"Avtash" Hebrew for Jobniks on Really Long Guard Duty

Tal, Yana, Yael, Dor, Matan,Lihi, Orr, Becky, Nastia
 Avtash May 2011 and Chris the Neshakit.

So on May 15 the Kaban finally called and told me that I need to do Avtash for 2 weeks. Avtash is guard duty on a closed base. It can be anywhere from a day to a month. People who have a month are usually on Rituk which is a punishment for people on open bases. You get sent to a closed base for a certain amount of days.

The schedule is stressful for some people because it is 4 hours on and then it could be anywhere from 4 to 12 hours off. 

For people who have a Kahas, Avtash can be hell. The kaban uses Avtash to see how people with a kahas adjust to being in stressful situations and on a closed base. I got mixed reactions from people when they heard I had to do avtash. From officers, I got positive reactions with them telling me how much fun it is and how I'm gonna have a blast. There were negative reactions as well which made me nervous. People would tell me how its horrible and you'll just want to die. It frightened me because they weren't exaggerating and they kept saying how it was hell.

My commander told me I'd be going to a "gadna" base called Guara. It is a base up north by Zihkron Yakov. Anyone who knows me, knows I love Zihkron Yakov. Its truely a beautiful place filled with history. They also have a nice little pub there called The Hobbit. My Tolkien obsession gets the better half of me sometimes.

A gadna base is a base where they have high school students from all over the world come for a week to learn about the Israeli Army and see what its like to be in basic training.

When I got there I didn't really have to do anything because I needed to go to the shooting range to update my file. Every soldier must go to the range every 6 months. Thanks to Nisim the wonderful former commander, I didn't go in a year. He told me I didn't need to go because I was the neshakit. BULLSHIT!  So the second day I went with one of the gadna goups. I shot before them then left. The day after that I started my guard duty shifts. In the end, the officers were right. It was so much fun. Not once did I think "oh god Im in hell." It was great! The people on base were soo nice so much to the point that I would love to be on a closed base. The avtash group was just absolutely amazing. We all became close friends in such a short amount of time. It was exactly what I've been searching for in the army. We closed the weekend together and it was just fun. We all took pictures and had a blast.

Nastia and I on patrol at 3am.

My M-16. Couldn't go anywhere without it for 2 weeks.

Pictures are illegal by the way. ;) The second group wasn't exactly my favorite. They weren't even on guard yet and they were already crying. Literally. They really did not want to be there. When it finally did start, they wouldn't come on time or anything. It was horrible and just so hard. Thank god I had friends on the base.
The entire 2 weeks I was there I was without a phone. On May 5th I bought the brand new Blackberry Curve 9300. I somehow killed it when continuing the setup in email installation when I got to Guara. Not fun. Especially during the second week. I finished my guard duty on wednesday after I finished the first week and returned my gun to Tel Hashomer and then returned back to Guara for the 2nd week. It was nice I didn't have to do anything.
After the second weekend started on Thursday, after everyone had left, I got a call from my friend Karin who I work with at Tel Hashomer saying that the Kaban called and I only needed a week. By that time everyone had left so there was nothing I could do about leaving, nor was there anything I wanted to do about it. I chose to stay on base and leave on Sunday. If anything it would show how much I wanted this and could do it. I enjoyed being on a closed base. It was so much more relaxing. It certainly was alot more fun that I got switched into an officers room with 3 really great girls. We had a fridge and AC. It was awesome.
...There was also a momma cat and 3 adorable kittens... Of course I enjoyed that.
Finally when Sunday came around I was sad that I had to go but also thankful because I really needed to get my blackberry fixed. So my first stop was taking my Blackberry back to where it came from.
I didn't get my blackberry back until a week and a half later. A few days after my birthday. That part kind of sucked. I would have loved having my blackberry on my birthday.
Going back to the day I returned to base, I got a wonderful review and recommendation from the second in command officer of the base. I also had a great recommendation from my commander. Next all I had to do was talk to the kaban.


The Kaban is a post within its own. What a friggen story.

Passover Holiday 2011

Benny Gantz. The new head of the IDF

So passover was absolutely amazing. Probably the most fun I've had in a while. A very long time I should say. It was non stop laughter and just a really great time over all. I met all these new people that I can say are going to be friends for some time.

We met in Binyamina and took a bus to a hotel in Olga. It was absolutely amazing.

It was like Mickve Alon Reunion. Actually that's exactly what it was. 

I should probably tell you guys that this was only for Lone Soldiers on closed bases and combat positions. Im very thankful I got to go. I'm glad I switched to my new job or I never would have been able to go because I am on an open base with the only combat I have to do is make the Paper Shredder Machine Thingy that I forgot the name of work.

We all got separated into rooms and groups. I had the BEST roommate ever. Her name is Karen. She is also from NY. She was so much fun. We actually met up several times after the passover dinner. She is such a great person and Im really glad to know her and call her friend. 

I also had the best group ever. צוות 27/שולחן 13 כבוד!!

We all had to go into this giant room and sit down where Benny Gantz came and talked to us and surprised a Lone Soldier by having his parents stand behind him. Everyone started crying it was so moving. Photos were strictly prohibited during this even, so naturally Karen and I took photos. :P

After that it was free time or see a comedian who was funny. Then we had the passover sedar where they had raffles. Didn't win anything. Then it was free time until the next night at dinner. 

The free time was spent sleeping and hanging out with our group. I think we were the only group to spend out free time together. We had such an awesome "group commander". This was such a great 2 days. Im so going to remember it forever. After those 2 days I returned to base for half days everyday while everyone was on vacation.

Me, Adam(not in our group but a friend of mine, and Karen

Lior and I.

Me and my really awesome light up ball :P

The second passover dinner I went to my friend Shiran's house with her family. It was so much fun. I spent the entire night speaking hebrew. So I was really proud of myself. It was such a great passover over all.

I really need to go now. My bus is in 20 minutes and Im still in PJ's and I live on the 7th floor!!!

Well I Need To Update

Hey guys. Wow over a month. This is the perfect example of procrastination. Good news I have a list of things I want to talk about. You guys are lucky; I now have a few things to write about that happened to me this past month like turning 21! woo yay me!
I still need to write about Passover and then it will be more about the Kaban and the things I had to do and the things that happened after I finished them. Also an update on my birthday. The US of A's favorite age. I also have a Blackberry. Can I just say I have some stories for that too. I also want to write a shout out to someone in one of the upcoming blogs that totally helped me.

From http://www.damnlol.com

Anywho I was on Damn! LOL (really hysterical website) and saw this picture. In a way it kinda made me mad. If you guys think back a few posts I wrote a blog about skinny people. Well people always always  
complain about how everything is photoshopped and people dont look real anymore. I would just like to point out that this comparison of these two women are completely unfair. The photo on the left is NOT photoshopped while the one on the right is. Thats not a fair comparison because the model Eva Herzigova is in fact anorexic and older then Tara Laughton who clearly does not have a problem in eating, she is also not a size 12 she is in fact bigger. She is a size 14/16. That is almost "10" sizes bigger numerically and 7/8 sizes bigger on the even scale. Both have different body types and styles. Another thing I think is crucial to point out is the lighting in both of the pictures. Lighting is everything. The lighting on Eva is hitting her at a weird angle casting off shadows making her look skinnier then she is. Really study the photograph and you'll see she isn't abnormally skinny at all. Tara's lighting has been evened out so there are no shadows. This is done with multiple lights at different angles(not to mention the photoshop that can be seen). One photograph is natural light and thats it while the other are studio lights at multiple angles. That changes everything.

I am a size 3 or 4 depending on the jeans and I can say I don't look like Im skin and bones and that I have some "extra flab" as everyone likes to put it.
I think people should start eating correctly and taking care of themselves and stop paying attention to someone else's idea of beauty. Also this whole escapade with Barbie dolls, I happen to like my Barbie Dolls skinny. They are easier to hold when playing with them. Child hands cant hold on to a replica of what women from the MOST OBESE country world look like. Also you GAIN weight as you get older. Its natural and perfectly fine, normal, and healthy. Embrace it. BUT I think its absolutely ridiculous that its okay for someone who's job is to be a face for people not take care of themselves. Yeah its great to eat what you want and that cake but people need to realize they have a job to do. They cant show laziness when trying to be the image and role model for people. Its not right. It's making people think it's okay to NOT take care of themselves. The trick is to eat multiple small proportioned meals throughout the day as well as exercise. Just take care of yourselves people. Everyone has different body frames. Constantly dieting will only throw your metabolism off and make it harder to LOSE weight. The small amounts of exercising will help make your metabolism faster. Slowly but surely.
I want to go watch Fast & Furious 5 so Im goin to the movie theater now. Peace Out my Lovelies.