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Published: March 4th 2011
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We switched work assignments today. Instead of cleaning gas masks which is you do sitting in a circle, we checked kits that soldiers pick up from the warehouse in the event of an emergency or for an exercise. The bags each way about 40 pounds and contain 2 blankets, a kit with a vest to hold ammunition and 2 water bottles, a helmet, a jacket (it gets really cold in the desert at night), 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, a cap, a belt and a pressure bandage. Most of the equipment looks like surplus from WW II. The uniforms are Israeli, but the vests and many of the jackets are US surplus with dates going back to 1953. The helmets are straight out of Saving Private Ryan. We unpack each bag and make sure that all the components are there and that the uniform size matches the size on the label of the bag. We started at 8 and worked until 5 with an hour break for lunch. At the moment, my feet are sore despite fancy hiking shoes. One of the people in our group has an iPod with speakers and a very eclectic music collection which made the
day goes more quickly.
I gave the 5th hat that I had brought to Ahmed the warehouse manager. Granted we could only communicate through a 3rd party since he speaks only Hebrew and I speak only English, but he has been very nice and brought us cookies each afternoon.
At mid-day we had our picture taken with the base commander. His family was originally from Morocco and is one of more than 400,000 Jews who were expelled from Arab countries in the 40’s and 50’s.
Getting time with the base commander is a very big deal because this is a huge base and there is a sense that everyone is on alert because of the turmoil going on all around Israel. One person reported that the President of Yemen was claiming that the revolutionary activity across the Arab world was caused by an American plot launched from a base in Tel Aviv. We all wished we could get a tour of that base (just kidding). I gave the last of the hats I had knit and brought with me to the base commander who said he would wear it cycling. The head of the Sar El program happened to stop
by to talk with us. It turns out there are 4,000 volunteer visits through this program each year. Most of the tours are 2 or 3 weeks, not the one week program that I’m on. The IDF has approximately 36 soldiers assigned as “guides” for the volunteer teams at any time. All of the Madrichot who started with us have left, 2 for training and 2 to participate in a program that prepares them to leave the military so we have a new Madrichot. She is about 4’10” and from Moldavia through Los Angeles. She has worked with some people from my group on earlier visits. Tomorrow when we leave she is also going to Haifa and offered to travel with me which will make the trip easier and more pleasant.
I spoke with Jack today and he is busy thinking about far more complicated issues that I’m facing. Well we are about to leave for our evening program which is starting at a 7 rather than the usual 6:30. Sometimes I feel like I’m on a giant early bird special.
The evening activity was a brief meeting at which each person received a certificate recognizing their participation in Sar El. One of a Madrichot told us about a ceremony she had attended at which 500 members of the IDF were commissioned as officers. Her brother is a 3rd generation officer and she relayed her father and grandfather’s pride. It was obvious that it was a meaningful and emotional ceremony. After this we moved on to the subject of just how hot Israeli pilots are. Anyone who is a pilot or works on the planes is forbidden from having a Facebook page and we were explicitly instructed not to photograph any of them. The workday had been very physically demanding and I was asleep by 9:30.
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