Soldier Life:
Joining the army is mandatory in Israel. It is as much a part of growing up as school is to us in Canada and you plan your life accordingly.
People here join as early as the September after summer holidays from grade 12. This makes for a different mentality in teens and young adults. I find that people aged 21 - 25 (Army is 2 -3 years) are more mature then most in Canada. This may be due to what they have had to see and go through, but also the life style of being told what to do and being expected to follow orders to a tee.
Their are two kinds of soldiers here also. Israeli citizens who are required to serve, and people wishing to make Aliyah (becoming citizens through Israel's right of return policy).
I have had only short interactions with Israeli soldiers who are not originally from another country, so I will talk mostly about people making Aliyah.
On Hazore'a we have a group of soldiers living here on weekends when they are off base. They come here to a comfy bed, warm meals, and a support network. They also come to release all of their stress by getting black out drunk and partying for 3 days straight.
Soldier Rules (OK'd by the guys who live here) :
1. Give them booze
2. Be easy (sleep with them)
3. Don't bother offering a cigarette if it is not a Camel
4. Carry them to and from the bar
5. Don't fall in love with them
This list was meant to be a mockery of the lifestyle of the soldiers here but as I talk to more people and say it over and over again I find it more and more true. This doesn't go for all soldiers here, but for the most part its the life we live.
Cats:
There are three kinds of cats in Israel. Pet cats, Tame cats, and Dumpster cats. All of these "breeds" of cats are the same species and look identical (except the puss under the dumpster cats eyes) but are completely different animals by behavior.
Rus a hired worker here owns the only pet cat I have ever seen in Israel. The cat is well behaved, fed regularly, and doesn't try to kill you. The cat's name is Kss Kss (spelled phonetically) and is an orange tabby.
The second most common cat is the tame cat. There are a few of these felines around Tel-Aviv and one or two here on Hazore'a. These cats are fed by people who will never admit to it, look fairly clean, and will sit beside you on a couch outside. The volunteers here have a tame cat that lives up in our neighborhood named Hatoolito (Hatool is hebrew for cat and adding ito in spanish makes it a small cat). This cat is a year old and the size of a kitten, it has white and black spots on it and is very cuddly.
The third and most common breed of cat here is the dumpster cat. Really I think it is a stretch to even call them cats at all. They are dirty and are usually missing parts like tails and ears. These mangy things hate people and are commonly used as diet supplements for dogs. They live in allies and dumpsters (hence the name) and you can hear them following you at night if you are walking with food in a bag or your hand. Often times people here will kill them like people do rats or mice that invade your kitchen at home. I feel bad for them sometimes, then they try to shred my face while I am taking out the garbage.
Life:
Life here is simple. You work Sunday through Thursday (Friday if you are me) and party Thursday and Friday nights. Saturday is recovery and coincidentally Shabbat the day of rest.
When you start your week work is manageable and sometimes even fun. You are rested and well fed. As the week wears on your body becomes weak and your mind wonders from the tasks at hand.
What do I do you ask? Well right now I am the man to talk to when you need vegetables. I sell all the fruits and vegetables to the people who live here, receive shipments, and drink coffee. This is difficult with a language barrier but each day it becomes easier to get my points across and help people. I work fridays because people need to get all their produce before we close for Shabbat which starts at sun down that day and ends the next day at sun down. This job however is not permanent. I do this job for now because I am good at it (I talk all day) and I am the only one who can a. manage it or b. is trained to do it.
Any day now 200 baby goats will be born and I will be moved to feeding and caring for them. I cannot wait!
The weekends here are like this. Thursday you start drinking after supper and then go the bar to dance from 11ish to 4am. Friday night more people are free and the parties are wilder. You start drinking whenever you want 4pm at the earliest seems to be the norm and you drink all night until you go to the bar at 1 when it is packed. You dance again until the sun is almost up. The weekends revolve around dancing.
I find that if I miss a night of dancing either friday or thursday I have to much energy in my system during the week and I get distracted and fidgety. Dancing is how we release our stress and sometimes create new stress ;).
I have found during my stay here that dancing is a huge part of how I express myself and have fun... I love it more then anything else! That being said I was crowned king of the dance floor for Friday January 8th 2010! Cool!
Emotions:
My emotions have settled down a huge amount since I last told you all about them. The times in which I think about all the past drama have become few and far between. On New Years I stopped wearing a piece of jewelry that was a constant reminder.
Also since then I have found myself attracted to a handful of people, and maybe had a crush or two. I am back to the old me. Old me meaning I have drama up the ying-yang with a soldier (but its still beautiful).
