Live From Israel

So much time has gone by I don’t know what to write about or where to begin.It’s been a crazy time period but now I hope to be more connected with the world.

I guess I’ll give a little background of what the last month of my first year was like and my current status..

December 2013 was probably the hardest month of my entire life. I accomplished tasks I never dreamed of accomplishing. I took on challenges unfathomable to achieve, said goodbye to some amazing friends who unfortunately were let go, switched out from the two most outstanding commanders in all of Tzahal (the army). And yet, the year still culminated in the greatest feeling I have ever felt in my entire life.

It’s extremely difficult to put into words what I’m trying to convey to you right now, but just imagine completing a year you never imagined completing and hearing the words, “congratulations, it’s over!”

Well, my training is certainly not over but there’s no question I’ve finished a very meaningful and difficult part..

On to more exciting things…my cousin got married! I think this was the first time ever my cousin’s entire family (all 10 of them plus spouses and babies) were all in Israel at the same time. It was a huge simcha and although quite separate (men and women) it was lovely seeing my cousin so happy and being able to spend time with the family as a whole. My mom came in special for the wedding, which is always a treat!

A few weeks after that my mom was back in the holy land and brought my dad and Jake along with her. Though I didn’t have a week off like expected, the army was very lenient as usual with me being able to get out and spend time with them. The first Shabbat we spent on Kibbutz with my Garin and host family. The second was spent in Jerusalem slash Masada. My dad had this ridiculous urge to climb Masada (he won’t admit it but he definitely just wanted to prove he could still keep up with Jake…). It’s always fun to have the whole family here but it’s never for long enough.

Three weeks ago I had a week off (my first one that I actually decided to stay in Israel for) which was AMAZING! The first Shabbat off I stayed with some good friends in Givatayim, and starting with that motze shabbat, the party really started. I spent almost every night from Saturday through Wednesday going out with the army girls, which was definitely an experience. From partying, to shopping, to eating, to running, we 100% got our fair share of each other outside of base. It’s quite a different world from hanging out in the army to actual civilian life I must say. But SO fun!

I spontaneously rented a car for 4 days, something I never would have normally thought about doing. But I guess I was craving sitting behind the wheel, so I went for it . The best was finding a place that rented to 21 year olds! So Wednesay I took the car up to kibbutz and took care of a whole bunch of organizational things I hadn’t found the time to take care of. I went to the bank, cashed some checks, opened up a savings account (I feel like such an adult!!). And that night I went out to a nice dinner with my host family which is always fun and exciting.

I picked up the girls from the army the next day and had a picnic then and drove down to another friend’s Beret Ceremony near Ashkelon. We met some friends there and drove all the way back to kibbutz only to meet up with some more friends and drive all the way up to the Kinneret. 250 some odd

kilometers later my friends and I found ourselves on a beach on the Kinneret, making a fire, eating more junk food than necessary and singing along to the guitar. At a reasonable five in the morning we piled into the tent for a two hour nap before watching the sunrise. In the morning we took a little dip in the Sea of Galillee (which was freezing!!!) and then made oatmeal over the fire. Hands down one of the best nights ever!

More shopping before returning to kibbutz for Shabbat.with about an hour to get ready. Classic. Shabbat was very restful to say the least since I hadn’t slept too much on Thursday. But I definitely got some bonding time with one of my best friends, Rami, which had been missing. On Motze Shabbat two boys who were camping with us on the Kinneret came to visit me and Rami (I’m sure you all could take a wild guess why…) and we went out to the fields and made tea over the fire (that’s all we did!) which was very calm and relaxing. In my next post maybe I’ll post on update on these new boys in our lives…

Sunday morning I reluctantly returned to the army. But since we’re in between different levels of our training the next level doesn’t start until next week  and we were kind of without work so to speak.

We basically painted, gardened, organized, washed, ping ponged, and watched a whole bunch of movies.

I was again on Kibbutz for shabbat which was very nice and went to Jerusalem for a friend’s (who is youger than me!) engagement party Saturday night. Still kind of in shock. But it was fun and I’m really happy for her.

This week we had a hiking trip down south. Remember that one time I used to complain about how hard the army was for me? We went from Masada to Sde Boker to Mizpe Ramon for a lovely three day bonding tiyul(hike). And the best part: no commanders!!

I’m currently loving everything about the army but we’ll wait and see how that changes once the hard part starts again. I’m optimistic though! I was able to get out this week to be with my mom who, yes, is AGAIN back in Israel, but for some odd reason I’m still considered a lone soldier and they let me out to see her. Headed back to the army tomorrow to close Shabbat, so Shabbat Shalom to all!

Until next time,

Lainey