Hi to everyone,
It has been so long since i have written here. To those of you that have e-mailed asking if i am ok, i am fine. I have just been in the army and wow have i been busy! I feel like i haven't even had time to just sit down and have a few minutes to myself.
last week I have a trip down to the desert with unit and that was a blast. we went hiking through the desert and slept out under the stars. it was cold, but it was really fun. after the trip we went up to the north to guard at one of the bases up there. we were also on standby if we were needed to help out at the fire the had started near haifa.
this past week has been busy as well. I have been catching up on work, getting ready to leave to the US tomorrow, and trying to get things organized on base. this morning i had a meeting with the head of the base to talk about going to officers course and making a career out of my army service. I really want to become an officer and stay in the army. the head of the base is going to look into when and if I can go to officer's course and i should know hopefully by next month.
tomorrow morning i am flying to the US to meet up with my family and spend some time with them. We will be going on a cruise through the panama canal and then i will be returning back to Israel and the army. I am so excited to have some time off to see my family and relax, but at the same time i am going to miss being here in Israel and seeing my friends in the army all the time.
hope everyone is well and talk soon.
love,
Roxanne
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Amazing times
I have had some amazing times these past few weeks. Have spent time on base, and time out in the field doing practice drills. It has been hard, but I have learned a lot and had a lot of fun doing it. This past week I have been out in the field for what we call "war week" is a really big practice drill and is extremely physically demanding on the soldiers. I was on-call with some other medics in the ambulance. Along with three other medics we followed the soldiers and if anything severe happened, we would be there to take care of the soldiers. We slept in the ambulance, at army rations (which for me was not much) and spent the whole time in the ambulance. One of the medics brought a guitar, so we sang songs and played music. Being out in the field is one of the highlights of the army experience for me. Yes it is physically demanding, you are sleeping outside, eating army rations and working all the time, but i love being out there and working in the field.
In other news, I am coming back to the US next month. I am meeting my family in Florida and we are going on a cruise through the panama canal. I am really excited to be seeing my family and having the chance to relax and have some fun.
Things have been busy here on the weekends as well. I have been spending time with my host family and with friends. It is also time for me to take care of whatever errands I need to do. Which does not leave me much time. So things have been pretty busy around here.
Hope that everyone is well. For those of you in Oregon, I heard that there is snow this weekend, I would love a picture!
Love,
Roxanne
In other news, I am coming back to the US next month. I am meeting my family in Florida and we are going on a cruise through the panama canal. I am really excited to be seeing my family and having the chance to relax and have some fun.
Things have been busy here on the weekends as well. I have been spending time with my host family and with friends. It is also time for me to take care of whatever errands I need to do. Which does not leave me much time. So things have been pretty busy around here.
Hope that everyone is well. For those of you in Oregon, I heard that there is snow this weekend, I would love a picture!
Love,
Roxanne
Saturday, October 16, 2010
back down to the desert
This week has been a mix of some amazing and fun times and some not so great stuff. Overall though I had a blast and within the week I had one of the best nights in the army so far. Now that our unit is not on the border, we are spending our time doing practice drills and simulations for if there was ever to be a war. So this past week we took a trip back down to the south of israel for some practice drills. I guess our commanders thought we haven't had enough of the heat and sand in the desert so we just needed some more of it for the next few weeks. the base we were heading to has a fake arab village in it that is used for training drills sucj as what we would be performing.
As we arrive at the base all of on the bus are really excited because it looks like a nice base with nice facilities. And then we keep on driving, and we finally arrive at this old base that has no one there and looks like it has not been used for at least 20 years. This ghost town of a base would be our living quarters for the next couple of weeks. Now we have to go through the process of trying to find cleaning supplies to actually clean the inch of dust off the floor so that we can sleep somewhere and try to find some electricity and running water. To arrive at a base that has no one feels a little eerie. I walk around the base and look in the rooms and still see boxes and things left behind and think why is this stuff here, or why is there no one on the base, and lastly how did we end up at this base?
This first day we had lessons about various different topics from different officers within the unit. and then the second day we went out on a practice drill. the drill did not start until 7 pm. but we spent the day preparing the armored vehicles and resting up for the long night ahead. then at 7pm we made our way to the vehicles and organized all our gear double checked the equipment and set off to 50 meters outside the base. then we sat there for another few hours. finally at 11pm we took off for real. we drove for a while and the whole time we had on bullet-proof vest and helmet. we finally arrived at the fake arab town which was now "gaza" we set up base inbetween some sand dunes and started guarding. we then started getting "attacked" and the fun began. the medical unit started treating fake injuries and we were working under the cover of night like we were really in a war. the adrenaline from this practice was enough to keep us up all night and into the next day. we worked hard and had fun when things were quiet. Finally after about 14 hours we headed back and were finished. we unloaded and had time to relax.
wednesday evening we had a barbeque and it was the first time since sunday morning that I had any real food since we had been eating army rations and there was nothing vegetarian in them besides peanuts. so having a BBQ and hanging out with the unit watching a movie was fun.
the next few months are going to be sort of like this past week was. I really enjoyed the past week so i am look forward to it. the excitement and energy that you get from the whole group makes it fun and it really brings the unit together to work and have fun together.
Hope everyone has a good week!
Love,
Roxanne
Saturday, October 9, 2010
the excitment of two weeks
Hi to everyone,
The past two weeks have been pretty exciting. After I returned from my weekend off two weeks ago we had another attack where palestinians shot and injured two jews on sunday and on monday we had rocks thrown at a public bus near our base. We weren't allowed to leave the base and were going out to run more security throughout the jewish settlements around the area and more checkpoints to try and catch the terrorists. It was a week where we didn't sleep much and we on and off the base a lot for false alarms of running checkpoints.
Then this week we moved off of the border to one of our training bases. the whole gadsar unit have 3 months of training. Starting sunday we packed up all of the base. that includes all of the computers and desks and everything. It was a lot of work and took three days to pack everything up. at the same time we were still guarding checkpoints and arresting suspected terrorists at night. which meant not a lot of sleep. On wednesday we moved officially to the training base. we then spent wednesday night setting up the clinic and organizing our medications and medical supplies. I then had to organize my room which had nothing in it when i arrived. that meant searching for a bed mattress and a locker.
Thursday we had a fun day for the whole unit. so all of us soldiers went to a water park. it was pretty fun. they reserved the water park just for us. we had free range of all the slides and pools and it was a lot of fun to just hang out and relax after working so hard on the border guarding and not knowing what might come next.
These next three months are going to be tough even though we are not on the border. We are going to be in the wilderness a lot and there is going to be a lot of intense physical training. I am really excited to see what these next three months bring and to have a chance to bond even more with my friends and the boys that I work with in the clinic.
I hope that everyone is doing well. for those in school, i hope that it is going well. the weather here has been well, I hope that in the US it is nice as well. Keep in touch. I love hearing from you and it means a lot to read your comments.
Love,
Roxanne
The past two weeks have been pretty exciting. After I returned from my weekend off two weeks ago we had another attack where palestinians shot and injured two jews on sunday and on monday we had rocks thrown at a public bus near our base. We weren't allowed to leave the base and were going out to run more security throughout the jewish settlements around the area and more checkpoints to try and catch the terrorists. It was a week where we didn't sleep much and we on and off the base a lot for false alarms of running checkpoints.
Then this week we moved off of the border to one of our training bases. the whole gadsar unit have 3 months of training. Starting sunday we packed up all of the base. that includes all of the computers and desks and everything. It was a lot of work and took three days to pack everything up. at the same time we were still guarding checkpoints and arresting suspected terrorists at night. which meant not a lot of sleep. On wednesday we moved officially to the training base. we then spent wednesday night setting up the clinic and organizing our medications and medical supplies. I then had to organize my room which had nothing in it when i arrived. that meant searching for a bed mattress and a locker.
Thursday we had a fun day for the whole unit. so all of us soldiers went to a water park. it was pretty fun. they reserved the water park just for us. we had free range of all the slides and pools and it was a lot of fun to just hang out and relax after working so hard on the border guarding and not knowing what might come next.
These next three months are going to be tough even though we are not on the border. We are going to be in the wilderness a lot and there is going to be a lot of intense physical training. I am really excited to see what these next three months bring and to have a chance to bond even more with my friends and the boys that I work with in the clinic.
I hope that everyone is doing well. for those in school, i hope that it is going well. the weather here has been well, I hope that in the US it is nice as well. Keep in touch. I love hearing from you and it means a lot to read your comments.
Love,
Roxanne
Saturday, September 25, 2010
A new year!
Hi to everyone,
I hope that everyone has enjoyed the holidays and had time to spend with family and friends. I have enjoyed my holidays here in Israel and have spent all of the holidays at home with my host family. We have eaten a lot, cooked, watched movies, played games, and just spent time together at the house. In-between the holidays I have been at base working hard.
Life has been as normal as can be here in Israel. There has been some increased tensions recently during the holidays in Jerusalem and the territories. It does not deter people from traveling to and from jerusalem and people continue about on the daily activities. It is amazing to watch people that live so close to these riots just go around like nothing is happening.
As far as work on base goes, it has been busy as usual. I am working hard and enjoying it. In two weeks our whole unit is moving to a different base for a couple of months so it has been bust getting things ready to move. I am excited to move to the new base, we will be having more practice drills and be out in the wilderness more often so it will be more interesting. I will have different work to do and will also be busier.
Today we took a day trip to visit some of the historical sites around the house. We went to the hills around Jerusalem and walked around the bunkers used during the independence war to defend and fight for the road to Jerusalem to bring in supplies there. It was interesting seeing all of these old bunkers and trenches and imagining the fighting between the jews and arabs the was happening there. after that we went to the shiryon museum. Also known as the armored corps museum. there they have tanks and other heavy artillery vehicles from as far back as the independence war up to today and the tanks that are in the IDF today. It was pretty interesting seeing the different types of tanks that have been used in different wars here in israel. It is pretty anazing just how many places there are to travel to within Israel. so much of Israel has history that everywhere you go you can learn something.
Life has been good and i am enjoying being here and living here. I miss my family at home, but I know in my heart that this is where I am supposed to be right now. I am hoping in December to come back to the US for a visit, but will not know for sure for another couple of weeks.
Love,
Roxanne
I hope that everyone has enjoyed the holidays and had time to spend with family and friends. I have enjoyed my holidays here in Israel and have spent all of the holidays at home with my host family. We have eaten a lot, cooked, watched movies, played games, and just spent time together at the house. In-between the holidays I have been at base working hard.
Life has been as normal as can be here in Israel. There has been some increased tensions recently during the holidays in Jerusalem and the territories. It does not deter people from traveling to and from jerusalem and people continue about on the daily activities. It is amazing to watch people that live so close to these riots just go around like nothing is happening.
As far as work on base goes, it has been busy as usual. I am working hard and enjoying it. In two weeks our whole unit is moving to a different base for a couple of months so it has been bust getting things ready to move. I am excited to move to the new base, we will be having more practice drills and be out in the wilderness more often so it will be more interesting. I will have different work to do and will also be busier.
Today we took a day trip to visit some of the historical sites around the house. We went to the hills around Jerusalem and walked around the bunkers used during the independence war to defend and fight for the road to Jerusalem to bring in supplies there. It was interesting seeing all of these old bunkers and trenches and imagining the fighting between the jews and arabs the was happening there. after that we went to the shiryon museum. Also known as the armored corps museum. there they have tanks and other heavy artillery vehicles from as far back as the independence war up to today and the tanks that are in the IDF today. It was pretty interesting seeing the different types of tanks that have been used in different wars here in israel. It is pretty anazing just how many places there are to travel to within Israel. so much of Israel has history that everywhere you go you can learn something.
Life has been good and i am enjoying being here and living here. I miss my family at home, but I know in my heart that this is where I am supposed to be right now. I am hoping in December to come back to the US for a visit, but will not know for sure for another couple of weeks.
Love,
Roxanne
Friday, September 10, 2010
Has it really been one year?
Hi everyone,
I can't believe it but one year ago today I got on a plane for the second time heading to Israel. My plans were to volunteer on a kibbutz and then return home. Apparently that did not happen as you can all see, I am still here! After arriving in Israel I went to go volunteer for three weeks with Sar-el. It is a program where you can volunteer on different army bases helping around the base and learning what it is like in the army. It is a program for all ages and I enjoyed it. Within the first week of returning to Israel I called my parents and told them that I most likely was not coming back home and would be making aliyah(getting citizenship). After my second week of volunteering I called home and told my parents that I was also going to be joining the army. that was a little of a surprise to them. they could handle the moving here part, but I think the picture of me with a gun was a little hard to handle.
I had a draft date set for the 21st of december. up until that time i continued to volunteer with sar-el and travel around the country. On the 21st of december my life changed forever. I became a soldier in the Israel defense force or IDF. I was taken to a hebrew course for three months because i knew very little hebrew and needed to expand my hebrew skills before getting placed in my unit. Those three months would push my limits and there would be times when i would not want to go on. It was hard and grueling and intense, but I kept pushing through not wanting to give up. I finally finished in the end of march and couldn't believe that I had finished.
In april I got my new base assignment. I was sent to sayeret nahal which is the elite special forces of the nahal brigade. My new job was working in the clinic as a medic/paramedic. I was absolutely thrilled to be in the base and in this unit and to be given the job that I was given. I have been so happy and am loving being in the army and working with all of my friends. I learn so much and get to teach so much at the same time.
As some of you might know, the past couple of weeks have been tense here in Israel, especially around the west bank areas. When I last wrote i was being called back to base from home. We had numerous attacks close to the base and they were calling back all of the necessary soldiers in case more attacks occurred. that weekend on base was pretty tense but luckily quiet, but at the same time we tried to enjoy it( the israel mentality is to never show fear, so they have fun whenever they can) we played cards, hung out, sang songs, and had whatever fun we could think of. I finally was allowed to go home wednesday morning after being on base for 21 days.
Some people have asked does the increased tension scare me? Yes and no. Why? yes because i have not grown up in Isael where this happens often and people mourn but then get on with life. It is new in my life, and probably always will scare me to a certain degree. No because after being in the army and seeing how well my unit can react to an act of terror and defend the border when it is needed I am not scared. 98% of terror attacks are stopped before they can even happen. right now that is because my unit is going out to arrest terrorists, and perform other operations to stop hezbollah. what we have seen in the past weeks is the 2% that our intelligence has not caught.
I hope that everyone has a great new year. Stay safe and have fun! I am thinking of you and miss everyone back home. I miss going to high holiday services at temple and seeing everyone.
Hag Sameach and Shana Tova!
Love,
Roxanne
Thursday, September 2, 2010
sometimes the good comes with the bad
Hi everyone,
This is going to be short since I am on my way back to base!
So I have spent the two weeks and have really enjoyed. Worked hard and had a lot of things to do. Lots of paperwork as well as soldiers to see and things to keep in order. As well as having some fun on the side. Staying on the base last weekend was pretty quiet and relaxing and i had fun with my friends on the base.
This past week has been filled with good and bad. Monday night I traveled with the base doctor to another base to see the sick soldiers on the base. It was really fun to travel and be on a different base for a while. Also to be able to help the soldiers on the base and understand their problems was great for me.
then Tuesday there was a terrorist attack near our base. Four jews were killed as they were driving in their car. our base was called to respond and follow up in trying to catch the terrorists. It was a brutal scene and hard to digest. this also meant that the base was put into lock down and all soldiers at home had to return to base. Wednesday was supposed to be a fun day for all of the lone soldiers and we weren't sure if we could leave. The head of the base finally decided that we were allowed to leave so off we went early wednesday morning to have some fun.
The fun day was amazing. it was held at a great beach with food, music, activities, and friends. Even thought it was great fun, in the back of our minds was always the thoughts of what was going on near our base and whether we had to return to base or could go home for the night. I luckily was allowed to go home for the night and was told that I didn't need to return to base until sunday.
This morning I woke up to news that there had been another terrorist attack in the west bank and a possible third attack somewhere else. I didn't get a call to return to base so i decided to get together with some friends and hang out. Then at around 4pm this afternoon I finally get the call I have been dreading. I needed to return to base. We were in lock-down and all soldiers that had been released had to return. I had none of my army stuff, was not at home, and had 3 hours until the last bus to base 2 hours from my house. So i quickly started towards home to pack my bag and head to base.
Right now i am on my way to base. I missed the last bus for today to base. so i will be staying in beer sheva for the night with some of the other girls from base that also missed the bus. I am worried what this means and how long I will be staying on base, but not only that, but why all of these attacks so suddenly.
Please keep Israel and her people in your thoughts. It has been a hard week, but hopefully it will get better. the past weeks have me worried, but i am confident also in the soldiers that I work with and in the spirit and strength of this country.
love,
Roxanne
This is going to be short since I am on my way back to base!
So I have spent the two weeks and have really enjoyed. Worked hard and had a lot of things to do. Lots of paperwork as well as soldiers to see and things to keep in order. As well as having some fun on the side. Staying on the base last weekend was pretty quiet and relaxing and i had fun with my friends on the base.
This past week has been filled with good and bad. Monday night I traveled with the base doctor to another base to see the sick soldiers on the base. It was really fun to travel and be on a different base for a while. Also to be able to help the soldiers on the base and understand their problems was great for me.
then Tuesday there was a terrorist attack near our base. Four jews were killed as they were driving in their car. our base was called to respond and follow up in trying to catch the terrorists. It was a brutal scene and hard to digest. this also meant that the base was put into lock down and all soldiers at home had to return to base. Wednesday was supposed to be a fun day for all of the lone soldiers and we weren't sure if we could leave. The head of the base finally decided that we were allowed to leave so off we went early wednesday morning to have some fun.
The fun day was amazing. it was held at a great beach with food, music, activities, and friends. Even thought it was great fun, in the back of our minds was always the thoughts of what was going on near our base and whether we had to return to base or could go home for the night. I luckily was allowed to go home for the night and was told that I didn't need to return to base until sunday.
This morning I woke up to news that there had been another terrorist attack in the west bank and a possible third attack somewhere else. I didn't get a call to return to base so i decided to get together with some friends and hang out. Then at around 4pm this afternoon I finally get the call I have been dreading. I needed to return to base. We were in lock-down and all soldiers that had been released had to return. I had none of my army stuff, was not at home, and had 3 hours until the last bus to base 2 hours from my house. So i quickly started towards home to pack my bag and head to base.
Right now i am on my way to base. I missed the last bus for today to base. so i will be staying in beer sheva for the night with some of the other girls from base that also missed the bus. I am worried what this means and how long I will be staying on base, but not only that, but why all of these attacks so suddenly.
Please keep Israel and her people in your thoughts. It has been a hard week, but hopefully it will get better. the past weeks have me worried, but i am confident also in the soldiers that I work with and in the spirit and strength of this country.
love,
Roxanne
Saturday, August 21, 2010
some time at home, some time at base
Hey everyone,
Hope you are all staying cool and having fun during the hot summer days. I have been doing well and have been having some fun in-between all of the work.
I have spent some time at home last week and just relaxed, and took days trips to tel aviv and jerusalem. It was nice to stay at home for two days, but at the same time i really wanted to be at base with all of my friends and hang out with everyone. I went and picked up my kindle that I had my friend bring back from the US. So i spent some time loading books and reading. Having a kindle here in Israel is truly amazing, I have access to so many more books and books are so much more cheaper than in the books stores here. I have been buying books here for anywhere from 20-30 dollars a book which is ridiculous for a paperback so most of the time i trade book with my friends and try to read really slow, which is hard for me. Now i can buy all of my books from Amazon for less than $15 and have it on my kindle in less than a minute. It is great! much better option than a bookstore.
Anyway, returned to base in the middle of the week and this week we had a refresher course for all of the medics, paramedics, and doctor in the unit. It was a lot of fun. We had some class lessons and then we set up scenarios where we had volunteers with "injuries" that we had to treat. It was stimulation of triage in war. I learned so much about treatment in the field, how to work under pressure and that I really did understand more in hebrew than I thought. Plus since i haven't gone to a medics course in the army, this week was a good time to learn about how the army does things differently than in the US. I also got to practice my skills on actual "victims" I was able to splint fractures, start IV's, assist with putting in chest tubes, and various other medical procedures. All of these were performed on soldiers that have volunteered, and we had ways to actually perform the procedures so that we could do the procedure without hurting the soldier. It was amazing to watch and perform in something so amazing. The one procedure we actually did perform on the soldiers is that we did actually give IVs to all the soldiers. We timed each other to see how quickly each person could get an IV in someone and it also improved our skills.
Having this skills lab was important to us. If something like a war or other mass casualty event occurs we all can work together and know what to do. Yes it was hard, we were in the heat, but at the same time it was fun and important. most of all i think that we bonded as a team.
This weekend i am spending at home. It is hot and I haven't left the house because it is so hot outside. Next weekend i am on-call at base. hopefully it won't be as hot as it is this weekend so i can hang out outside for a little bit.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Love,
Roxanne
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Two weeks on base and all the joys with it!
Hi to everyone,
The past two weeks I have spent on base. It has been filled with some pain, a lot of work, and a lot of fun. I have been working hard, and have been taking on more and more responsibilities of the clinic each week learning more and becoming more independent. I am becoming more fluent each week in my hebrew and find that even when talking with my friends in hebrew I will sometimes throw in some hebrew words. It is not so hard to just carry on a simple conversation in hebrew and that is giving me more self-esteem that I am succeeding and will be even more fluent soon.
so about a week and a half ago I was on-call on the base by myself. It was after dark and everyone was returning back to the base, I was headed into the clinic to finish up some work before I everyone returned. Outside the clinic there are no lights and there are two steps to get inside. As I was opening the door I slipped and fell off the steps. I cut my right arm open. since I was the only medic on-call I went inside to see how bad it was. Since it wouldn't stop bleeding I asked one of my friends to come help me clean it and call the doctor and medics that were returning to base. She came and helped me. When the doctor came to base it was decided that i needed to stitches and so i was taken to the hospital to get evaluated. When we got to the ER we waited for about 2-3 hours to see the doctor. When we saw the doctor he said that i didn't need stitches even though the cut was deep, long, and still bleeding. I told him that i came here to get stitches so that is what i wanted. So he leaves the room and comes back with something in his hand. He takes my arm and puts staples in my arm. I was surprised and in more pain. they hurt. He didn't clean the wound, anesthetize, or bandage it after. i was really surprised by his poor manners and poor skills.
I got back to base and told my doctor that even though i was in pain i could continue to work and didn't need to go home. So i spent the week and the weekend on the base. During the weekend I was the only medic on-call at the base which meant if anything happened or if anyone got sick or injured, I would be called. Luckily the weekend was pretty quiet and I got to hang out with my friends and watch movies, talk and have a relaxing shabbat on the base.
This past week has also been pretty nice. A lot if work, but also the chance to spend time with friends on the base and hang out at nights. I left early on wednesday with one of my friends so that we could go to a ceremony on thursday. I spent the night at her house and we went out to see a movie which was a nice break to just be in civilian clothes and get to hang out. then on thursday i met up with some of my friends from basic training including one of my commanders and we went to the ceremony for the new group of soldiers from the US and other countries that are joining the army through garin tzabar. I surprised one of my friends that is joining and that was great. after the ceremony I spent time with my boyfriend and had a great time just hanging out and relaxing with him.
This next week I will be spending most of the week on-call by myself at the base. This is a huge responsibility in many ways mostly if anything major happens i am the only medic there and i am in-charge of all the injured. I am looking forward to this responsibility and know that I am capable of handling this. I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer and enjoying the sun and weather! keep in touch, it means a lot to me to hear from everyone!
Love,
Roxanne
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Back to life at my base
So I have returned to life at my home base. two weeks into my hebrew course I returned to work at the base for many different reasons mostly being that I was the only girl in the course and I felt that I was learning more outside the classroom on my base than in the class there. So I returned to my base to continue working in the clinic and spending time with all of my friends on base. my hebrew is improving everyday and I am starting to feel more comfortable speaking and hearing the hebrew language when it is directed towards me.
As far as my job duties in the clinic, they are starting to grow and I am starting to take on more and more things each week. During the office hours that the doctor has, I am the medic that evaluates all of the sick soldiers and takes their vital signs and ask what is wrong before they see the doctor. I am also now giving out the medications that the doctor prescribes and able to advise soldiers what to do and how to take the meds. I am also in charge of inspecting the kitchen and it's staff every morning. That is a huge responsibility since if there is a breakout out of a stomach bug it usually comes from the kitchen. Also starting this week I will be traveling to other bases with the doctor and checking up on sick soldiers.
This past week has been great as well! I took off sunday and monday from the army to take care of some non-army things and then to spend some time with one of my friends from the base. we had a great two days. We went to some museums, watched movies, and jsut got to relax and spend time outside of army life. We then returned to base for two days and I worked in the clinic and was on-call for the base and luckily things were not "too" busy. but busy enough. I still got to leave early on thursday though which is always a blessing. so thursday night I was able to make it to a party that was for lone soldiers hosted by the founder of the organization that put me with my host family. It was a great party and really showed me how many lone soldiers still don't have a place to live or are still living in non-optimal conditions. then yesterday I spent the day with my boyfriend. Yes for those of you that don't know, I now have a boyfriend! He is a great and amazing guy and sweet and patient with me. we are both medics on different combat bases so we both understand what the other goes through. He is one great guy.
Now I need to vent a little. just a warning. after making aliyah and officially moving here I had to go to all of these offices to tell them i was in the army and a lone soldier. which i did. Well I get a call two weeks ago from one of the offices that I am not getting any money from the government and i need to come in and talk with them. I go in and they start talking in Hebrew. I ask if anyone speaks english, no only russian or hebrew. I explain that I have gone through this whole process and i am in the army and don't have the time to go through it again. they start going on again(don't understand) I then say why can't i get my money? (don't understand) where is the english speaking person that is supposed to work here? I vaguely understand something about coming every two weeks to pick up money and going to three other offices during the week to turn in papers. I try to explain that i did this already. again i don't understand all that they say in hebrew.
So end up going home talking with my host family and then my host mom goes with me to the next office they want a new copy of the same paper that i already have? why i don't know? it is the original and you want a new copy? one more office to add to my list! so we went to this office. it is an army office and they claim that the computers aren't working. when we called 5 days ago the computers weren't working as well! when are they going to work do they not understand that i am getting absolutely no money and I am a lone soldier with no family here to support me? the office said maybe two weeks and we will mail it to the house.
I am so frustrated and upset and the government. This was something that was supposed to be set up and i worked on long ago when i had the time and it didn't happen. now that i don't have the time i have to go through it all again and I have absolutely no money except what i get as a salary from the army. when do they think that i have to time to sit in all of these offices when I am on the front line defending their country?
Anyway enough complaining. Life is still good and there has to be some bumps in the road. I hope that everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer! be well and keep in touch!
Love,
Roxanne
As far as my job duties in the clinic, they are starting to grow and I am starting to take on more and more things each week. During the office hours that the doctor has, I am the medic that evaluates all of the sick soldiers and takes their vital signs and ask what is wrong before they see the doctor. I am also now giving out the medications that the doctor prescribes and able to advise soldiers what to do and how to take the meds. I am also in charge of inspecting the kitchen and it's staff every morning. That is a huge responsibility since if there is a breakout out of a stomach bug it usually comes from the kitchen. Also starting this week I will be traveling to other bases with the doctor and checking up on sick soldiers.
This past week has been great as well! I took off sunday and monday from the army to take care of some non-army things and then to spend some time with one of my friends from the base. we had a great two days. We went to some museums, watched movies, and jsut got to relax and spend time outside of army life. We then returned to base for two days and I worked in the clinic and was on-call for the base and luckily things were not "too" busy. but busy enough. I still got to leave early on thursday though which is always a blessing. so thursday night I was able to make it to a party that was for lone soldiers hosted by the founder of the organization that put me with my host family. It was a great party and really showed me how many lone soldiers still don't have a place to live or are still living in non-optimal conditions. then yesterday I spent the day with my boyfriend. Yes for those of you that don't know, I now have a boyfriend! He is a great and amazing guy and sweet and patient with me. we are both medics on different combat bases so we both understand what the other goes through. He is one great guy.
Now I need to vent a little. just a warning. after making aliyah and officially moving here I had to go to all of these offices to tell them i was in the army and a lone soldier. which i did. Well I get a call two weeks ago from one of the offices that I am not getting any money from the government and i need to come in and talk with them. I go in and they start talking in Hebrew. I ask if anyone speaks english, no only russian or hebrew. I explain that I have gone through this whole process and i am in the army and don't have the time to go through it again. they start going on again(don't understand) I then say why can't i get my money? (don't understand) where is the english speaking person that is supposed to work here? I vaguely understand something about coming every two weeks to pick up money and going to three other offices during the week to turn in papers. I try to explain that i did this already. again i don't understand all that they say in hebrew.
So end up going home talking with my host family and then my host mom goes with me to the next office they want a new copy of the same paper that i already have? why i don't know? it is the original and you want a new copy? one more office to add to my list! so we went to this office. it is an army office and they claim that the computers aren't working. when we called 5 days ago the computers weren't working as well! when are they going to work do they not understand that i am getting absolutely no money and I am a lone soldier with no family here to support me? the office said maybe two weeks and we will mail it to the house.
I am so frustrated and upset and the government. This was something that was supposed to be set up and i worked on long ago when i had the time and it didn't happen. now that i don't have the time i have to go through it all again and I have absolutely no money except what i get as a salary from the army. when do they think that i have to time to sit in all of these offices when I am on the front line defending their country?
Anyway enough complaining. Life is still good and there has to be some bumps in the road. I hope that everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer! be well and keep in touch!
Love,
Roxanne
Saturday, July 3, 2010
It has been quite a while
Hi to all,
I can't believe that it has been almost a month since I have written an e-mail. It has been pretty busy over here since i have come back. I have been working a lot more since and there has been a lot more activity since the flotilla incident, but not to worry, I have been well and still enjoying myself and my time on base.
So to continue from where i left off last month. I returned to base the day after I landed in Israel and it was amazing to return to base. I had brought gifts from the US for all of my friends on base and they quickly got spread around base. It was quite funny to see some of the Israeli's that have never had american candy wonder haw it was made and where it came from. One of the more funny incidents happened when the disciplinary commander came up to me and told me that he had tried my candy and asked why I didn't bring enough for everyone. I told him that there were 160+ people on the base and if I did I couldn't bring anything else back. he told me next time I go to the US if i don't bring back enough i will get a punishment. Of course he was joking and it was great to just see that everyone was enjoying the things that i brought.
Then three weeks ago it was my turn to close on the base. What that means is that I am the on-call medic if there is an emergency or anything happens. I thought i was going to be in for a nice relaxing weekend hanging out with two of my roommates that were also on-call for the weekend, but no, right before shabbat on friday, one of the girls in the kitchen fell off a chair and hit her back really hard. So i was called to evaluate her and eventually to send her to the ER. Once at the hospital I got called that she got sick leave from the army for a week, but since it was already shabbat, she would be coming back to base and i would be looking after her until she could go home on sunday. So I spent the whole weekend looking after her. then on Saturday i had another soldier that i had to send to the hospital for a fever and dehydration. For my first weekend on-call, it was pretty busy.
Two weeks ago it was my turn to go to the hospital. During lunch one day I ate something that didn't taste quite right and tasted like meat. It was in a vegetarian salad though so i didn't give it much thought. Later that afternoon i wasn't feeling that great and instead of going back to work i went to lay down in my room. That is when i got really sick. I got really bad stomach symptoms as well as my vitals going sky high. I went to the clinic and told my commander that i was really sick and needed an IV because i was dehydrated. I got one liter of fluids and went back to my room. It didn't help much and within another hour I couldn't get out of bed without help and my pulse was above 130. When I got back to the clinic with help from my roommates the doctor didn't understand what was wrong. I got another liter of fluids and went back to the room for another hour. when one of the medics came to check on me later I was running a fever and getting worse. I was sent to the hospital where it was confirmed that i had food poisoning from eating raw meat and also because i am vegetarian. I was given meds for pain and nausea and sent home. Even though it seems like it took a long time before I went to the hospital, you have to remember that I am no where near a hospital and you only go if it an actual emergency. Our clinic on base can treat like an ER and has all of the skills to treat. The medics in the clinic that work with me are amazing and really do know what they are doing.
This past week I have been at a different base in a hebrew course for three weeks. It has been a lot of fun. Most of the soldiers are english speaking so we have a lot more fun in class. the course is not boot camp style so there is a lot more freedom and that has been nice. I have also spent time in the clinic on this base learning a lot more and that has been great for me. The medics on this base were in a practice week and were going over many things that they learned during their course so i learned many things and that was really helpful and good for me. The base that i am on is the main base for my brigade. so all of the basic training units go there. it is a big base and there are many people that i know there. I am looking forward to the next two weeks there, even though i miss my friends on my base so much already.
So to everyone in the US have a good and safe 4th of July weekend. I will be celebrating on base with all of my american friends.
Love,
Roxanne
I can't believe that it has been almost a month since I have written an e-mail. It has been pretty busy over here since i have come back. I have been working a lot more since and there has been a lot more activity since the flotilla incident, but not to worry, I have been well and still enjoying myself and my time on base.
So to continue from where i left off last month. I returned to base the day after I landed in Israel and it was amazing to return to base. I had brought gifts from the US for all of my friends on base and they quickly got spread around base. It was quite funny to see some of the Israeli's that have never had american candy wonder haw it was made and where it came from. One of the more funny incidents happened when the disciplinary commander came up to me and told me that he had tried my candy and asked why I didn't bring enough for everyone. I told him that there were 160+ people on the base and if I did I couldn't bring anything else back. he told me next time I go to the US if i don't bring back enough i will get a punishment. Of course he was joking and it was great to just see that everyone was enjoying the things that i brought.
Then three weeks ago it was my turn to close on the base. What that means is that I am the on-call medic if there is an emergency or anything happens. I thought i was going to be in for a nice relaxing weekend hanging out with two of my roommates that were also on-call for the weekend, but no, right before shabbat on friday, one of the girls in the kitchen fell off a chair and hit her back really hard. So i was called to evaluate her and eventually to send her to the ER. Once at the hospital I got called that she got sick leave from the army for a week, but since it was already shabbat, she would be coming back to base and i would be looking after her until she could go home on sunday. So I spent the whole weekend looking after her. then on Saturday i had another soldier that i had to send to the hospital for a fever and dehydration. For my first weekend on-call, it was pretty busy.
Two weeks ago it was my turn to go to the hospital. During lunch one day I ate something that didn't taste quite right and tasted like meat. It was in a vegetarian salad though so i didn't give it much thought. Later that afternoon i wasn't feeling that great and instead of going back to work i went to lay down in my room. That is when i got really sick. I got really bad stomach symptoms as well as my vitals going sky high. I went to the clinic and told my commander that i was really sick and needed an IV because i was dehydrated. I got one liter of fluids and went back to my room. It didn't help much and within another hour I couldn't get out of bed without help and my pulse was above 130. When I got back to the clinic with help from my roommates the doctor didn't understand what was wrong. I got another liter of fluids and went back to the room for another hour. when one of the medics came to check on me later I was running a fever and getting worse. I was sent to the hospital where it was confirmed that i had food poisoning from eating raw meat and also because i am vegetarian. I was given meds for pain and nausea and sent home. Even though it seems like it took a long time before I went to the hospital, you have to remember that I am no where near a hospital and you only go if it an actual emergency. Our clinic on base can treat like an ER and has all of the skills to treat. The medics in the clinic that work with me are amazing and really do know what they are doing.
This past week I have been at a different base in a hebrew course for three weeks. It has been a lot of fun. Most of the soldiers are english speaking so we have a lot more fun in class. the course is not boot camp style so there is a lot more freedom and that has been nice. I have also spent time in the clinic on this base learning a lot more and that has been great for me. The medics on this base were in a practice week and were going over many things that they learned during their course so i learned many things and that was really helpful and good for me. The base that i am on is the main base for my brigade. so all of the basic training units go there. it is a big base and there are many people that i know there. I am looking forward to the next two weeks there, even though i miss my friends on my base so much already.
So to everyone in the US have a good and safe 4th of July weekend. I will be celebrating on base with all of my american friends.
Love,
Roxanne
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
back in Israel
Hi to all,
So I have just landed back in Israel. I had a great trip at home visiting friends, traveling to california and nevada, and most importantly visiting my family. I got to have some good quality time with my family in Ashland as well as on a trip to San Francisco. It meant a lot to me that we were able to get away for a little while and take some time to ourselves.
While in Ashland I visited with many people as well as just walked around and enjoyed being in the town that i have spent most of my life growing up in. I spent a lot of time with Helen one of my great and best friends and we got caught up on life and how much we are growing up and changing. It is amazing just how much i have changed as a person since leaving ashland not even a year ago.
During the memorial weekend I went down to California with the family and spent the weekend in San Francisco. That was a great weekend and was one of the highlights of my trip. We ate some great food and spent some quality time together. we walked around a lot and went to the academy of sciences museum. If you have not been there i would recommend going. It is quite amazing and like no science museum i have ever seen. Then while the boys saw a baseball game my mom and i had some girl time and that was much needed. Mom I love you and was so glad to be able to spend some one on one time with you! After going on some very long detours and getting lost on the way home, I spent some time riding with the Ashland fire and rescue service for two days. I had a great time and learned so much. I enjoyed it a lot and can't wait until i come back and can ride again with the guys. It was a great experience. All of these guys are experienced, know their stuff and were eager to teach me some little tricks of the trade, as well.
Finally to sum up my trip, like it hasn't been busy enough! I flew down to las Vegas to meet my grandparents down there for two days. they flew out from Florida to meet me before i left so that i could see them before i returned to Israel. Well getting to Las Vegas was a journey. I first got a weather delay, then got on the plane only to return to medford for mechanical problems, so finally got to SF only to miss my flight and have to wait at the airport until the evening then was on stand-by and didn't make that first flight. so I didn't get to Las vegas until 12 hours from when i left medford. but finally did get to meet my grandparents and was so glad to finally see them. Spent friday and part of saturday with them. got to see a great show and spent time walking around the hotels(those things are huge and amazing), I also tried my hand at the slot machines and hate them. I don't understand how anyone gets a kick out of it. It is BORING! I did enjoy watching people gamble at the tables though.
So finally saturday night flew back to medford and then sunday morning started on my flight out to Israel! I landed in israel yesterday afternoon without any delays and i am so glad to be here. I am now sitting on the bus heading to base and i am so excited to be heading to see all my friends out at the base.
I hope that everyone is doing well and keep in contact I love reading the e-mails!
Love,
Roxanne
So I have just landed back in Israel. I had a great trip at home visiting friends, traveling to california and nevada, and most importantly visiting my family. I got to have some good quality time with my family in Ashland as well as on a trip to San Francisco. It meant a lot to me that we were able to get away for a little while and take some time to ourselves.
While in Ashland I visited with many people as well as just walked around and enjoyed being in the town that i have spent most of my life growing up in. I spent a lot of time with Helen one of my great and best friends and we got caught up on life and how much we are growing up and changing. It is amazing just how much i have changed as a person since leaving ashland not even a year ago.
During the memorial weekend I went down to California with the family and spent the weekend in San Francisco. That was a great weekend and was one of the highlights of my trip. We ate some great food and spent some quality time together. we walked around a lot and went to the academy of sciences museum. If you have not been there i would recommend going. It is quite amazing and like no science museum i have ever seen. Then while the boys saw a baseball game my mom and i had some girl time and that was much needed. Mom I love you and was so glad to be able to spend some one on one time with you! After going on some very long detours and getting lost on the way home, I spent some time riding with the Ashland fire and rescue service for two days. I had a great time and learned so much. I enjoyed it a lot and can't wait until i come back and can ride again with the guys. It was a great experience. All of these guys are experienced, know their stuff and were eager to teach me some little tricks of the trade, as well.
Finally to sum up my trip, like it hasn't been busy enough! I flew down to las Vegas to meet my grandparents down there for two days. they flew out from Florida to meet me before i left so that i could see them before i returned to Israel. Well getting to Las Vegas was a journey. I first got a weather delay, then got on the plane only to return to medford for mechanical problems, so finally got to SF only to miss my flight and have to wait at the airport until the evening then was on stand-by and didn't make that first flight. so I didn't get to Las vegas until 12 hours from when i left medford. but finally did get to meet my grandparents and was so glad to finally see them. Spent friday and part of saturday with them. got to see a great show and spent time walking around the hotels(those things are huge and amazing), I also tried my hand at the slot machines and hate them. I don't understand how anyone gets a kick out of it. It is BORING! I did enjoy watching people gamble at the tables though.
So finally saturday night flew back to medford and then sunday morning started on my flight out to Israel! I landed in israel yesterday afternoon without any delays and i am so glad to be here. I am now sitting on the bus heading to base and i am so excited to be heading to see all my friends out at the base.
I hope that everyone is doing well and keep in contact I love reading the e-mails!
Love,
Roxanne
Saturday, May 15, 2010
coming to the US
Hi to all,
Hi to everyone! In a couple of days i will be flying to Oregon to see my family and visit with friends for two weeks. I am really excited ti be coming and seeing everyone. It has been so long since i have been in the US and seen everyone. I most of all cannot wait to come and give my parents and big hug and just see them in person. talking to them on the phone is good and it gives me comfort when i need it. but i need to have some parental and maternal loving. I will be leaving Israel late tuesday night and arriving in Oregon on wednesday the 19th at around 12pm from salt lake city. if anyone would like to come greet me at the airport i would love to see you and say hi. otherwise i will be in town until the 6th of june. so I plan on seeing as many people as i can and having a great time.
hope everyone is well and see you soon!
Roxanne
Hi to everyone! In a couple of days i will be flying to Oregon to see my family and visit with friends for two weeks. I am really excited ti be coming and seeing everyone. It has been so long since i have been in the US and seen everyone. I most of all cannot wait to come and give my parents and big hug and just see them in person. talking to them on the phone is good and it gives me comfort when i need it. but i need to have some parental and maternal loving. I will be leaving Israel late tuesday night and arriving in Oregon on wednesday the 19th at around 12pm from salt lake city. if anyone would like to come greet me at the airport i would love to see you and say hi. otherwise i will be in town until the 6th of june. so I plan on seeing as many people as i can and having a great time.
hope everyone is well and see you soon!
Roxanne
Saturday, May 1, 2010
past weeks and trip home
I hope that everyone is well! I have been doing great. I am really enjoying my time at the new base and really enjoying my new job there as a medic. I am learning a lot and speaking more and more hebrew each day. I am learning a lot about how to run and work in the clinic and what it means to be a combat medic. This week in the west bank there have been riots in some of the arab villages so some of the medics have been stationed there. Also almost every night our unit has gone out to make arrests of terrorists or suspected terrorists so that means that i need to be on-call if something happens. It has been interesting and a little scary being right in the middle of all of this action. When you are in the cities like tel-aviv and Jerusalem you don't hear about what happens out in the west bank every day so i never knew that arrests were being made on a daily basis or that there were still riots happening.
Other than that the soldiers on the base are great. There are 4 other girls on the base from the US and they are constantly helping me with my hebrew. i am really making some great friends on the base and it has been an amazing experience.
In other news. I am coming home in 18 days! I have gotten permission from the army to come home for two weeks. so i will be home from may 19th until June 6th. I would love to see all of you and make plans to get together for coffee or something like that. I can't wait to be home and see you all.
love,
Roxanne
Other than that the soldiers on the base are great. There are 4 other girls on the base from the US and they are constantly helping me with my hebrew. i am really making some great friends on the base and it has been an amazing experience.
In other news. I am coming home in 18 days! I have gotten permission from the army to come home for two weeks. so i will be home from may 19th until June 6th. I would love to see all of you and make plans to get together for coffee or something like that. I can't wait to be home and see you all.
love,
Roxanne
Thursday, April 15, 2010
new base
Hi To all,
So it has only been a week since i last sent a e-mail, but i have some good news. I finally have a new base and a new job in the army. On Tuesday i went to my new base which is a combat special units base in the west bank near hebron. For those of you familiar with the army it is Gadsar Nahal. It is a brand new base and the soldiers there are amazing. I got there tuesday and had interviews with many different officers since i came there without a job. Finally towards the end of the day one of the officers asked what i wanted to do. I told her I wanted to be a medic. She told me that shouldn't be a problem since I have been studying to be a nurse. So i had an interview with the doctor and I am now a medic in the clinic at the base. I will probably be going to a medics course within the next month or two and i am really excited. this is exactly what I wanted to do and many people have told me I can't be a medic because my hebrew is not good enough. well it worked out and even though my hebrew isn't great, i am still a medic. Most of the soldiers on the base speak a little english and have been helping me to improve my hebrew and that has been great. all of the guys and girls have been very welcoming to me and have made me feel like part of the base already.
So since this is a combat base I will be considered a combat soldier/combat medic at this point. what this means right now I don't exactly know. I do know that i am in the west bank, all soldiers carry guns, I will be going out as a medic on operations. Am i scared? a little. But at the same time I know that this i really what i want to do and i feel like i am fighting and defending my country more here than if i was sitting in an office in Tel aviv staring at a computer all day.
Anyway I have more time off from the army until Wednesday since monday is memorial day and tuesday is independence day as well as my birthday.
I hope that everyone is well and keep in touch!
Love,
Roxanne
So it has only been a week since i last sent a e-mail, but i have some good news. I finally have a new base and a new job in the army. On Tuesday i went to my new base which is a combat special units base in the west bank near hebron. For those of you familiar with the army it is Gadsar Nahal. It is a brand new base and the soldiers there are amazing. I got there tuesday and had interviews with many different officers since i came there without a job. Finally towards the end of the day one of the officers asked what i wanted to do. I told her I wanted to be a medic. She told me that shouldn't be a problem since I have been studying to be a nurse. So i had an interview with the doctor and I am now a medic in the clinic at the base. I will probably be going to a medics course within the next month or two and i am really excited. this is exactly what I wanted to do and many people have told me I can't be a medic because my hebrew is not good enough. well it worked out and even though my hebrew isn't great, i am still a medic. Most of the soldiers on the base speak a little english and have been helping me to improve my hebrew and that has been great. all of the guys and girls have been very welcoming to me and have made me feel like part of the base already.
So since this is a combat base I will be considered a combat soldier/combat medic at this point. what this means right now I don't exactly know. I do know that i am in the west bank, all soldiers carry guns, I will be going out as a medic on operations. Am i scared? a little. But at the same time I know that this i really what i want to do and i feel like i am fighting and defending my country more here than if i was sitting in an office in Tel aviv staring at a computer all day.
Anyway I have more time off from the army until Wednesday since monday is memorial day and tuesday is independence day as well as my birthday.
I hope that everyone is well and keep in touch!
Love,
Roxanne
Thursday, April 8, 2010
continuing on!
Hi to all,
I hope that everyone had a great Pesach and the past few weeks have been good. This year was my first time in Israel celebrating Pesach and it was really nice. I spent the first two days of Pesach at an army resort where the army hosted about 400 lone soldiers this year for pesach. The first day the head of the IDF came and gave a speech to all of the lone soldiers as well as surprised one lone soldier by bringing his parents to Israel for the holidays. We had a big seder that night that lasted 5 hours and had amazing food. The second day at the resort there were activities and games to play as well as a lot of food to eat. It was amazing to talk to many other lone soldiers like me and hear their stories and learn why they came to serve in the IDF. I also met two boys from oregon there and that was nice to meet some other people from my home state. The rest of pesach I spent with my host family. We relaxed, went to the movies, and went to the beach. It was really nice to not be in the army for the week and to just have some time to myself and get to know my host family a little more. Having my host family has been a real blessing, they have opened their house and their hearts to welcome me into their family. I feel like i am part of their family and it has been amazing it makes me feel even more Comfortable being in Israel and leaving base every weekend. I have a home to come to now.
The week before Pesach I graduated from Mikve Alon and finished my hebrew course. Does that mean I speak fluent hebrew? not at all. I still do not feel confident in my hebrew skills and struggle a lot to communicate, but my hebrew has improved since I started the course. The last day at our base we had a ceremony and one of my host sisters came to the ceremony. It was so nice to have someone there to see me march in the ceremony and see all that i have accomplished. She also took pictures which are on facebook, so if you have facebook, you can view them on my page.
My next stop was going back to the place where I got drafted to get a job assignment. I asked to be a paramedic or some type of instructor. after two weeks of waiting I still do know know what my job is and I am hoping to find out on Sunday. There is a possibility that i will return to mikve alon to do another hebrew course to improve my hebrew even more.
I did attach two pictures the first is the end of our graduation ceremony and the second is me and one of my adopted sisters.
I hope that everyone is doing well. know that i miss you all and cannot wait to see all of you soon!
Love,
Roxanne
I hope that everyone had a great Pesach and the past few weeks have been good. This year was my first time in Israel celebrating Pesach and it was really nice. I spent the first two days of Pesach at an army resort where the army hosted about 400 lone soldiers this year for pesach. The first day the head of the IDF came and gave a speech to all of the lone soldiers as well as surprised one lone soldier by bringing his parents to Israel for the holidays. We had a big seder that night that lasted 5 hours and had amazing food. The second day at the resort there were activities and games to play as well as a lot of food to eat. It was amazing to talk to many other lone soldiers like me and hear their stories and learn why they came to serve in the IDF. I also met two boys from oregon there and that was nice to meet some other people from my home state. The rest of pesach I spent with my host family. We relaxed, went to the movies, and went to the beach. It was really nice to not be in the army for the week and to just have some time to myself and get to know my host family a little more. Having my host family has been a real blessing, they have opened their house and their hearts to welcome me into their family. I feel like i am part of their family and it has been amazing it makes me feel even more Comfortable being in Israel and leaving base every weekend. I have a home to come to now.
The week before Pesach I graduated from Mikve Alon and finished my hebrew course. Does that mean I speak fluent hebrew? not at all. I still do not feel confident in my hebrew skills and struggle a lot to communicate, but my hebrew has improved since I started the course. The last day at our base we had a ceremony and one of my host sisters came to the ceremony. It was so nice to have someone there to see me march in the ceremony and see all that i have accomplished. She also took pictures which are on facebook, so if you have facebook, you can view them on my page.
My next stop was going back to the place where I got drafted to get a job assignment. I asked to be a paramedic or some type of instructor. after two weeks of waiting I still do know know what my job is and I am hoping to find out on Sunday. There is a possibility that i will return to mikve alon to do another hebrew course to improve my hebrew even more.
I did attach two pictures the first is the end of our graduation ceremony and the second is me and one of my adopted sisters.
I hope that everyone is doing well. know that i miss you all and cannot wait to see all of you soon!
Love,
Roxanne
Saturday, February 20, 2010
is it still the army?
Hi Everyone,
It feels like forever since I have written an e-mail and when I looked this morning, the last one I wrote was in January. that was quite a while ago. Things continue to move along at an army speed which for some things are really fast and other things are really really slow. The past few weeks I have been learning hebrew at what feels like warp speed. We spend about five minutes on one lesson and then move onto the next lesson. I am learning and picking things up, but it also feels like my brain is on over drive and overflowing with information. I never get a break or a time to just slow down. on the other hand, since I have joined the army I have been trying to see a neurologist to get medication for my migraines. well the first time they sent me two weeks ago they sent me on the wrong day to the wrong base, so i had to wait until last week to be sent again only to find out that that the doctor did not speak any english and could not understand anything that I was trying to say to him. So he wrote prescriptions for me, but they were wrong because the drugs are not prescribed here, so I now have to go back to the same doctor with the hope that he learned some english overnight or I became fluent in hebrew overnight to get something accomplished.
This past week in the army we took a two day trip down to Jerusalem. I thought it was a little weird to be in the army and go on field trips, but it is also really amazing to see that the army is interested in giving the soldiers and educational experience and not just a combat experience. Being in Jerusalem in uniform was really amazing especially being at the western wall. the first day we went to Ammunition hill and mount Herzl and had tours there. it was all really interesting and then in the evening we had an evening activity and then we had guard duty at the base that we were staying at. the next day we went to yad vashem and the old city. at yad vashem they gave us tours in english so I was very grateful even though i had been there before i learned more and saw different things than the first time i was there. I recommend anyone that comes to israel go to yad vashem. even though it is a hard place to go to, it is an amazing experience and shouldn't be missed. in the afternoon we went to the old city and took a walking tour of the old city. we ended our tour at the western wall. we spent time praying at the wall and then had flag raising. it was one of the most emotional experiences to be at the wall in uniform raising the flag of our country and having people surrounding you and crying and laughing and singing hatikvah with you supporting you and your causes and what you are doing for the country. it was amazing and really lifted my spirits.
Anyway, what else has been going on. Two weekends ago I got introduced to a family that was looking to adopt a lone soldier. Since I have been having trouble with my kibbutz and really just needed to have someone that was like family here, I decided to try it out and see what they were like. I really like the family and have officially moved into their house and will be living with them for the next two years. They are a really nice family and have taken really good care of me so far. There are two sisters and one brother. I already feel at home here and feel so much better here then I did on the kibbutz. below is my new address everyone please make note of my new address.
Roxanne Fogelman
C/O Yossi Lis
252 Hadekel st.
Moshav Ge'Alya
76885
It feels like forever since I have written an e-mail and when I looked this morning, the last one I wrote was in January. that was quite a while ago. Things continue to move along at an army speed which for some things are really fast and other things are really really slow. The past few weeks I have been learning hebrew at what feels like warp speed. We spend about five minutes on one lesson and then move onto the next lesson. I am learning and picking things up, but it also feels like my brain is on over drive and overflowing with information. I never get a break or a time to just slow down. on the other hand, since I have joined the army I have been trying to see a neurologist to get medication for my migraines. well the first time they sent me two weeks ago they sent me on the wrong day to the wrong base, so i had to wait until last week to be sent again only to find out that that the doctor did not speak any english and could not understand anything that I was trying to say to him. So he wrote prescriptions for me, but they were wrong because the drugs are not prescribed here, so I now have to go back to the same doctor with the hope that he learned some english overnight or I became fluent in hebrew overnight to get something accomplished.
This past week in the army we took a two day trip down to Jerusalem. I thought it was a little weird to be in the army and go on field trips, but it is also really amazing to see that the army is interested in giving the soldiers and educational experience and not just a combat experience. Being in Jerusalem in uniform was really amazing especially being at the western wall. the first day we went to Ammunition hill and mount Herzl and had tours there. it was all really interesting and then in the evening we had an evening activity and then we had guard duty at the base that we were staying at. the next day we went to yad vashem and the old city. at yad vashem they gave us tours in english so I was very grateful even though i had been there before i learned more and saw different things than the first time i was there. I recommend anyone that comes to israel go to yad vashem. even though it is a hard place to go to, it is an amazing experience and shouldn't be missed. in the afternoon we went to the old city and took a walking tour of the old city. we ended our tour at the western wall. we spent time praying at the wall and then had flag raising. it was one of the most emotional experiences to be at the wall in uniform raising the flag of our country and having people surrounding you and crying and laughing and singing hatikvah with you supporting you and your causes and what you are doing for the country. it was amazing and really lifted my spirits.
Anyway, what else has been going on. Two weekends ago I got introduced to a family that was looking to adopt a lone soldier. Since I have been having trouble with my kibbutz and really just needed to have someone that was like family here, I decided to try it out and see what they were like. I really like the family and have officially moved into their house and will be living with them for the next two years. They are a really nice family and have taken really good care of me so far. There are two sisters and one brother. I already feel at home here and feel so much better here then I did on the kibbutz. below is my new address everyone please make note of my new address.
Roxanne Fogelman
C/O Yossi Lis
252 Hadekel st.
Moshav Ge'Alya
76885
Some other important news is that I put in my application to make aliyah and will be making aliyah within the next few weeks. I am really excited and feel that this is the right thing for me to do. I cannot wait to actually be a citizen of my country that i am serving.
This has been a long letter, but there has been a lot going on in my life. I hope that everyone enjoys getting these letters. i would love to hear from all of you. if i don't respond, please understand that it is not because i don't want to, it is because i don't get internet on the base, only on the weekends I will contact you as soon as possible but i do read all of the e-mails and they do brighten my day and give me the strength to get through the hard times.
love,
roxanne
This has been a long letter, but there has been a lot going on in my life. I hope that everyone enjoys getting these letters. i would love to hear from all of you. if i don't respond, please understand that it is not because i don't want to, it is because i don't get internet on the base, only on the weekends I will contact you as soon as possible but i do read all of the e-mails and they do brighten my day and give me the strength to get through the hard times.
love,
roxanne
Friday, January 29, 2010
the past few weeks
HI to all,
Life has continued to move forward and the past few weeks in the army have had their ups and downs. In the army we have moved from basic training to hebrew course and we are now learning hebrew for anywhere from 6-8 hours a day. Since my hebrew is not that great I have a private tutor and learn one on one with the tutor while the rest of my group is in the class. My hebrew has greatly improved and I am starting to understand and speak more than i did when i first started the army. This past week has been really busy at the base. We have had some very important people come to the base so there have been many ceremonies for that. We have a women from the knesset (israeli government) come to the base to visit with soldiers from other countries so we had a big ceremony for that. We also had the head commander of the education unit come and take a tour of the base. we also had a ceremony because today is Tubeshvat. so we had a flag raising with all of the groups from the base and the commander of the base gave us a speech. so this week has been full of important events and that has been a good break from just sitting in the classroom all day.
Many people have asked how i have been feeling lately. I am still struggling with the migraines and the effects from them. I have been having a hard time dealing with the pain and that has been really frustrating when you can't take the time you need to feel better and take care of yourself. I continue to push on though and not let the pain hold me back. Being in the army you can't just give up and i don't want to just give in to the pain, so i just put on a smile and move on.
I have been slowly making friends, but that has also been hard. in my group i am the only one that speaks english, the rest of the group speaks russian, so i am an outsider in my group. But there are other girls in other groups that speak english and i have been making friends with a lot of the other english speaking girls. I have gotten to know some of them pretty well and we hang out whenever we can during our breaks.
Overall the army has been good. yes you do not have your own time or your own space, but the you get used to the structure of the army and it has now become a part of my life. There have been many challenges, but slowly I am rising up to these challenges and overcoming them. I never fully understood how hard life really can be until now. and because of this i am learning more about myself and it has been amazing to see.
I hope that everyone is doing well! please keep in touch. It makes my day to read all of you e-mails and notes and it really means a lot to me!
Love,
Roxanne
Life has continued to move forward and the past few weeks in the army have had their ups and downs. In the army we have moved from basic training to hebrew course and we are now learning hebrew for anywhere from 6-8 hours a day. Since my hebrew is not that great I have a private tutor and learn one on one with the tutor while the rest of my group is in the class. My hebrew has greatly improved and I am starting to understand and speak more than i did when i first started the army. This past week has been really busy at the base. We have had some very important people come to the base so there have been many ceremonies for that. We have a women from the knesset (israeli government) come to the base to visit with soldiers from other countries so we had a big ceremony for that. We also had the head commander of the education unit come and take a tour of the base. we also had a ceremony because today is Tubeshvat. so we had a flag raising with all of the groups from the base and the commander of the base gave us a speech. so this week has been full of important events and that has been a good break from just sitting in the classroom all day.
Many people have asked how i have been feeling lately. I am still struggling with the migraines and the effects from them. I have been having a hard time dealing with the pain and that has been really frustrating when you can't take the time you need to feel better and take care of yourself. I continue to push on though and not let the pain hold me back. Being in the army you can't just give up and i don't want to just give in to the pain, so i just put on a smile and move on.
I have been slowly making friends, but that has also been hard. in my group i am the only one that speaks english, the rest of the group speaks russian, so i am an outsider in my group. But there are other girls in other groups that speak english and i have been making friends with a lot of the other english speaking girls. I have gotten to know some of them pretty well and we hang out whenever we can during our breaks.
Overall the army has been good. yes you do not have your own time or your own space, but the you get used to the structure of the army and it has now become a part of my life. There have been many challenges, but slowly I am rising up to these challenges and overcoming them. I never fully understood how hard life really can be until now. and because of this i am learning more about myself and it has been amazing to see.
I hope that everyone is doing well! please keep in touch. It makes my day to read all of you e-mails and notes and it really means a lot to me!
Love,
Roxanne
Thursday, January 14, 2010
hi to all
hi to all my friends and family,
It has been a couple of weeks since i have written. I have been very busy with the army and have not had much free time. The past two weeks have been hard both physically and mentally. Boot camp has been interesting to say the least. Last week we were at the shooting range for two days learning about the guns and how to shoot them. I actually enjoyed the shooting range more than I thought that i would. I realized that i am a pretty good marksman and that made me feel more confident in my abilities with the M16. Last week we also did outdoor survival as well as first aid, learning about the radio, doing guard duty, and a lot of team building. Then last weekend we stayed on base for shabbat and had guard duty all weekend. It was actually more relaxed on the base than i thought it would be.
This week has also been hard. We had a lot of testing because we finished our boot camp. So there was a lot of drills, and testing. We also had a very big ceremony on Tuesday where we got sworn into the army. The ceremony was held at one of the prisons that was used for holding soldiers of the underground army during the british mandate. The ceremony was really nice, but i really missed having people there to support me.
Today we got to come home for the weekend. I am staying at a friends house for the weekend and enjoying not being on a time schedule and being able to do what i want when I want. Being home for the weekend is also weird at the same time. I never thought that i would be looking for my gun and wondering why it is not on me. While on base you are always with your gun and this weekend i am not and it is really weird not having it.
Overall I am enjoying the army experience it is making me stronger both physically and mentally and I am definitely growing from it. I miss all of you and hope that all is well. Please keep in touch. it means a lot to me when I hear from all of you!
Love,
Roxanne
It has been a couple of weeks since i have written. I have been very busy with the army and have not had much free time. The past two weeks have been hard both physically and mentally. Boot camp has been interesting to say the least. Last week we were at the shooting range for two days learning about the guns and how to shoot them. I actually enjoyed the shooting range more than I thought that i would. I realized that i am a pretty good marksman and that made me feel more confident in my abilities with the M16. Last week we also did outdoor survival as well as first aid, learning about the radio, doing guard duty, and a lot of team building. Then last weekend we stayed on base for shabbat and had guard duty all weekend. It was actually more relaxed on the base than i thought it would be.
This week has also been hard. We had a lot of testing because we finished our boot camp. So there was a lot of drills, and testing. We also had a very big ceremony on Tuesday where we got sworn into the army. The ceremony was held at one of the prisons that was used for holding soldiers of the underground army during the british mandate. The ceremony was really nice, but i really missed having people there to support me.
Today we got to come home for the weekend. I am staying at a friends house for the weekend and enjoying not being on a time schedule and being able to do what i want when I want. Being home for the weekend is also weird at the same time. I never thought that i would be looking for my gun and wondering why it is not on me. While on base you are always with your gun and this weekend i am not and it is really weird not having it.
Overall I am enjoying the army experience it is making me stronger both physically and mentally and I am definitely growing from it. I miss all of you and hope that all is well. Please keep in touch. it means a lot to me when I hear from all of you!
Love,
Roxanne
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy new year!
Hi to all,
I hope that everyone has had a great new Years! I spent mine with friends in Jerusalem and rang in the new year with my army uniform on. I have now been in the army for two weeks and it has been an amazing as well as difficult experience. Going through the drafting process was very interesting. They have an assembly line system to get you through there quickly, but there is still a lot of waiting and confusion. As soon as you put on you uniform though you start to get yelled at by commanders that cannot do anything to you. After everyone has gotten their uniform we were taken onto the bus and driven to the base.
The first week on base you are taking tests for your hebrew level, having interviews and just getting oriented to being in the army. The first week is pretty intense, but it gets even more intense after the first week. During that first week there is no punishment and not as much moving around.
This past week has been my second week on base. We also started our second week of Tironut which is boot camp. This week has been more demanding and even more intense. We get yelled at, there is a lot of running, and you can get push-ups for making the littlest mistake. Even though it is more tough, I am making friends quickly and am finding a support system within the army. This past week we were also given our guns. So wherever we go we have our guns and we are having classes about the guns and how to use them as well as take care of them. We were able to leave base for the weekend wednesday afternoon and that was a nice break. I have to be back on base sunday morning, so having these couple of days off have been nice.
I am now half-way through the boot camp and after the next two weeks I will start hebrew classes to build a better foundation of hebrew. I am really looking forward to that so that i can start to understand more of what is being asked of me within the army.
I hope that this next year brings many joys to all of you!
Happy New year,
Roxanne
I hope that everyone has had a great new Years! I spent mine with friends in Jerusalem and rang in the new year with my army uniform on. I have now been in the army for two weeks and it has been an amazing as well as difficult experience. Going through the drafting process was very interesting. They have an assembly line system to get you through there quickly, but there is still a lot of waiting and confusion. As soon as you put on you uniform though you start to get yelled at by commanders that cannot do anything to you. After everyone has gotten their uniform we were taken onto the bus and driven to the base.
The first week on base you are taking tests for your hebrew level, having interviews and just getting oriented to being in the army. The first week is pretty intense, but it gets even more intense after the first week. During that first week there is no punishment and not as much moving around.
This past week has been my second week on base. We also started our second week of Tironut which is boot camp. This week has been more demanding and even more intense. We get yelled at, there is a lot of running, and you can get push-ups for making the littlest mistake. Even though it is more tough, I am making friends quickly and am finding a support system within the army. This past week we were also given our guns. So wherever we go we have our guns and we are having classes about the guns and how to use them as well as take care of them. We were able to leave base for the weekend wednesday afternoon and that was a nice break. I have to be back on base sunday morning, so having these couple of days off have been nice.
I am now half-way through the boot camp and after the next two weeks I will start hebrew classes to build a better foundation of hebrew. I am really looking forward to that so that i can start to understand more of what is being asked of me within the army.
I hope that this next year brings many joys to all of you!
Happy New year,
Roxanne
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