My First Months in Total

I am twenty years old and it is December 5th, 2011. For most people that are twenty this means that they are just about done with their first semester of their junior year of college. For me, this means that I will be drafting into the Israeli Defense Force in twenty days and twelve hours. Whereas most people my age are hitting the books and studying like madmen, I have been working out and learning Hebrew with the same fervent devotion. I have been living in Israel now for almost four months and these past months have been the best of my life. I do not say these words lightly, though. These months have given me an education of a lifetime, some of my closest and dearest friends, and a mind open to new possibilities.
I have travelled across the country and sat in classrooms with the hope that I will understand Israel and Israelis better than I did when I lived in the states. Throughout these past four months I have traveled from the north to the south and from east to west. My group has gone on trips to the border of Lebanon, into Jordan, up and down the West Bank, up into the mountains, and just about every major city here. My travels have given me a look into the very diverse cultures and religions that all live here (for the most part harmoniously). We went inside a mosque for the first time, we went to a Druze village, we visited the Baha’i Gardens, and we have seen many churches and synagogues. All of these places helped me understand why Israel is so special. People from many faiths live side by side as friends and neighbors. There are very few places in the world where this happens and I am privileged that my country is able to do so. Among these fantastic trips, I have also been learning Hebrew. I have found it very difficult to learn but only at 8:30 in the morning when I have not had my coffee or a shower. I will admit that there were times where I wanted to throw my text book through the window, but I figured then I would have to go and get it. I have had Hebrew classes since I was seven years old, and I have to say that the best place to learn Hebrew is here. I have Efrat and my host family to thank for a lot of my progress in Hebrew. Efrat is the mom of my garin. She makes sure we have enough to eat, makes sure we get up on time, and only speaks to us in Hebrew. This at times is a bit frustrating because I tend to miss things. It has helped in the long run, though. My host niece and nephew do not speak English so I have no choice but to speak in Hebrew to them. My host parents and siblings all speak English on different levels, but they all speak to me in Hebrew (with English if there is a difficult word). I have learned so much about becoming an Israeli throughout these past few months that I feel more at home here than I did back in the United States.
The people in my garin, group of people, I have come to rely on for laughs, a shoulder to lean on, guidance, and strength. My garin is full of twenty other people my age. Some of whom I have known since last January and some I did not meet until I was already in Israel. I cannot imagine my garin without a single person nor do I want to imagine such a possibility. My garin has people from the U.S., Canada, and one guy from Europe. Each and every person in this group I count as my best friend. We have had our fights, mainly about dishes and other cleaning issues, but we come out of them still knowing that we are like family. During the past few months we have been there for each other’s highs and lows concerning the army and its many tryouts and tests. During our service we will continue to be there for each other through good and bad times. Currently, I am sitting in our living area whilst many of the guys in my garin are already in the army. I must admit that I am jealous of them for drafting already, while I am sitting on my back side waiting for my draft to come. I love listening to the stories that my friends have about themselves or soldiers in their units. When I go in I will be drafting with five guys from my garin into an army Hebrew course. Throughout my time there I will always have my friends at my side helping me get through the hard times and listening to the stories I have about the other soldiers.
Israel, my friends and my travels has taught me a lot about myself and has given me new possibilities on how I want to conduct myself in the future. When I lived in the States I was on the track most people took straight out of high school, which was college. I decided to take a gap year in Israel and studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for a semester and work on a kibbutz for the other part. The kibbutz part of my year helped me realize that I wanted to move to Israel. Now that I am here I realize that this was the best option for me. College is not for me right now, it might be in the future but for now the IDF is my calling and my future. I look forward to my service and see it as a chance to grow into an adult. Israel means everything to me; it is my present and my future. There will be times that will cause me frustration or pain but I have my friends and family here and back home to help me back up on my feet with a hug and good advice. Throughout my life I have been struggling to find where and even which society I belong in, and I found Israel. I am twenty years old and life has never been better.