Thank God For Birthright

I am writing this message from the international convention center in Jerusalem courtesy of the birthright program. Today I got to leave the army early to go mill about with approximately 3000 kids and talk to them about the Garin. Needless to say this is exciting. I don't know how much time I have, so I'll start at the beginning and see how far I get before they kick me off.

Pre-Army:

The week leading up to the army was a busy one as made final preparations for my "basic training." In addition, I had the good fortune to visit with my friends Sam and Shira who were visiting with their respective families. It was a great treat before the army and only added to the excitement of the whole "about to enter the army" thing. I saw my friends, bought some gear and joined the army.

"Bakum:"

The first thing you do when you enter the army is go to a base called the Bakum. It is here that you get your dogtags, military ID, immunizations, and other assorted equipment (uniforms, undershirts, etc.). As I moved from station two particularly funny things took place. First, while I was waiting to sort out a misunderstanding about which type of "kitbag" I would receive, a particularly stupid soldier decided that he would make the decision for me. He said "Here's your bag" and threw a particularly raggedy kitbag my way. I caught it, informed him that it wasn't my bag, and threw it back. We then proceeded to play catch with the kitbag for a few minutes until I finally just put it down on a counter. In the end I received a much nicer kitbag. The second story involves a group of deaf soldiers, and the same dumb soldier making up his own sign language and yelling (which wasn't a very effective way of communicating with the deaf soldiers). I have to go because the birthright kids started coming in, but just use your imagination to fill in the rest of the story.

Stay tuned for stories about basic training the next time I get internet access.