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!