Life of a soldier
It’s amazing that a wisecrack about a Yankees hat is without a doubt the most important comment I’ve made in my four days in Israel. No comments yet. You can be the first!
But that is how I struck up a conversation with Omri, who was wearing a Yankees hat on a short hike to see the Banias waterfall. He is one of five Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers who joined our trip today. Since Birthright keeps such tight supervision on us and doesn’t often allow us to venture out alone, because other than our two tour guides, being with the soldiers likely will be the only significant contact I have with Israelis while I’m here. I’m determined to absorb as much Israeli culture from them as possible.
Omri, 23, is a lieutenant in the Air Force. He’s an air-traffic controller, and part of his job is to help decide how to handle aircraft that fly into Israeli air space without permission. His sister lives in San Diego, and he loves American sports, particularly the NBA, and he follows it more closely even than soccer. His favorite team is the Celtics, and since I’m a Boston native, we bonded over that, too.
I sat next to him on the bus for an hour today, chatting on and off. I moved seats for our three-hour bus ride this afternoon from the Golan Heights to Tel Aviv, only because he was so talkative that I wanted to make sure I got a nap in during the trip. His stories about his base and his life are fascinating, and I can’t wait to hear more tomorrow.
On an unrelated note, Thursday evening I got to hang out with two friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I had dinner with Nira Lee, daughter of ASU Hillel Executive Director Barton Lee. She made aliyah last year and is serving in the IDF. Later, I walked around the city and grabbed a drink with former Jewish News intern Sarah Pellegrino, who is spending the semester abroad at Tel Aviv University. It was an awesome experience because we only have one night here and I’m not sure how much of the city I’ll actually be able to get to see before we head to Jerusalem on Friday for Shabbat at the Kotel.
03 Feb, 2011 >