Barbara’s Blog

Archive for April, 2009

Gadna

This blog is written terribly with horrible grammar because I had like ten minutes every day to quickly jot down my feelings in my Marley and Me book. This is copied straight from the original stuff I wrote.

Day 1: Arrived after lunch, warm. Divided into groups, ok. Ran around putting bags into tents, tiring. Had to learn orders and commands in Hebrew, hard. Had 15 seconds to get into formations, fast. Got yelled at a lot for no reason, mean. Everything was repeated in English by a student, helpful. Had to change uniforms 6 times because my uniform did not fit, annoying. Got dinner, bad. Uniforms, hats, coats, water bottles, gross! Received sleeping bags and blankets that were on the ground and dirt, EW! Nighttime, COLD!!! Had ceremony, long. (Had to stand the whole time!!L) Got ready for bed, sad. Feelings: Not excited for the rest of the week. Want to go home! Hungary because I did not bring snacks which was stupid!

Had commanders hover over our tents when we went to bed. We were not allowed to talk, was scary and too quite….

Day 2: Woke up 5:15, cold and tired. Packed up everything! (Clothes, sheets, blankets, sleeping bags) stupid and pointless. (Because at night we put everything right back on the beds!) Got ready and met our groups at 5:45, early and rushed. Did exercises, learned stuff, and got on buses, (while running!) fast. Got to open dusty field, huge! Had breakfast, yuck! Went into field and learned tons of crawls, runs, and positions, hard! Got so much dust on us, unbelievable! Worked hard for hours in the sun, hot! Drank little water because no bathrooms or toilet paper, gross! (Honestly? Unsanitary!) No soap in bathrooms at base either! Ate lunch, uneventful. Worked for more hours camouflaging, learning about guns, and running from “bombs” (rocks), painful. Dropped to the floor, rolled and crawled through spiky bushes many times, painful and dusty. Went back to base and had dinner, same as last night. Covered our faces in mud and coal, yucky! Learned more and more exercises, whatever. Had one hour of free time and got to write this, yay! Called mom and told her how much I hate Gadna, cried a little. (It was that bad!) I miss everyone and want to go home! Don’t like this! Why am I here? Got the experience, now I’m done! Starting to question why I’m here! Not looking forward to next few days.

Day 3: Woke up 5:45 and sleepwalked to section formation, odd. (Seriously, I could not remember getting up! Haha) Had breakfast and was the last group to eat, hungry! Cleaned our tents and sheets again, still pointless!! Went to weapon classes, cool but long and boring. Learned about M-16s, awesome! Got to practice our 11 shots with fake guns, exciting. Got yelled at a lot by our commander, weird. Our commander went from nice and chill to strict and mean, MOOD CHANGE!! Had lunch and dinner last, starving!! Worked out by running, doing push-ups, sit-ups, planks, and skipping, tiring! Saw really cute puppies, aawww! Got a stomach ache all day, sucks. Our 3^rd madrich arrived today and we got in trouble for waving (trouble=push ups), mean. Had classes and discussions about Israel, intellectual. Washed my hair in the sink because the communal showers were packed and people were showering nude, yuck! Got pushed by mean Russian girls in the bathroom, wished I knew Russian curse words. Want to warn people next year to take warm clothes, a warm small sleeping bag, (It will be nice and clean), and tons of toilet paper, SERIOUSLY! Braided my hair so it would not tangle and was told I looked like a soldier, not janitor or truck driver like some other people, yay! Took picture, learned some self defense with guns, awesome!! Different ways to hit, jab, punch, and everything! I want to buy a gun now just to hit people with! So cool! Still excited to go home, that’s why I guess they put Gadna before spring break. We are all looking forward to going home. I wished time went faster. Did tons of fun team building activities, fun. My partner, Shaida, was so nice and when we did the falling exercise she caught me! Fun. Many people got sick, one threw up, many sore throats and stomach aches, two people went home, dirty and unhealthy. Since we are near a real army base we see helicopters and hear guns all the time, realistic. (We feel like we really are in the army) Today we heard a huge bomb go off and echo through the whole valley, cool and deafening. (Our officer told us it was a bomb, but it was also unmistakably a bomb.) Basically a good tiring day, looking forward to tomorrow because it’s the last full day and we get to shoot the guns!

Day 4: (best!) Woke up 5:20, ok. Went to breakfast, same as every day. (really! Dry corn flakes, chocolate milk, cucumbers, bread, and jam) Cleaned up tents and packed up everything, annoying and still stupid! Got into lines to “walk” to the shooting range, bad! Was in the back which is the worst and ended up running most of the way, horribly tiring. (It sucks because people in the front stop for a few seconds them everyone else stops, if a few people do that a huge gap is created between the front and back, so the back ends up running a lot!) Our commander got even meaner today, unkind and uncaring. Made us do hard exercises right  after eating, stupid and uncomfortable. Got to shooting range, finally! Had to cover ourselves in mud and write our group name with rocks on the hillside, fun! Got to shoot M-16s, fun but disappointing. (It seems like shooting the guns is the biggest thing and is built up a lot. It was fun but not that amazing, plus no one got a good picture of me! L) Started off shooting well but everyone was going fast and practically done, so I stopped aiming and shot the other 6 bullets, (Out of 11), dumb and stupid! Done shooting and got my target paper, yay! Only shot 3 into the paper (way above the average like 1.5) cool! (many people who did not get any on their papers punched their own, cheating!) Got back to base and did more learning and exercises, boring! (Want to go home now, we are done here!) Had to clean out place where the blankets are kept, gross! (It’s a little shed where the blankets are stored because they are not washed) There were 1200 blankets (since only one group was at Gadna at that time) which were all wet and dusty, disgusting! Got dust in my face and mouth, yucky! Blankets aren’t washed, just folded and placed onto the ground and dirty floor (then back into musty shed). Had lunch and dinner, gross! So many carbs here, all bread, rice, pasta, borekas, couscous, and more. It’s yucky! Everyone has stomach aches! (I guess the army is exempt from any health inspections or standards and any sanitary standards.) No vegetables no fruit! Need calcium, vitamin c! Anything but carbs! Today is April 1^st so I called home and said I want to join the Israeli Air force, April fools!!! Wonder what people at home thought….(feel free to comment mom and dad) Other girls took it to more extremes like belly piercings, pregnant, and amputated finger! Hahaha! Funny stuff! Excited for tomorrow because we get to go HOME!!!! (to school!) SO HAPPY!!!!

Day 5: (Last day, blog got lost so this is just what I remember) Woke up early, and packed our tent up for the last time!!! Yay! Breakfast=boring. Wore our normal clothing underneath our uniforms. Walked to Ben Gurion’s grave for our closing ceremony. Stood there for a while during the ceremony. A few people got awards and certificates. (Really pointless and informal) Most awards were surprising. After the ceremony our group had to run back to camp and work in the kitchen. SO GROSS AND UNSANITARY!!! THEY COULD KILL PEOPLE  WITH THOSE HEALTH STANDARDS!!!! (seriously, the food and cleanliness and pointless tiring of people really changed my views about the army.) Made around 1000 sandwiches. It was a small baguette and then a hot dog. Sometimes there would be a really good baguette or soggy one and all of us would rip it apart and eat it quickly. It was gone in like ten seconds, no joke. We must have eaten like 10 baguettes that way. Then we saw inside the Dining hall there was schnitzel, hummus, falafel, salad, pita, and good food!!! But we were not allowed to eat it. Instead we had to finish making the food, and then carry our blankets, sleeping bags, and mattresses into sheds. Then we had to return our uniforms and then we could eat lunch. (which was just the sandwiches we made) All we were allowed to keep was the hat. L Then we put our stuff on the bus and our commander said goodbye to us. She was nice!!! She told us what a good group we were and how she didn’t mean anything mean. I still think her job is evil, oh well. Then we left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have NO IDEA how HAPPY I was to finally LEAVE!!! Then one hour later we all stopped by a little outlet mall because some people needed to use the bathroom. It was weird because we realized that even though we were stranded away from civilization it was still there while we were gone. I got a chocolate bar, best candy ever!!!!!!!!

Sderot

A few weeks ago on Friday we went to Sderot. We got to miss school and it was optional. At first not many people wanted to go, but then David Mitchell assured us it was safe and then many more people suddenly wanted to go. (Not because of that) I wanted to go the whole time because I was curious what Sderot looked like after being bombed by Quassam rockets so much. Plus I wanted to see what it looked like, I had no idea what it was like. So anyways, I got permission from my parents and on Friday we left. It was annoying because a lot of people didn’t really want to be there, they just did not want to be the only people staying back.

            SO…about two hours later we got to Sderot, boy was I shocked!!! I expected a small dumpy little town where everything was closed and boarded up. People would drive quickly and no one would walk outside. There would be shards and shrapnel everywhere and it would not be a nice place. Not really a home. But instead I see rows of huge palm trees in the middle of the road, (Like in Beverly Hills) and it is a huge nice city. We drive around a few minutes and see that there are nice houses, people are walking around outside, and I didn’t see shrapnel anywhere! It was a real city! With tons of trees and flowers and shops and stuff. We went to this city hall place where we saw cases and cases and cases just filled with rockets! All different kinds. It is horrifying and shocking how many rockets have fallen on Sderot. Thousands! They used to get rockets twice a day, for like seven years! However when we were there there was a sort of peace treaty ceasefire thing going on. The last time they had had the siren go off was like four days ago, which is an eternity for them.  I feel like I should explain. Sderot is a city in Israel that is really close to the Gaza strip. From Gaza many homemade Quassam rockets are launched towards the city and civilians. When a rocket is launched, a siren goes off in the city of Sderot, (I don’t know how Israel can track these things) once the siren goes off there are between 12 and 15 seconds for people to get inside a bomb shelter before the rocket hits. Just a few seconds!!! Kids have grown up in Sderot and live like this every day. They are scared and have a lot of mental damage. People really just sleep in their bomb shelters and basically live out of them.
            However, we were driving around and saw the city hall. Then we went to a high school and met a few kids from our grade. We had a little time to ask them about Sderot and how they like it or not. I was very surprised, most of the children said they loved Sderot and it was their home. They have lived there their whole lives and do not want to leave it. They don’t want to just abandon their city. It really surprised me, they have grown up with rockets and terror and yet they did not want to leave. Normal teenagers just like us!!! When they have bombs and sirens during school their rule is to just stay inside. The whole school is a bomb shelter. I found this funny because while we were talking with them the siren went off. Most Milken students did not hear it, but the Israelis had like a sixth sense about it and they heard it. So we all just stayed inside the building. It was no big deal, and the bomb did not even land in Sderot.

After talking with the students, we went to a school presentation. It was all in Hebrew and I did not understand most of it, however there was this girl who sang and she was really good. I remember that she was an amazing singer! Then we saw a slideshow about their school and then we all got on the buses and went home to Muss.

Trip to Atlit and other places

A few weeks ago we went to Atlit. We were learning about the aftermath of World War II and how many Jews came to Israel. (Then called Palestine and ruled by the British) Since the British were ruling Palestine, they were only allowing a few thousand Jews in every year. However in Europe many Jews were still being persecuted or they just have nowhere to go. Their homes had been taken and they needed to start their lives again. America was letting more Jews in but still, for the first time in 2,000 years, Jews had the option to go back to Israel. Therefore, many Jews wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.
So, the Aliyah Bet movement was formed. Basically, Jews would travel from wherever they were, on foot, to a port in either Italy or France. (or a few more places) Then they would go on ships, which were very cramped, and try to get into Israel. Really, these ships were supposed to hold like 300 people (For example the Exodus) and they would hold 4,500 people. Once they were near Israel, they had a 50% chance of getting past the British. Then, they would have to sneak on the beach at night, trade clothing, ID cards, and names with the locals, and run into people’s houses and shelters. If the British caught them they would be asked, “Who are you?” and the Jews would answer, “Ani Yehudi Beretz Israel,” which means, I am a Jew in the land of Israel.
So we were on a beach where many Aliyah Bet boats came in. We were told to bring big tee shirts and we found out why. We had to pair up with someone our size, I was with Ariela, and then we would stand opposite each other, one at the water’s edge who was the immigrant, and one away from the shore which was the Israeli. The Israelis would rush to the water’s edge, pick up the immigrant, carry them quickly to shore, change cloths, and run away. So we carried, changed shirts, and then ran away from the “British”. (Our teachers) If we were caught we would have to say, Ani Yehudi Beretz Israel! It was fun, though I feel bad because I am a weakling, and when I was supposed to carry Ariela, someone in front of us had fallen, and we fell on top of them. So basically I dropped her.  my bad….But it was funny to see her in my, “Schloss family reunion” tee shirt! hehe
Did I mention that the weather was beautiful that day at the beach??? Really, and the sand was so clean and soft!!!! It was great! Plus I think I forgot to mention that most of the immigrants were holocaust survivors. So yeah.
Then we went to the Atlit Detention Camp. When people were caught by the British they were sent to detention camps. Though they were in camps many people were happy because it is still Israel. They were in Israel and they were happy. However, then many more immigrants started coming to Palestine, so the British got mad and started to put people on a detention camp in Cyprus. At first many Jews were sad because they were not in Israel, but then they adopted the saying, “Cyprus is Palestine.”
So anyways, we were in the detention camp and we saw how horrible it looked. It had barbed wire, guard towers, and barracks. It looked a lot like a death/labor camp. It had this building that looked like a gas chamber, and they were told to go inside and shower. Of course the holocaust survivors freaked out!!! They had just gotten out of Europe to be killed in Palestine?? But the British really were just having them shower. The survivors were told to take off their clothes and shoes and put them in disinfectant things. I feel bad for the survivors. They must have been so scared! Anyways, then we saw a movie about the detention camps and many Aliyah Bet boats that tried to get into Palestine. It was a good film.
Then we went into the barracks where people lived until they were let out into Palestine. By now it was super hot outside!!!! Like, unbearably hot!!! It was horrible. So I guess we experienced how they felt in their barracks without air conditioning. We saw actual stuff from people who lived there. Plus, we saw this really cool wall where people wrote their names, so that if one of their loved ones came to that camp they would know that the person was in Palestine. I hope that many people got reunited through writing their names on the wall!!! It would be so cool!!
Plus, we learned about an operation by the Palmach that rescued the immigrants from a detention camp. (Could be Atlit….idk) It was very brave and I think it was successful. It was lead by a Palmach officer, Yitzchak Rabin. It seems that every important Israeli leader as some point fought in the army or palmach. We hear their names all the time.
Then we had a bunch of class and I think we had a discussion about something, but I don’t really remember. It was so long ago!!! Oh well.
Then, we went to the Acco Prison. It was where a bunch of underground Jewish fighters were imprisoned and some were executed. It was in an Arab part of Acco. We all had to walk together and stay close to each other. It was weird. And then we got there and learned about a bunch of underground fighting organizations. There were three main groups. The haganna, which wanted peace through politics and treaties, Etzel which was a bit more violent, and Lechei which was very violent. When I say violent I mean that they were actively trying to get a Jewish state by battles and threats. So a bunch of Jewish leaders were being kept in the prison. Many people were hanged there and it was horrible. Our core class had a debate about what Zionist group we would join. I would join the moderate group Etzel. It is good because they try to get the Jewish state, but they are not too violent or radical.
Then we all went to the hanging room. That is where a few very important people were hung for no reason besides the fact that they were Jewish and Zionist. The day they were hung they were in the room and they started singing Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem. Then, all the Jewish prisoners heard it and they started singing along too. So the walls were echoing with the sound and Hatikvah. Until they were hung, the leaders were singing. So we all sang Hatikvah once more and made it echo off the walls. As if to say, ha look we are alive and we have a Jewish state! You can’t stop us.
The next day we were also learning about the war of Independence. It was POURING that day, seriously, we could not see anything!! We got to our first spot, the Kastel and we got off and on the bus. It was so cold and not worth bothering to try and see the view. We could only see clouds. But we were told that that is where there was an important victory for Israel when they got part of the road to Jerusalem back. The thing is, Jerusalem was under siege and the city was dying. All the roads were cut off by the Arabs so people really needed to get to Jerusalem and bring supplies there! But we could not see the valley or road which they conquered, so we got back on the bus and drove to Latrun.
At Latrun there were a few important battles for the war of independence. It was a great spot to have because it overlooked the road to Jerusalem. However the Arabs had it, so three times the palmach tried to capture it, and every time they failed. It was horrible because a bunch of holocaust survivors were fighting and dying in Israel. They should not have had to survive World War II just to die in Palestine. But anyways, we went there and learned a lot again. About the war of independence and how much of a miracle it is that Israel won. Then we had free time to go around and look at the tanks. It’s a really cool outdoor tank museum where you can go inside tanks and climb on any tank you see. They are made to survive bombs, I think they can hold a few puny teenagers.
So I went outside and got a few pictures on the tanks. By now it wasn’t raining, Yay! Then I kept walking and getting more pictures. By the time I was done climbing and having fun, we went back to where lunch was supposed to be, but it was already done and gone. It was packed up and people were leaving to get on the bus. I didn’t get any lunch.  oh well. I got some cool tank pictures. The thing was, most were Arab tanks…..
After Latrun we went to a mall in Tel Aviv to have free time. It was cool because we NEVER have free time in a random mall on a random trip we go on. Whatever. So I went inside and bought some frozen yogurt. Then I walked around the clothing stores. We only had an hour there, but it was enough time for some people to go shopping and buy clothing. I found some cute stuff, but everything in Israel is so expensive!!!!! Seriously, I did not find anything worth buying fewer than 100 shekels! Oh well
Lastly, (I think, it was so long ago I really don’t know for sure…) we went to the palmach museum in Tel Aviv. It was pretty cool. We got there and received these translator things that we holdup to our ears. Every room we walk through is a “Play” or “act”, so of a virtual experience. We go to different rooms and hear and see multi-media things. So the translators automatically turn on in every room and tell you everything in English. They are these little things were hold up to our ears. Of course I had to have the one that didn’t work, so in the first room we went into I had to get a new one from the tour guide lady. Then two rooms later mine broke, even though I did not do anything to it. I didn’t even touch it!!! Then twice more on the tour it broke, so FOUR TIMES that stupid little translator broke!!! I REPEL technology!!!
However the tour was really nice and it’s such an awesome museum. We learn about the war of independence and the Palmach which was an Israeli fighting force. They fought the independence war, so we go from room to room and see videos about a fake group of people in the palmach. One room that was really cool was about a young man who lived in Palestine but went back to Poland because he heard his sister was alive in a refugee camp. He immediately took her out and stayed with her (she was 7) until she had papers to go to Israel. They were on the boat but it was hit by a torpedo and they were all taken to a detention camp on Cyprus. However they all were on Israeli soil for a few minutes and he said that was the happiest moment of her life. The cool part about that room was how we watched it. There was a mannequin without a face that was a few feet away from us, then a projector put a face on him that moved and talked. It really looked like a person, and the room shook when the boat “was hit” it was scary!!