Week 4 was by far the busiest week thus far! Not gonna lie, the feeling of waking up before the sun on Sunday morning to return to the base is not the best!
Once we got to the base, had lunch, and changed into the uniforms we wear on the base, we got straight to business (of course). Each soldier had to give a 10 minute class on anything she would like. I was nervous, obviously, because it was my first time giving a class in hebrew. I spoke about what it means to live a healthy lifestyle and the steps one should take to achieve that. It was fun and I got very good feedback from my commander and friends. I also had to take a test which covered everything that we learned the week before - on the basics of how to be an instructor. Thankfully, I got help reviewing the material and passed the test. I had trouble understanding some of the test, so my commander sat with me and translated (from hebrew to hebrew, of course).
The point of week 4 - level “a” of the course- is for every girl to give a 30 minute lesson on the topic that is given to her. At the end of the week, we had a test on all 12 topics - they ranged from different types of guns to night vision goggles the soldiers use in combat. I gave a class on who navigates/ how to navigate any sort of armored vehicle which was actually very interesting, and I had a great time teaching it to the girls. I got great feedback from my commander afterwards about my lesson, and it was an accomplishing feeling to know that despite the language barrier, I somehow pulled through.
We also had another Masa this week - as I explained in an earlier post, a masa is a “hike” or march during the night with the entire unit - everyone wearing their vests and guns. At the end of every masa lead by a different commander, we receive something that marks our progress. This masa was lead by one of our commanders and at the end of it, he gave each one of us the pin (sika) to put on our kumta (barret). Because we teach combat, we get the combat pin. He called up every girl individually and said a few words to express how he feels about them as soldiers etc. He told me he was very proud of me for making Aliyah and being here, and he sees that despite everything, I always give it my all and that he thinks I am a great soldier. As I walked back to my spot in our “chet” formation, I couldn't help but shed a few tears. The feeling of finally becoming a real soldier and gaining recognition from the commanders is hard to describe!
We closed for Shabbat, and for me, closing is very hard because I keep Shabbat and Friday night- Saturday is the only time the army lets us use our phones. It’s hard to see everyone on their phones speaking to their family when all I want to do is see or speak to mine! I was definitely homesick those two days because I had a lot of down time to think about where I am and how far away I am from my family. My friends saw that I was upset and they were all there for me - telling me how their home is my home and how they are here for me whenever and about whatever. I have found some special and incredible friends thus far! It ended up being a nice Shabbat because Friday night, as always, I went to Shul with some friends. It was a packed weekend on base so Shul as well as the dining hall was full of singing soldiers - it was quite a scene.
At the end of every week, each class of 12 girls + their commander of a conversation about the pros and cons of the previous week. It took me a while to think of something to say this time, but when it came my turn I turned to my commander and class and said - “If you would’ve told the Hannah who live in Florida 2 months ago that I would be running 3 km at 6 am, doing guard duty at 4 am, carrying a stretcher on my back in the middle of the night in the desert, give a class on navigation in hebrew - I would’ve laughed in your face. But somehow I did it and survived!” The entire class loved that. But in all seriousness, it’s true. Despite the day to day hardships in the army, the stress of being timed from everything - study time to shower time - at the end of the day, we’re all fine and are proud of ourselves for getting through the week.
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