July 26 2010
Today was probably one of the most highly anticipated days in the whole trip because we finally got to go to Gadna. For those of you who don't know, Gadna is where we spend the day as IDF soldiers learning how the Israeli Defense Force works and how it is different from all of the other military programs in the world. There were many memorable moments that came out of our day in the army and we won’t forget about them any time soon. The first thing they did when we got off of the bus was split us up by gender. Other than who our commander was, everything else was identical for the men and the women of our group. When we got our uniforms, the first predicament arose for me personally because apparently they don't have pants that fit 6' 5" men. On the plus side, it did mean that I didn't have to tuck in my shirt!
Once we received our uniforms, the real fun began. After our unit of ten 16-year-old men figured out how to line up in two even lines - which took a little longer than it maybe should have - we went through drills and spent some time in a classroom learning about the army and how it works in Israel. After our lesson in the classroom, it was time to take what we learned out into our surroundings. After figuring out how to change our shape by changing our shadow and learning how to indian crawl, we covered our faces in mud. Now we were "ready for action". For us, that meant pretending a rock was a grenade and running for our lives to get out of the way. This is when I had the most painful experience of the day. The grenade was thrown and I ran away and dove on the ground. All of the sudden, I found myself crushed under my (also very tall) friend. I won't name any names. With sharp rocks underneath me and and a very large human being on top of me, it became a little difficult to breathe. Luckily he wasn't laying on top of me for very long and I was able to get up relatively unscathed, but this moment definitely falls into the unforgettable category for me. Other memorable moments of Gadna for our group include losing one member of our team while he was dragged down by the heavy weight of our group’s emergency water on his back, and having to sprint alongside a fence that was topped with barbed wire.
After our adventure through the IDF was over, the rest of the day was easy and relaxing. We took our bus to a beach on the Mediterranean, got into our swimsuits, and splashed into the sea. If you ignore the burning sensation you get in your throat when you accidentally swallow the sea water, the beach couldn't have been better and it was the most fun I've had swimming this whole trip. Compared to Gadna, the swimming was completely uneventful, and we had pizza and other snacks.
We got little bit more time in the water, then we hopped on the bus back to our hotel. We ate dinner and our discussion for the night was a panel asking questions about the army to Hanan, Maya, and Ortal, our three Israeli staff members on the trip who all went through difficult and interesting army experiences of their own. We learned that Ortal and Hanan were in combat units while Maya was in the education unit of the IDF.
Overall on this day, our group probably worked the hardest we have our entire time in Israel, but what we got out of the experience was worth all of the blood and sweat that was a product of our efforts. After a good night of sleep, we should be well rested and awake for the events of the next day.