thoughts from a spotted mind

If I say I am a bit lost in myself, my life, my next step, where I should be, what I should do, it would probably be a bit of an understatment. What I know is this: That I am ready to start a new chapter of my life. I had a mission. Come to Israel. Learn the language, the culture, and serve in the army. Mission completed. Now what?

It may seem very strange\ funny to anyone reading this that is older than me, but I am starting to feel old. Not old. But maybe, I feel ready to not be a young adult and I want to start turning into an adult. I want to start making choices that will affect me in the long term. I want to start looking for the right guy for me. I want to start thinking of having a husband, family in the years to come. Time goes so fast. And I don't want to be one of the people I have seen to often, that is 30-35 and still is living like they are 20-25.


Shiran is going to be leaving in a month-month and a half to go on a trip to South America (like all the Israelis do after the army). What count me by suprises is he will be going for about a year. I expected a big trip, I didn't expect a years time. I am sad he is going. I don't feel ready to break-up with him, but there is nothing I can do about it. It is an important thing in his life to go travel with his friends and "find himself".

I am reading an excellent book called "A Pigeon and A Boy" by Meir Shalev. It is an Israeli novel that has been translated and it is very interesting. And a bit sentimental since my grandpa flew racing pigeons.

Now for some pictures:

These first four are very old. The first one is an ad I saw in Tel Aviv for a newspaper. But I thought it was lovely with the sunset and the text reading: THERE IS ONLY ONE





Poor cows waiting in the trucks.


Lerone and Amitai on a walk.


Just thought it would make a cool picture.

I played hooky one day this week and took a trip with Shiran to the Gilboa Mountain. It was a stormy day so we couldn't really get out much, but it was still breath-takingly beautiful up there. We drove from one side to the other and started driving down to Jerusalem. Maybe if I didn't have to work that night we could have went to Jerusalem.






This is the most current picture of me. Taken last night before we went to the pub in the kibbutz.

I Am

I think I should start writing on this thing again, even if it feels like it is turning into something just for me. It is cool to look back on past posts and see what I was doing and pictures. Maybe some day I will make this into a little book for me.

First off, for anyone who wants it my new and current address is as follows:

Elizabeth Schecter
Kibbutz En HaShofet
19237
Israel

Time is passing by so quickly and I am sure I have tons of things to write about, but somehow nothing is coming to mind. I am working in the dinning room of the kibbutz. Ben thought this meant I am a waitress, but that's not it at all. I am a cafeteria worker. No, thank god I don't have to wear a hair net!!!

I get to work everyday at 6:30 a.m. We prepare for breakfast. The job mostly entails cleaning. I don't do any of the cooking because I don't work in the kitchen.

Because the dinning room of the kibbutz is privatized, the members can't take food freely like in the old days. Now they have to pay for the meals, so I also work at the register. Everyone has a number for their account and now after a month and a half working there I would say I know 50% of the regulars numbers!! People really like it when you remember their number.

I finish work at 2:30 eveyday. I few days a week I babysit after work. I am regularly babysitting an eight month old, who's parents want her to learn English. I am convinced that right now it is doing nothing, she can't even speak Hebrew, but its not my call. She is a really charming little baby.

In a month I will probably start caring of an old woman on a daily basis. She is from England and doesn't speak Hebrew at all. She is the mother-in-law of one of my bosses. I worked with her, Frida, for a few days last week. I just do simple things; bring her laundry, make her bed, cook a little supper, or heat something up, take out the trash. She seems pretty content and friendly. I think its strange though that people that live in the kibbutz would hire someone to do this. She lives 5 minutes walk from me and even closer to her son. Even if she was the craziest person in the world (which she is not) it would only be 30 minutes a day that her family would have to go over and care for her.Why would you move your mother to be so close, but not want to see her?

I did get my own room, had it for about a month. I will have to post pictures. I got a nice table from Shiran's mom and I have a nice eating table that I found. Shiran found a bed frame and brought it over and then a week or so later found a matress in the garbage! Not the most luxuary matress, but it gets the job done.

Well I got my first full pay check today! This is crazy but after everything has been taken out, I am left with more than 500 dollars to put to savings!! And I only make 1000 dollars. Crazy that here I can make far less money than I was making in the US but save more. Of course if I was living in Tel Aviv so I wouldn't be able to save anything. But my rent is more than half of what people pay in the city, my laundry is washed for free, food is a little cheaper here.

It is really cold here now. Probably in the 30s-40s. Last night some places got below zero. I was walking back with Shiran from his parents house last night and it was so cold and I just said how happy I was not to be in the army anymore and how can soldiers have to sleep outside in even colder temperatures than this. And he said: I had to do it...but I don't remember how I think I blocked it out.

I saw a really cute movie this weekend called "The Band Visit" It is so cute, if you have netflicks you should order it. Its about this Egyptian band who comes it Israel to play for some opening and they get lost and stuck. It is very dry humor and the cimematography is really cute.

I will stop writing for now, but hope to pick this thing up on a daily basis.
Cheers

My apologize to anyone who is actually still reading this that I have been so bad at keeping it up. Now that I have finished the army I do have more time, but simply have been lazy and actually I don't think so many interesting things have been going on to write about.

My life right now in a nutshell:

I moved from Kibbutz En Harod back to Kibbutz En HaShofet. I sent out a bunch of resumes and heard nothing which was rather discouraging. I went for an interview in a factory on En HaShofet and got the job. I was really excited until they told me that there are no rooms for me to rent on the kibbutz so I would have to commute from another nearby kibbutz. And then they told me they have no idea wen I will start working. So I went for another interview at a nearby kibbutz and got a job. I will take that job unless by some miracle a room and work opens up at En HaShofet.

The Kibbutz that I found work is called Galed. It is not far from En HaShofet but it is very out-in-the-middle-of-no-where. It is at the end of a dead-end road. Galed is in the back yard of Jenin. But it is a pretty kibbutz. The work will be as follows. I will work night shifts in a plastic factory. I will live in the kibbutz, in a very cheap room. I start on the 20th of November so I still have a lot of time to kill. I don't know if it will be really hard for me to manage night shift work. It is very long hours (12) but the pay is really good because most of the time I will be making over time pay. I met another girl in my interview that also got the job and she seems really nice so that should be a good start for work.

I haven't worked for money now for 2 years and I really need to build up my savings. Its not the most ideal situation, but it is good money and it won't last forever. I don't believe I will be able to start classes or Hebrew courses because of the nature of the crazy work schedule. But maybe it isn't bad to work my ass off for about a year, and then have enough money to travel and start school without freaking out that I won't be able to manage.

I have a boyfriend too. He is a kibbutznik at En HaShofet. He has so generously helped me with moving my things, storing them in his house, and letting me live with him till I have a place to go. We have only really been together for about a month. But I have know him for over a year. He just came back from working 4 months in Canada.

It seems the summer in Israel is never going to end. Yes, it has gotten a little cooler but it is still very warm. I like it, but its not so good because this land needs a good hard rain badly.

Other than that I have been good. I have went to some nice concerts and a festival, I went to the Dead Sea with Shiran (the boyfriend), started cooking more again.

Even though I am not doing anything the days are flying by and most of the time I am not bored. I have taken this time to do things I have been putting of, such as, bank things, doctors (I will go to the dentist in a week after not going for 2 years!!!), so I am taking care of business.

That's about it for me. I am in Tel Aviv this weekend visiting friends I haven't seen in a while.

Hamal: The War Room....

Come one, come all, step inside the war room at mitzpe adi and see what I did in the army for a year!!! Enjoy....





This is a picture of two of my officers, Adva and Reut.



Well, after God only knows, you finally get to see what I did in the army!!! This is what I looked like a lot of the time. Phone in the ear, walkie talkie in one hand, writing with the other.



4 hour shifts sitting there watching a screen, its not easy...



Here I am with Hen, one of the girls in my room. Liza is in the background running up.



This is Rotem and she just got colored contacts... kind o' scary!



This is just a silly picture. But Hila, wanted a picture with me, but you can not turn away from the screen so we did it this way. Actually it isn't such a bad representation of what I did sometimes. Hila has not finished her training so I did have to help her a lot.




Every night we have a briefing meeting with all the girls that are on the base and talk about what we saw during the day and complaints and sometimes we have a lesson. This was the last one I went to.




Views from my base at night...very beautiful.






In these two pictures you see Hila taking her first final test to become a full fledged tatzpitanit. And if you look carefully you will see she has stuff in her hair and she is wearing a vest against bullets or something like that. That's because in the final test the girls do all kinds of things to distract you. Screaming, calling every five seconds on the phone, putting pudding or cheese on your hair, spraying water on you, rapping you in toilet paper. All this is just to see how well you can keep your cool and finish the task. In my final test They put on the vest the helmet and about five guns along with all the gooie things!!!

On The Border

View of the army car behind us on the border. I see this every day, just not behind me!!

Well, lots to tell. I don't know if I should start with my trip to the US and A or start now and work backwards. The long and short of it is I have lots to tell and not
enough time.

On Tuesday all the girls in my team went on a tour of the line... our part of the line. We have had these tours before, but never like what we did this time. We usually see a very large portion of territory, that cover many cameras and teams, so there is a lot we see that has no connection to our specific territory. But, what we did this time was took a tour of not only our territory, but we got to go on the actual border and see it up close and personal. I really have no idea how they got all the clearance because no one but the fighter soldiers are supposed to be on the boarder.

It extremely dangerous to be that close to Lebanon. There are houses just a matter of meters away and right now the threat for uprising is very great. Actually I was sure we wouldn't go that day, because during my night shift we had specific directions to watch only one town because we were told there many be some Hezbollah activities.



Now I side story/note: There is a thing in that army called "signing keva" This occurs not to everyone but if conditions are right a soldier at the end of their service maybe get the opportunity to sign a few months more. If they sign they get a great salary for the time they are in keva.

Army salary is shitty in Israel, there is not nice way to put it. I can not complain because I get more money because I am a lone soldier. But for example the average male soldier will get something like $60 a month if they are not combat and $100 if they are combat. I get something around $200 because not only lone soldiers get more but I get the salary of a combat soldier because I am in a dangerous zone and doing work that is semi-combat. A person like me if I sign keva I get more than a thousand dollars while in keva.


So after I came back from the US I knew I only had about a week of regular army and then I would go on my "vacation before liberation". I returned from the US and A in the mind set that I was done, time to start life here. I was very excited.

Its a funny named vacation, Translated to English its: vacation before liberation. At first I thought it was a stupid idea to have a vacation right before you finish, but actually it is really smart. From the side of the soldiers that have been in that army 2 to 3 or more years, it is a little bit of an easing out of the army. You have a little vacation, then return all your things and do all the signing out. From my perspective as a lone soldier without family, it is a good amount of time to start figuring out what next ie, where to live, job and what not.

Back to the story: So one of commanders asked me if I would consider signing for 2 months. From the start I said no that I wasn't interested. And also I was pretty sure it wouldn't be something I was eligible to do. Why? Because after all, I was the one drafted for 2 full years of service and then requested to have my time dropped down. So now How could I possible legitimately sign on for me. How convenient to stay longer when there is money involved. So I told her to really check it out to be sure. The next day my officer came to me. Yes I can do it and do I want to. I told her I didn't think so. "I'm ready to start my life here. I've been here two years and haven't worked, not that I've done nothing but I am just ready to be a normal person here".

But its a good opportunity for you, she said, especially since you are a lone soldiers about to finish the army and haven't worked for two years.

Two thousand dollars isn't a lot in US terms for two months of work. But here it is, especially for someone my age, a new immigrant, and just starting out in the work world. And mind you it is money in full. No taxing. And I have no where to spend it. How can I spend money in that army, I'm never home. And I don't pay rent, don't pay for food while in the army only when I get out on weekends, and I don't pay for transportation (soldiers ride buses free in uniform) So when I get the money it will be in full, not squandered here and there.

So after much thought, and many people telling me (are you retarded, this is a killer opportunity, you would be mad not to do it). I signed. Its two more months. 60 days. I only have 4 more weekends in the army. Everything will stay the same. I get out the same (9 days in and 5 days home), I work the same job. I just get money in the end.

Back to the day on the border. I thought to my self: Self this would have been the ultimate send off for finishing my sevice. Be on the border see everything, and then go home for good. But its not terrible, two more months.

Me and Jen, left and Nina. Nina is half Korean and half Polish and her parents met in Russia so she speaks Russian. One of the wierder combinations of places to originate in this country. But the mix turned out great, she is one of the most beautiful girls I have seen. And Jenina was born in Syberia and came to Israel at the age of two. She is so pretty too (although you can't tell from the picture) I would discribe her looks has half Kirsten Dunst half Michelle Phiffer) She has the most fierce blue eyes.

This Is a picture of my commanders and officer. My commander is the girl on the right side, her name is Muria, but everyone calls her "kochinit". That's because her family is from a place in India called Kochine and most Jews that immigrated from India are from Kochine. My commander is the girl all the way on the left. Her name is Rita and she just begame a commander. She taught me most of my training on the camera and was a very hard and strict teacher.



This is a far off view of one oft he main towns I am watching in Lebanon. Isn't a nice view? Looks pretty calm from here...



Here you have a view of half Lebanon (on the left) half Israel and the fence and in teh distance is one of the biggest camera stations we have.





Veiw from inside the armored truck looking out the back



Soldier closing the gate behind us as we go into resticted territory!



A United Nations base right on the border with Israel



A machine gun!



When the soldiers are on the border one of them stands up out of the truck with a machine gun. This is him. We got to see him load and unload the gun (pretty manly, man)




And here he is talking on the two way radio.



Bump-ity bump bump. It was a rocky trip but a lot of fun!




In Israel, view of har dov, the hermon and inot the border with Syria.