Feild Day... RIMON!

       Today was field training day! Looking back at the exclamation point, I realize it might misguide you to think it was fun. IT WAS A.. wait... my parents read this. In short, I was excited for the IDF training but I was not expecting the intensity this day was. We left S'de Boker (the base), to training grounds 10 minutes away by bus. This was after our fifteen minute wake up/get ready/get out call at 6:15 this morning. Oh, this is AFTER the 2 am and 5:30 am wake up calls to nearby tents. They weren't shy about being loud. In addition, the entire night spent in a tent in the Negev Desert which was freezing, let me tell you, the sky was dually possessed by stars and the shrill of fighter jets practicing overhead. They weren't just practicing flying in their noisy contraptions, but they were also firing rockets during their practice. I don't think I'll get use to this constant noise of fighter planes, far off gun shots, and blasts of rockets. I also heard them throughout the day. Anyway, back to the field, we learned what to do incase of a rimon (grenade), surprise attack, and how to sneak up on an enemy. This all involved running, camouflaging, hiding, dropping to the ground in a millisecond flat, and other strenious activity. After a LONG day, we learned we also had to walk/run back to our base! I learned very fast its one thing to take a run/walk in my nearby park and another to do that in the Desert for an hour with your equipment in uniform! Finally on base, there was even more drilling and commands and then we had two classes.  One was on the significance of uniforms and indicating your rank, the other class was on Tzahal tactics and past situations involving both ethics and politics revolving mostly around the raid on Entebbe. 

     All in all, I'm not going to say it was an easy.. in fact it was one of my most difficult days ever,  but I can also say I enjoyed today. With what I have written I cannot explain why, and with how I described the hardships above, you'll think I'm crazy! But, living through this training and admiring the terrain while doing so, and being apart of Tzahal, an army to make sure Mitzadah never falls again, I feel a sense of indescribable pride for my country. One that no amount of sand and dirt in my face, cuts from falling on rocks, burning sun beating down on us, or painstaking activity can ever take away from me.