Weekend Excursions and Field Trips (Just like Middle School)

Let me tell you something…when Thursday comes along and the bus arrives to take us off the base, we are very happy campers! The ride to the Central Bus Station is 30 – 45 minutes, depending on traffic. The congestion around Tel Aviv looks like rush hour in any major city! Central Bus Station is another story: dirty and very confusing. There are up escalators, but none going down. On each landing of the bizarrely designed stairs is a toilet. They are difficult to distinguish: men/women, but it rarely matters, as they are nothing you would want to go near: one’s olfactory senses are on high alert.

Jerusalem was one of the first stops. The monochromatic limestone has a pink glow in the sunset. There are quarries around the city and all of the buildings are required to be built with this “Jerusalem” stone. The Old City is divided (not evenly) into 4 quarters: Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Armenian and. From my room at the Beit Shmuel, I had a bird’s eye view of the Jaffa Gate. From this access point, you wander through the maze of narrow Armenian streets in search of the Jewish Quarter.
The Armenians are very polite and persistent in their solicitation of your business.

The Cardo, a former market that was excavated, has been recreated as a relatively new shopping area with many galleries. A 6th century mosaic map of the old city has been preserved on the inner wall. Needless to say, we all invested in the Israeli economy. My most favorite travel pix are those of brides and grooms….here they are in the Jewish Quarter.

During the Nurses’ Mission, we toured the Christian Quarter and explored the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Given that it was holy week, I felt a little guilty competing with the Christians to see 4 of the 12 Stations of the Cross. The few non-Jews traveling with us gave us special dispensation! It was an amazing experience standing on the most hallowed ground of Christianity.

Set high on the hill overlooking central Jerusalem is Mount Herzl, named after Theodore Herzl, the man considered to be the founder of founder of modern Zionism. The steep slopes are a cemetery for many of the former presidents and prime ministers. It is also the largest military cemetery.

Yitzhak Rabin’s headstone is most striking. Reflective of the controversy and division during and after his career, the headstone is designed with a split in the middle: half is dark stone and half is light stone. It is now cordoned off with a rope and has 24 hour video surveillance due to past episodes of vandalism.

One of the newer areas is designated for the fallen soldiers of the 2nd Lebanon war. The markers are covered with memorabilia: epilates, pins, pictures, cigarette lighters and medals. One in particular caught my eye: a picture of a father and son at one of the Eagles football games and a Phillies batting hat. Michael Levin, a young man from the Philadelphia suburbs was killed in the war. I pieced together that he was first in Israel during high school; made aliyah in 2003 and died in the war in 2006.

Therapeutic black mud is readily available in the Dead Sea area. Application of the mud takes a variety of forms: random application to the entire body; specific application to joints (elbows, knees, or along the spinal column for example), or mud fights! Waiting for the mud to dry is determined by then finesse with which it is applied. Thick applications take forever to dry. This is followed with a hot sulfur shower, which quickly dissolves the body mask but is caustic in close proximity to one’s eyes and face.

The Dead Sea is no ordinary body of water! Lets start with the fact that it is a lake, not a sea; half of it lies in Jordan, and the other half in Israel. At more than 1300 ft below sea level, it is the lowest place in the world. Sand is nowhere to be found, which makes some type of foot wear a necessity. The sea bottom is very hard, white and with ridges that can slice through the deepest of calluses. The makeup of the water is about 23% salts: this facilitates floating, leaves your skin with a layer of oil when you emerge and makes you see stars if you have any cuts. Do NOT under any circumstances shave your legs – ouch!

The Mediterranean is bee-u-t-ful. A walk on the beach to feel the sand in my toes was the first activity after checking into the hotel one weekend. Tootsies in the water felt great! Tel Aviv or the Jersey shore - boardwalks and promenades are not much different.

Stay tuned for the highlights of Hadassah Nurses' Mission. It was a fabulous time seeing Israel through the eyes of a nurse. The drawback to the 4-star hotels is that WIFI is not included! Hence the delay in posting ...

The adventure continues....

Shabbat Shalom

Love from the Middle East,

Yehudit

Taking a Step Back - Sar El 101

I thought you might want to know a little about the volunteer program that has lured me to Israel. Volunteers for Israel (VFI) is a non-profit, non-political organization whose mission to American to Israel through hands-on, civilian volunteer work in hospitals, nursing homes and on Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bases.

The program began in 1982 in response to a manpower shortage caused by the first war in Lebanon. General Aharon Davidi sent emissaries to the United States and other countries to enlist volunteers to harvest crops and help maintain the economy while thousands of Israelis were serving in the army. More than 600 volunteers responded to this call for help.

Those initial volunteers were so enthusiastic about this opportunity that they asked General Davidi to continue the program after the crisis ended. Since its inception, more then 100,000 volunteers from more than 36 different countries have served. In Israel, the project is known as Sar-El (which unfortunately doesn’t create the an acronym in the transliteration of Sherut L’Israel), the National Project for Volunteers for Israel.

The Matzrap Army Base is a base within the Tel Hashomer Base, located in the greater Tel Aviv area. As I mentioned in a previous posting, this is a medical supply base where we package and re-package medical supplies for combat. We work and eat with the soldiers on the base.

Our volunteer group is twenty-one strong, representing four countries: USA, Canada, Holland, and Australia. The United States is represented by 9 states: PA, FL, VA, NJ, CA, TX, WA, NV, and OH (in no order). The age range is 42 to 83. There are 2 couples, one of which is traveling with their niece. A motley crew at best; but we do have fun!

The schedule is set:
7:10 - breakfast
7:45 – Flag raising with the other soldiers on the base
8:00 - 11:30 - Work
12:00 – Lunch
13:30 – 16:00 - Work
19:30 – Evening Activity (Mandatory!)

There is very little down time to care of the necessities: cleaning our barracks (toilets and showers) and doing wash. I figured out that if I wait long enough, the uniform will walk right over for me to get dressed in the morning….sad, but true.

Evening activities have fallen into three categories: interesting, snoozers and a combination of the two. I am proud to report that mine are “eyes wide open”.

One of my favorite speakers was an author Zipporah Porath: Letters from Jerusalem 1947-1948. Zippy, as she is known, went to Israel to study in 1946. She unintentially was caught up in the war and went on to found Young Judea. She wrote weekly letters to her parents. Many of these letters were bundled and made their way "home", through her contacts in the military and underground. After the death of her mother, whom she described as a "pack rat", she found every letter she had written in a file. With the encouragement of her family, friends and a persistent stranger (who was doing research and wanted to study her letters)who contacted her via the internet, she eventually retyped the letters into the computer and found a publisher.

She is a delightful, feisty woman at ~86 years young who is still fighting for Israel after 60 years. Zippy and I are pictured below with a signed copy of her book.

General Davidi came and spoke with us last week (busy week huh?). His topic was Extreme Islam. It can be summarized very easily: it's a very complex situation that has no easy answers. I was hoping he would speak about "aliyah" (immigrating to Israel), but the majority vote was for the former. (Pictured below as well)

Enough for this week....I stuggle with the blog every time I try post it, so I hope this all works!
I love reading your comments and getting emails, so keep them coming and I'll do my best as well.

In Tel Aviv this weekend, in search of a few more laughs.

Love to all....Shabbat Shalom
Yehudis (my hebrew name)

ps - the picks on top are titled (T to B) - PITT Still Life; KP Duty - (There is no soda fountain on the base.); Laundry Day (Where is Hank when you need him?);

Yes, There is a God, I am in Israel

Greetings from the Motherland!

These blogs are not being posted as often as I would like, as there is no internet services on the army base. Today I have snagged some wireless connection at the hostel: Beit Shmuel in Jerusalem.

The rudest awakening was logging onto Google and seeing Hebrew; was this sweet revenge for tapping into the wi-fi of an Israeli organization? 45 minutes later and with the assistance of a perfect stranger,I was able to locate the English button!

I arrived a week ago and was assigned to the Matzrap Army Base, which is located just outside of Tel Aviv. Remember Girl Scout camp? Well, this is not quite as luxurious! The room in the barracks that I share with four other women is basic at best:the mattress is 3" thick, the sheets are so narrow that they don't tuck in and the blankets are scratchy.Where is my 300 thread comforter cover? This is the first time in my life that I have slept with earplugs. Talk about snoring - it is not as melodious as the Colorado Quintet!

The morning after we arrived, outfitted in my very old uniform, we were told that the Brigadeer General of the Army, who is also the Surgeon General, would be inspecting the base. This entailed two full days cleaning the base in preparation for his visit! Picking up cigarette butts was the most disgusting...enough said. This base is the only medical supply base in the country. I like being on a base that prepares "helping" items,knowing that the soldiers will have what they need. We prepare and pack medical supplies for the soldiers.

We worked our first week and have landed in Jerusalem for the weekend. The evening of our arrival,there was a shooting at one of the Yeshivas. Six young men were gunned down by a single shooter who was then killer by one students, who is also a soldier. The most amazing thing is how young the soldiers are. The funerals are scheduled for this morning.

Off to explore the city, just want you to know that I am safe and enjoying the adventure!