BAKUM

Happy New Year!

As of now, I've been in the army for a week and a half. Its been such a strange experience, but I'll try to summarize quickly how my first few days went.
December 21: Draft!
I took the bus to Tiveria, to the Lishkat Gius, where all the draftees for that day were lining up outside the office. As we were filing in the the waiting area, we had to show our Tzav Gius papers and ID card (or passport) to the soldier in charge. Now, I had heard about Mahalistim having trouble drafting, or having their draft date postponed, but I thought I had avoided all that because I had a form in my hand where it said explicitly that I was to draft on December 21. Of course, there are always ways that things can go wrong. The soldier at the entrance said my name was not on "the list", meaning I should go home and report back in March for a later draft date.
Me: I actually really need to draft today.
Soldier: Ok, but your name isn't on the list...
Me: But I have a Tzav Gius...it says December 21 right here.
Soldier: I know...I think that's a mistake.
Me: Then why did they send it to me?
Soldier: I don't know.
Me: Is there any way I can draft today?
Soldier: I don't think so. You're not on the list...
Me: Look, I can't wait 3 months to go in.
Soldier: If you want I can print out another form that says March.
Me: No I don't want another form, I need to draft today.

After about 30 minutes of this, and another hour of waiting, another soldier came out to tell me that everything was worked out, and I could draft that day. I think he was a little shocked that I was excited to hear this.

A couple hours later, we all got on the bus to Bakum, a base near Tel Aviv where all soldiers go to be "processed". There we got ID pictures, shots, DNA samples taken, and uniforms. In the beginning, everyone gets stickers with our names and ID numbers. I was almost done...I only had to have an interview and get my uniform, when suddenly they decided that there was something wrong with my number (the one THEY had given me). They told me to wait. Half-hour later, I asked if anything had been resolved. They told me to wait. An hour later, other people who had "something wrong" with their numbers had their problems resolved, and were moving on. The soldiers told me to wait. Another half-hour later, and I was the only one left.
At this point, they decided to get their act together, and rushed me to the interview without my number. We rushed again to the uniform warehouse, where they handed me a big bag full of stuff (my Aleph bag), 3 pairs of pants, 2 long sleeve tops, 1 short sleeve top, shoes, sandals. I had to try everything on as fast as possible (luckily everything they gave me fit). I had no time to savor the moment I actually put on a real Israeli uniform for the first time, and before I knew it, I was on a dark bus (where it seemed like I was the only English-speaker) to Michveh Alon, the base in the north where I would be staying for the next 3 months.
When we got to the base, we split up into groups, and we were led to our rooms by our new mifakdot (commanders). Each room has about 10 bunk beds for ~20 people.

More later on the rest of the week!

More info

Since I won't have any new info about the army until I actually enlist next week, I thought I would talk a little about the process I've been going through for the past 2.5 months. I hope I can remember everything...
I got to Israel at the end of September 2009, a couple days before Sukkot. I knew the first thing I had to do was schedule a meeting in Tel Aviv with Yotam, the guy who handles Mahal business these days. I wasn't sure if he would be working on Chol ha'Moed Sukkot, but just in case I called him to meet a day before Sukkot started. I definitely should have called him earlier while I was still in America, because he had no time on that day, and wasn't working for any of Sukkot. I ended up waiting another week and a half to meet with him, and after a couple other problems (missing the bus, getting lost in Jerusalem) I finally made it to his office near Hakirya, Tel-Aviv.
This meeting with Yotam is the beginning of the process; I showed him various forms that I had brought from the States, and he entered my information in his computer, sent it to the army offices, and gave me an official form that explained my situation to the other offices that I had to visit.
I went to the Jewish Agency after that (it was a 5 minute walk from Yotam's office, and it was still open!). I had to meet with a woman named Sylvia, who only spoke Spanish and Hebrew...somehow we managed. I showed her my birth certificate and note from my Rabbi, and she stamped the form Yotam gave me to confirm that I'm Jewish. It all happened really fast, and I honestly have no idea what she said. Looking back, I should have paid more attention to what was happening, or gotten someone to translate, but it seems like it all worked out, because I haven't run into any problems about it. Whatever.
The next day, I went to the kibbutz for my ulpan program. My Ulpan director helped me get an appointment at the Misrad HaPnim (Ministry of Interior) in Afula to change my visa from a 3 month visa to a long-term visa. Having an appointment made this very easy, and even though I had to wait for about an hour because the computer broke down, the actual meeting took less than 10 minutes, and by the end of it, I had a 2 year visa in my passport!
Went back to the kibbutz, faxed the visa to Yotam, and waited for him to set up an appointment for me at the Lishkat Gius in Tiberius. This appointment is called a Tzav Rishon, and when it was scheduled, I had to go there for 6-7 hours to take lots of test that determine my profile/status as a soldier. I can write more about that later, but it went relatively smoothly. The people there are really nice, as long as you're reasonable and friendly. There's a lot of waiting though. A LOT. Bring a book.
About 2 weeks after that, and after many many calls to Yotam (I pretty much called every day to ask questions and to make sure I would get the draft date I wanted), my Tzav Gius came in the mail. A little more than 1 week left!

Shabbat Shalom and Chanukah Sameach!

11 Days Left!

Wow. I've never had a blog before; this is a new experience in itself. I'm not a big fan of blogs in general, but I figured this was the best way of chronicling my REALLY new experience, of joining the Israeli army.
I also thought it could be useful to other people who might find themselves in my position in the future. I'm an 18 year-old girl just out of high school, and I'm volunteering for the IDF through Mahal. Mahal is the path generally taken by non-Israelis who want to fight in the IDF, but do not want to make Aliyah.
This is their website:
http://www.mahal-idf-volunteers.org/

While I was getting ready to travel to Israel, I found myself in this relatively unique position, and had a lot of trouble finding information relevant to me. If there was info on lone soldiers (Chayalim Bodedim), it was about new immigrants, not Mahal. If there was info on Mahal, it was mainly about male volunteers.
And finally (another problem), my Hebrew is not so great, and finding a female Mahalnik with limited Hebrew who could tell me about her army experience was really hard. In fact, I didn't find one until I made it to Israel, to the kibbutz where I am now.
I hope this blog can help all those who are thinking/planning on joining the Israeli army at some point, and I'll try to update it as often as possible.

Where am I now?
I'm living at a kibbutz in the north of Israel, where I've been in an ulpan for the last 2 months. I did my Tzav Rishon (first meeting with the army when I took all my tests) a few weeks ago, and I received my Tzav Gius (official form from the army with draft date) papers yesterday. I'm drafting on December 21, 2009. 11 days from now! Incredible. As I said, my Hebrew is not great, so I will be going to a base called Michveh Alon for 3 months for pre-basic training and army ulpan. From what I've heard about this place, it's in a very beautiful location, but the actual program is not the best (to put it lightly)...but I'll have my own opinions about it once I actually get there. There are a lot of Russian and French immigrants, with some English speakers (Canadian, American, Australian, etc). Apparently there are more Americans drafting now then there were a few years ago.

I've been waiting for my Tzav Gius papers, because with them I can open a soldier bank account (more benefits than a normal bank account). I'll have to do that sometime next week. I haven't had any money for the past month because I've been waiting for these papers. Being at a kibbutz, there's nothing I really NEED money for, but walking past cafes in town and passing up delicious fresh falafel because you're broke is an experience I wouldn't wish on anyone.