So in a strange and very kick a** twist of fate both of my adventures collided.
So lets recap the first adventure. It was the Kaban and the Sgan Aluf(Lieutenant Colonel). The second adventure(the not so great one) included Afsenaut and my complaint. We will start with the not so great one.
On Sunday, I got a call from the complaint unit stating they got my complaint and wanted to help me. They cant send me to where I want to be, but they can help me deal with my commander. She wanted phone numbers of people who could verify for me what I was saying was true. She never actually called the people she just wanted to see if I was telling the truth. She then sent my complaint to the Sgan Aluf.
On wednesday my commander told me that all of afsenaut had a meeting with the Sgan Aluf.
In this meeting he told us things like "This is the last time I want to see you in my office(apparently something happened when I was in NY and sh*t went down)" and "grow up" and "do your jobs!" It was a whole bunch of that and asking us how we felt in Afsenaut. Now just to serve as a reminder my commander was also in this meeting(I found out that tons of people have written complaints about him and afsenaut- that was news to me, I thought I was the only one. It felt good to know I wasn't alone). One of the kids said he liked being in afsenaut and we had a good commander. The L.C./S.A. looked at me and smiled and said "Becky what do you think about afsenaut, how do you feel about being there?" Now of course he already knew the answer, he just wanted to see if I would say how I felt in front of everyone. So, for me it was hard to speak up and say that I didn't like it. I dont know why it was hard I guess because I was the only one who really had a problem with it. I didn't want to hurt anyones feelings and step on anyones shoes. But I guess that in order to leave a crowded area you need to step on some shoes to get to the good space. I spoke up for myself which was scary,nerve wracking, but awesome, and liberating all at the same time. I said that I didn't like afsenaut. It isn't where I want to be in the army and I don't want to just have some crappy service time. I joined the army to be in the army. He then said "Okay, how would you like to come join Karin and be with me?" I was shocked so I said what. He repeated it but I said what again. Then he repeated it again and I was like "I understand you its just wow." On tuesday I literally just sent the forms for a job change to International Relations. So I told him and he said that we will say how this goes but he would love to have me with Karin. Can I just say that Karin is amazing. She is such a sweet girl. She really wants to learn english so speaks in english all the time. At first I thought she wanted to make it easier for me so then she explained that hebrew is 9-12 and english 12-5 so she can learn it. She speaks in english and I speak in hebrew.
So now I'm a secretary for the Lieutenant Colonel who just so happens to be the commander of the entire education unit(that included Michve Alon and that hebrew course I've been asking for for 7 months.) I know that with this job my hebrew will definitely improve with the amount of work I have to do when it comes to writing and speaking. All the officers that I see once a week I now see everyday and Im making so many friends. Everyone is so nice and respectable. I miss my girls from Afsenaut Nofar and Batel. Nofar finished with the army today- it was really sad and happy at the same time. Im going to miss her loads. אני אוהבת אותך נופר!!!! Batel is in the Neshkia still. Shes been sick so I haven't seen her :/ I miss her too. She is really such an amazing girl. I had so much fun singing songs all day with. Shes such a great person. אני אוהבת אותך בתאל!!!! I know they dont read this but what ever. They are my best friends in the army. Ive never met girls nicer then the 3 I've just mentioned (Batel, Nofar, and Karin)There is also Eliyah, I miss her alot. She was in afsenaut when I first started out but she finished the army. She really helped me with my hebrew alot. She was so nice and would just sit and talk with me about things outside the army so I could have conversations about life in hebrew. Before her I could only speak about the army in hebrew because I only knew hebrew terms. Im really going to miss the girls from afsenaut.
Being that this new job is still very new, some people think that Im still in afsenaut/neshkia so they are really mean to me and just want to make fun of me. I think it's rather funny that this is the only way they can find entertainment. I know for a fact that Im not a bad person. I also know that karma is a bitch so one day they will have the same issues as me right now. You can't hate someone for doing their job but unfortunately some people do.
I also finally saw the Kaban. She was super nice. She had wacky hair and was really peppy. I liked it. It made me excited to explain my story. So she was super impressed with my story and how Im here alone and I explained to her what happened in Michve Alon up till now. I told her with the Kaban in Michve Alon, I could only speak in english. She looked kind of shocked and said that for such a short amount of time Ive learned alot and my accent isn't as strong as most peoples. She liked it, she said it was pretty. That was a first. That was a great compliment. So in 3 months I go back with a recommendation from my commander and if she feels its okay she will lower it. She doesn't see a problem with lowering it she just wants to play it safe and follow the guide lines.
Another compliment I got today was my first Israeli nickname. One of the Mishakit Tash called me Revekush. Israelis usually ass "ush" to the end of names. I dont know why. But it made me feel like Im starting to fit in.
Now here is a really important message for all Lone Soldiers: THE ARMY DOES NOT PAY FOR A PLANE TICKET BACK HOME AFTER 1 YEAR!!! When joining the army we get told that after 1 year, the army will pay for a plane ticket back home and to return to Israel. I found out today that, that is not true. They do not pay for it. You have to request and that will take some time. Its a special request that they rarely say yes too.
Finding this out really put a damper on my day. I was really depending on this paid for plane ticket. I really wish people would realize that Americans weren't rich and don't have money.
I need to go to bed, I have a long day tomorrow. Talk to you guys later. :)
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