv ,same thing. We have an hour break now then we are going to sleep.

11/4-11/6

11/4

Woke up late today that means we are getting punished so of course we got punished for masav shtaiim, the usual. But it is easy for now.

Then we went to shaharit and since we were on time and had some spare time we had to sprint back and forth. From one place to another

 It’s been very easy for me even though my foot is swollen from my tight boot. We all returned our guns, which took two hours and had to run in and out of formation a many times until they were ready to take the guns back.

Every place we go to we are timed, even if it is down the block. We always have 30 minutes to eat and that is timed as well

We were shown a short film on people that have been killed in Israel, in car accidents and other ways unfortunately.

We then had a 2-hour course on what was good about this week, what was bad, what they can improve and what we need to do,

 We made the commanders laugh a lot they couldn’t hold it in. After the class we were in formation for a while and then we all showered with too many guys in one bathroom!! We have to be up 445 tomorrow. We are leaving to go back home for the weekend. Long week, which was mentally challenging but not physically.
11/5

We woke up at 4:15Am we had to be shaved, dressed in our off base uniform (Madim Alef) and have out boots polished and be outside at 5AM.

We lined up and got a few rules for off base like wearing your uniform until you get home and every two months in the army you have a day off to take care of personal things its called Yom Siddurim.

They then told us whoever has the gibbush for tzanchanim (test for paratroopers) has to be by the bus station at 10am Sunday morning and whoever doesn't has off that day and has to be there Monday.

We went home for the weekend.

Some things I like so far, the bathrooms and rooms always have to be cleaned and mopped I have some ocd so it helps me. I barley have any laundry to clean. Everyone has to shower at night.

I just got on the bus with all the other new soldiers. We get on for free from now on!!

I might just take buses for fun now.. I'm on the 2 and a half hour ride to Jerusalem. The bus is full so I'm trying to sleep on the floor with a few other guys using my water bottle as a pillow, which is not so comfortable.

I woke up 2 hours later on the floor. I waited for Coby and Gabe to come to the station to eat since we took different buses. We got back to the apartment and unpacked all of our clothing and new stuff the army gave us. I got a call from the lone soldier center; they got us 2 mattresses and a microwave. They help us out with everything.

We went to go buy food for Saturday lunch , went home and got ready for dinner. We went to the Jerusalem Great Shul. The lone soldier center has meals for chayalim bodedim and there were a lot of people there.

On the way back home we passed by the Gilad Shalit tent.

His family sits there everyday and night; there is a live timer of how long he's been in captivity. People come and visit the tent all the time. They were having dinner as we walked by. We saw Gilads father and he looks so sad and  its very sad to see.

I got home and everyone was lazy and tired. My OCD kicked in I stayed up until around 1am from 11. I organized all the closets cleaned all shelves, cleaned all dishes and pots, and organized them nicely. Made everything in place now the apartment is picture perfect, like nothing is wrong with it. Everything is straight. It looks like an professional advertisement almost. I went to sleep right after well see my other roommate’s reaction in the morning.

11/6

I woke up at 12, finally got a good night rest. I made lunch for everyone and I organized the apartment some more. Its great being able to sit on our couch and not worry about anything. We stayed home today since Shabbat was over 530 anyways. I do the dishes, my own laundry and fold it, organize everything in the apartment, clean all the closets and floors. It’s kind of a change for me.

Cobys cousin came and stocked up the house with plates, bowls, glasses, and other things we needed. I'm starting to feel at home in the new apartment. We invited people over tonight to see the apartment. We have to go to sleep. waking up at 7 to start out second week at mikveh alon.

Aish Machal Video!!!

So they finally put the video of our progran up, its a great video. MUST WATCH

Enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNb6yHx9Fis&feature=player_embedded
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Our Apartment

3 Rooms, 2 Full Bathrooms, Living Room, Den, Kitchen With Fridge and Freezer, Microwave, Washing Machine, Big Hallway , and now its pretty ogranzied I'm not done yet.
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First Day Off Waiting For The Bus.. Not Such A Clear Picture

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Michveh Alon 10/2

I woke up pretty refreshed but not fully. Basically for now we run around taking out all of our equipment from our rooms out and bring it back and forth. It's a way for us to learn hpw to follow orders.
I barley got sleep last night, and my right foot is killing me, since that boot doesn't fit but the other one does. The doc said give it a week to stretch out before I run. I just walk around with my boot untied for now.
We are at Michveh Alon learning all the basics of the arm for the next 3 weeks before the real basic training starts and you are put into your units.
My work uniform is too small and uncomfortable and we spent time walking around the base and learning its surroundings.
I signed up for the Gibbush Tzanchanim...(Test to get into paratroopers) I'm doing it for fun though I don't want that unit.
 We are also gettin temporary guns for the 3 weeks. Long M16's, no bullets,  there very annoying to carry around but we have to get used to having a gun with us at all times.
We have an hour to shower and do whatever we want then we have to be outside in formation
Of course we were woken up  just woke us up for a firedrill..in Hebrew and I didn't realize what it was but now I know.

11/1/10 DRAFT DAY

I woke up 5:00AM , after only 3 hours of sleep.  I took my laundry that was half dry from outside and packed the stuff I needed in my hiking bag. We left the apartment around 6 and walked to the bus. (I'm only going for the free bus rides that the army provides hahah)

So excited, I hope I brought everything I need. I packed white shirts, boxers, sock, sweatshirt and pants to sleep in, toiletries, and some random things.

We’ll see what the day has in store for us. We got to the central bus station in Jerusalem and bought breakfast. We caught the 6:40 bus and sat in the back.

 We happened to be sitting in from on people from an organization that helps lone soldiers. They took our information down. I prayed on the bus and tried to get a little rest.

So what it looks like is right now I am signing on the army for 14.5 months. I'm going to take the gubbushim (tests) for the more elite Special Forces units that require a longer amount of time for fun though. I just like the workout so why not.

You don't have to sign if you pass.

We got to Tel Hashomer where we wait for the bus to take us to the Bakum (induction center) down the block then later on to Michveh Alon up north where I will be for the next 3 weeks.

 I like it at the Tel Hashomer base. We know everyone here because AY from Aish has connections. We get to cut all the lines and don't need papers to get in, almost like the first day of school. Everyone knows us and it’s a lot of fun here.

The lone soldier center is here helping out with everything. We thanked all the people here that helped us as well.

Baruch and AY gave us one last speech before we got on the bus. We took pictures and everyone is so happy. The bus left and we all waved to our new "family" (Baruch and AY) people threw water on the bus and it took off.

We are on the way to the Bakum to finish all the testing.. First we went to go eat lunch. We walked in the room and there was so much food and all of It was good. Schnitzel, hamburgers rice, peas, butterfly fries, garlic bread, falafel and all salads and more. It was so good.

They’re just giving us a taste of what we are not going to have for a while I guess.

I'm here with all my guys from Aish.

We were each given 12 stickers with our information on it, one for each station. All the stations are in a regular building, nothing special.  

We went to the first station to take pictures for our ID cards.

Station 2- We then went into the next room it was two girl soldiers taking a picture of your teeth. Rushing you with no patience and they were just not nice lol.

We then got to the fingerprint and body picture room. The finger print every possible part of your hand, take a picture of you and you sign your name. After that there was a room where you have your teeth X-rayed that took 2 seconds.

Then we all had a quick interview again, asking us where we live., if we have family here etc and these people were nice and not grumpy.

 People were like panicking, they thought it was another Hebrew test, but actually if they do see that your Hebrew   isn't good enough they will send you to do a quick Hebrew test and if you fail you have to delay your draft 3 months to learn Hebrew. So I advise anyone reading this to practice Hebrew.  

We then went to go get our shots. So many people were scared because we hear that the girl just stabs you and doesn't look. First was the finger prick DNA test. They stick your finger and use the blood as finger paint to draw circles on cardboard. The next to shots were in the arm and then on top of the shoulder and the next in the side of the shoulder. You don't even feel them.

But she does just stab you quickly. I found out the shots are for tetanus shots and meningitis. We then went to the next station, which was another interview.

 They asked questions about money and what we need. I then went upstairs to fill out a form at the next station to see if  I had any recent medical changes or if I needed to see a doctor now.

I had no issues.

The final and longest station was getting all of our clothes and equipment. We had to wait on line for around an hour. They gave me a bag with random tools, shirts, pants, shoes, winter coat, socks, towels and more. There’s a changing room to try everything on. The shirt and pants fit fine. The shoes were the problem, couldn’t get the right size to fit and ended up leaving with 2 pairs on boots that don't fit perfectly. After an hour and a half of me asking to have boots that fit they "found them".

I got them on and one was tight the other was good, but what can I do.

Since a few of us were the last ones there, the mefaked made us sweep the floors and pick up the garbage.

The Friends Of The IDF supplied all of us with a bag of food, shavers, coffee and more. Thanks for that.

We got all of our bags that we checked earlier in the day and made out way to the bus. All of us have waiting for this for a while. We are all finally in uniform and ready to go.

We are going to a base called Michveh Alon where it all starts for real and I can't wait.

 I slept on the bus and we had a dinner break of course I ate 2 sandwiches and took 1 for later. As soon as we got to Michveh Alon  we started getting told what to do, chet, shloshot ( line with 3 people in each line) , hands behind the back, feet together, running  from place to place, being timed.

Working out all the papers with the masha kitash (social worker).  We then did the same stuff that we did in the beginning, over and over. They gave us 45 minutes off now. I'm on the top bunk with springs that kill my back. They also gave us a lot of equipment, sleeping bag and sheets that no ones uses and you can guess why, a combat vest, coat, 2 work uniforms and bottles for water. We have to get in bed and sleep I have to go.

Great first day in the IDF.

10/22-10/31 and Bakum 11/1

I woke up the next morning and went to my cousins in Herzlia for the weekend.  The second I got there was some home cooked schnitzel!! I bought a calling card (can't make outgoing calls yet on my phone) to call some friends and family. Used all the 84 minutes. It was really good! I was so tired but I stayed up until after dinner, which was good. I watched some TV, fell asleep until 12 the next day.

I woke up and no one was home so I made myself breakfast and like staying home on Saturday because it’s finally a day to relax which I did all day. I then had dinner. More schnitzel and made my way back to Jerusalem. I got here and went out that night with a lot of friends. Fun night.

On Sunday we looked for apartments and places to stay for the week off. We are not sure where yet but we are still looking. I got some dinner and fell asleep until 9:00 and we all stayed in the room and relaxed the whole night.

On Monday morning I went with Gabe to go eat. After that we walked far and found a GYM!!!

We bought a weeklong membership since that's how much longer we would be in town.

We then were walking and realized the Lone Soldier Center is on the same block. We walked in and told them that we need help finding an apartment. They showed us a lot of websites to look and helped us find some.

We called a few guys. One interested us. The listing said 1 bedroom and a living room. We said well check it out. Later on in the day we went to meet the guy and he showed us the room. We walked in and it was sick!!

2 big rooms 1 bed room and 1 living room that we can turn into a bedroom. A kitchen, indoor porch, bathroom, front living room!! We were all sold and for a really good price in a sick location, in the center of Jerusalem. 5 minutes from Ben Yehudah St and 5 minutes from The Old City.

It’s also close to the central bus station. We ended up meeting with the  to do all the paper work with Baruch from Aish who read and explained all the papers for us in Hebrew.

Later we went out and met up with some friends and then we checked out the are around the apartment. We found a brand new kosher American diner!! We did A LOT of walking today. If there is a lot of people in you're way here just scream "marak cham" (hot soup) and everyone moves haha.  I hope the apartment works out. Its 2 am I'm going to sleep now.

I woke up Tuesday morning and we went to go meet the guy for the apartment. We worked everything out and we are hopefully going to sign and move in on Sunday. We have to pay in checks so we went to the bank after to order them. They will be ready Thursday and everything Is happening on such a tight schedule.

 We went to go eat (obviously) and walked to the gym. After the gym Gabe and I walked to the lone soldier center again. We told them what the guy wanted for the apartment and everything about it to make sure we were getting ripped off or anything like that. He also told us some things about the army and unit. Since we are getting drafted next week.

 I went to go see my father’s first cousin that I've never seen before. Then walked back to the room. Jennifer left me chicken and rice from her school right by my bed!!!

Pretty good food today.

After that I went to the dinner by Aish to eat again but my friends from Lev Aharon called me and told me to come to their school. The  school is in Har Noff about a  35 minute ride which isn’t bad. I hung out there all night. Surprisingly our room is neater and cleaner then theirs. They made some bbq and they have a pretty sick gym outside. I want to go there to workout everyday but I'm gone in a week anyways. I left the school around 12:30 and went back to the old city.

Wednesday I woke up at 11 and had a sicccck sleeep.

 I got breakfast and waiting for Gabe to wake up to go to the gym . We ended up leaving here around 5:00pm for the gym I chilled in bed all day before that. We took the bus for the first time to get there and it took us out of the way so we ended up walking more!! We went to the lone soldier center again to ask a few questions then went back to the area. We tried out the American diner called Hollywood Burgers. They have the best burgers I've had in Israel so far. We got back to the apartment at 830. Later on I hung out with a friend for the night. I got some ice cream and went home to sleep.

These days off are very relaxing

Thursday I woke up at 5am to go back to Tel Hashomer for a final interview with the head guy at the army induction base. It took an hour and 30 minutes to get there. I'm on 2 hours of sleep, soo tireed. The interview was simple and basic questions. We also filled out all our lone soldier papers so we can get the benefits we are entitled to.

We ended up being on that base till 1:00 and everyone likes taking their time. I just wanted to go back and sleep already. I ended up getting on the bus at 1:30.The first bus took 2 hours!!

So much traffic and the next bus to Jerusalem another 2 hours!! The city was bumper-to-bumper today I don't know why. I got back finally and my cousin asked me if I wanted food ( do  I?)  I picked up chicken and rice from her room. I slept after that and woke up at 9 just to find out that our apartment deal didn't workout and we have 2 days to find a new one!! We went out tonight ... Had a lot of fun, trying to enjoy my last few days off.

Friday I woke up and walked 1.5 miles to pickup shirts that someone brought me from Brooklyn. Then walked 1.5 miles back. All on an empty stomach and no water. I went to the bank to take out money so I can buy food and they were closed!! So I just had a protein bar back at the room. Shabbat started and we went to Jennifer’s apartment to eat for dinner. We hung out around town for the night and went back home.

We woke up really late on Saturday around 1:30. Went back to Jennifer to eat. They stayed and rested in the room all day. The room right outside where we sleep has the worst smell. Its smells like old rotten tuna and 5 other types of food. We left food in their for a while. Right after Shabbat we went to go look at another apartment. We got there and it was in a boring dead neighborhood. We didn't like it overall. We called another guy and we are going to look at another apartment Sunday morning.

 Tonight is our last night we can be out. We went to Mikes Place to eat and drink. The food was amazing. Steak, 4 tortillas, mashed potatoes , fries, grilled vegetables, 3 dips. We hungout around town the rest of the night and met up with some friends. Now I'm in my room about to sleep . I have to be up early to look at the apartment.

I woke up at 6am Sunday after going to sleep at 3. I couldn’t sleep for some reason. I stayed up until 8 and spoke to my friends in Brooklyn.

At 9:00 we went to go look at an apartment in Talpiot. We got there and walked in. It was Fully furnished, nice floors, clean, 3 rooms , 2 bathrooms and showers, big living room, 2 tv's a lot of big closets. He wanted a reasonable price. We said ok. We took the Hebrew contract so Baruch could translate it for us. We went to the bank after took take out money and we also got our checks. I got something to eat finally.

Then we just chilled around town waiting for him to finish translating the contract for us. We are trying to close the deal by tonight. Otherwise we don't have anywhere to keeep our stuff and live now.

The draft is tomorrow. Everything is being done on a very tight schedule. The contract is fine!! We signed the papers at 5pm and moving in tonight just in time!!

 I'm sooo happy we found a place. Signing the papers for the apartment was such a headache I don't even know where to being. I'm not getting into it.

But we moved in and cleaned up a bit.
Tomorrow we go to Bakum, which is the induction center.

The end of the testing. We get shots, x-rays, pictures, fingerprinted, dog tags, ID cards, a kit bag with random things and our uniforms with some undershirts. Some other things  I’m sure that I probably don't know about and will soon find out.

We are going to get some sleep now its about 1:30 AM. We have a huge day tomorrow. I’ve been waiting for so long for this day.

I can't believe it’s actually here.

Wish Me Luck

Goodnight.