I dream in formation

Well this was quite possibly the longest week of my life. Im not even sure where to start. I think were gonna go with list form.

Things I learned in basic training:

1. זמן זה קודש- Time is Holy. By this, they mean that we better freaking be on time and standing in formation so that we can wait a hour for whatever it is that we are supposed to be doing next. 

2. Akshev is a magic word. Like in "Simon Says" if you do not begin every sentence with "Akshev [insert rank of person you are talking to]" you have to go back and start again. Unlike "Simon Says", if you do this too many times they make you do push ups.

3. When the army doesnt know what to do with you they make you run. When you are going through basic training with a bunch of 18 year old girls, half of them manage to get notes from their doctors saying they cant run. So they do push ups.

4. After a certain point, it is in fact possible to stop caring about things like whether or not food tastes good, whether you and all your clothing stink, whether you are likely to contract a disease from your army issued blanket, and whether you have to shower naked in front of 20 other girls.

5. M-16 A-1's are incredibly cool to look at and incredibly less cool to have to carry around with you all day. Especially when that means that you have to eat, sleep, and yes, shower with it. Oh and more especially when one of your fellow soldiers gets sick and you have to carry (eat, sleep, and shower with) her gun as well.

6. That being said, taking apart and cleaning an M-16 A-1 is incredibly fun.

7. It is very difficult to answer questions you know the answer to in the wrong language. It is also very embarrassing when you ask whether we have murdered (רצחנו?) instead of whether we have washed (רחצנו?).

8. Most 18 year old girls cannot fathom why a 23 year old American would want to move to Israel, much less join the army. They find this especially hard to understand after we have been given 30 seconds to run back and forth to a stump and line up in the rain. 

9. I now know the Hebrew words for all the M-16 parts, all the bullet parts, bullet wounds, tourniquets, all the parts of your leg, and vomit. Oh and that it is a good thing to be a "shpitz".

I couldnt think of a number 10 so at this point I am going to switch back to paragraphs. All in all, I survived my first week and only have a week and a half to go. I am doing better than most of the girls there because I am used to being without my parents, ok with bad food, and mostly, I chose to be there. I also have a better understanding of guns (thanks Abba) and emergency first aid (thanks Ima) than most of them do. That being said, all the Hebrew tends to even things about a bit, but they are all being very nice to me and making sure I understand and know whats going on. They also let me write things on my arm so I can check when I forget. This week was pretty much split between being yelled at, learning the hard way how to stand in formation, cleaning up our bunks, and sitting through classes and lectures. We learned about the history of the army and how it is set up, we learned about the history of the M-16 and all the gun safety laws we need to know. We learned emergency first aid and how to work as a team. We learned all the things we can and cannot wear and do and finally we had an assembly on all the type of jobs we can have. I was given three job options which I requested in this order, 1. Airplane/helicoptor/bomb technician 2. Assistant to an Aluf (like a general) and 3. Creating mulitmedia educational material on how bombs and guns and planes work. My options might change depending on how well I do in BT, but we will see. 

They gave us off for Shabbat which was a much needed break and I am now dreading going back but at least rejuvenated by all the sleep, good food, and phone time (we only get one hour a night to talk on the phone, shower and get ready for bed). Thank god I am doing the lowest BT and only have to do this for 2 1/2 weeks. I dont know how the combat boys do this for 6 months (and they have to run alot more).

Anyway, we are in for the next Shabbat (which I am a little worried about being the only religious girl in my group) so I will not be able to right again until I finish BT. The good news is by then I will know where I am going. Anyway, wish me luck with this next week and I will talk to you all again when I can. Those of you who can call Israel can feel free to call my cell phone and leave me lovely messages of love and support (011-972-54-695-2703)