And they're OFF...

December 12

After a very long day three weeks ago I finally arrived at the army base which would be my pseudo-home for many upcoming days. There were a lot of buildings, a lot of tanks, and a lot of sand. Some people were giddy, others in shock…I was plainly taking it all in.

We didn’t sleep much that night after doing necessary paperwork which included requesting which part of the tanks we wanted to be in. My last choice was the one I received, which was strange because I had been “guaranteed” otherwise to be with the two other Garin Tzabar members that I knew. This put me into the shick phase for some brief moments because I was now officially a lone soldier, knowing nobody.

The first week we spent doing random things, learning how to stand correctly, make our rooms, orderly, and how holy time really is in the army. However, it was hard for me to really “enjoy” much because I was focusing my attention on moving to be with two other guys instead of trying to make new friends. By the end of the week I hadn’t yet been moved but was given an opportunity to speak in Tel Aviv to high school students and the mayor about Aliyah. I realized within the week that Aliyah was no longer what it had been at the kibbutz, but a real-life deal with hard moments. I was able to spend Thanksgiving with Allison and Justin and the weekend at the kibbutz clearing my mind. It was time to get back to the grind and enter week two.

It started off with being late (never good in the army), falling and opening up a large, deep cut on my hand on thorns, and sitting in the infirmary wondering why I chose what I was doing. I was…doubting myself. How had I let these negative thoughts enter my mind? I said to myself that the next day I was starting from scratch, no joking this time. The plan worked wonderfully. Everyone found it funny the way I spoke Hebrew (I guess I don’t blame them) and I took the role I thought I would – the spirit-lifter. Anytime anyone would seem tired or depressed, I’d say hi, smile, and get the “David!” screamed in their stereotypical Israeli accents. I would say, “Wake up guys! We are guarding the land of Israel today!” I was giving the moving idea second thoughts.

At the end of the week we received our personal weapons (M-16 m-4) and camped out for two nights. We began learning how to fire them and experience what it’s like to put tents up in the cold and attempt to sleep in those conditions, too. Also we started the mental training of what it’s like to hardly eat anything, get close to no sleep, and still be asked to do all of the physicality of the training. We did our first Masa, journey, of 3 kilometers, a build-up of distance until the big one at the end of all of the training. I was so-so on my M-16, but it felt strangely exciting to have my own gun, even if the responsibility was up there as one of the tops in my life.

We finished the week with a לילה לבן, lilah lavan (“White Night”) where we basically stayed up until 6 AM without prior knowledge doing a lot of random cleaning and pushups. I had more importantly made the decision that I didn’t come to do this for anyone but myself and I was going to stick it out. On Shabbat I realized how right of a decision that was, as spending it on the base made us all much closer. It was quickly on to week three.

We spent almost every hour of it camping out and working on the firing range again. This time was a little different – less food, colder, but actual practice on targets and various styles of shooting. Sure I was exhausted and hungry – but I looked at what I was doing and I was genuinely having a good time. I was even making my commanders laugh behind the scenes with my enthusiasm and yelling of butchered Hebrew, particularly when I do pushups on the side. The other guys and I had a great relationship – I give a positive attitude all the time, laughs, and maturity and they give Hebrew help and friendships. It felt and feels pretty great.

The last day in the “shetach” as it’s called (meaning campground or area) had us practicing something and somewhat realistic – running 100 meters, crawling 10, then another 90 (all with our vests and helmet and gun) then firing four shots from 50 meters…and all within one minute and 45 seconds. This whole week made me begin to feel like the Israeli soldier I was coming here for in the first place. We closed out the week with a 4.5 kilometer masa and a lot of laughs together. Having an American name has made me (in)famous throughout the whole base, especially how I always scream in Hebrew. I even have gotten the generals to crack a smile here and there.

The first three weeks are in the books. My body is continuously sore, I have layers of dirt on my hands I don’t think will ever leave, and I eat anything I get my hands on as if I have never eaten in my life. But there is something the army teaches you which is really neat to see transform and that is that there is a switch you have in your brain that lets you shut out everything except the task at hand. And with that, the army also has taught me to appreciate everything even more – the little food I get, the hours of sleep I receive, and the personal time I have to talk with whomever, shower, and just think. The language barrier has been tough and will continue to be. But at this point, I have a new found confidence in my abilities as a basic soldier and I know that will improve along with the Hebrew. The basic training is halfway done, but the life learning is only beginning – just the way I want it to be.