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

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

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