Update: part 1

Tuesday-
Tuesday I spent the day at Tira again. I was stationned with Moti the driver and a medic in training who was ironically from South Afirca originally. We had two calls the entireday, both of which were for the same thing. The first call we got was on the way to the Tira station at 7:15 am. An elderly man wasn’t feeling well – he had trouble breathing and was in pain. We took him to the hospital, and then went to the station. I spent most of the day on the computer, since there was good internet, and then we got another call at around 10:30. It was an elderly woman with the same condition, but she was a bit more hysterical than the first patient. She was Russian, and didn’t speak much English ( I hate to say this but she also smelled really terrible- as if she didn’t take a shower or bath for a few weeks).

At the end of the day, Danielle, Sharon and I headed to Tel Aviv for the night. We trained to Tel Aviv, and then caught a bus to Holon, where Sharon’s family has an amazing apartment. It has one of the most beautiful views of Tel Aviv. It was really sweet of her to let Danielle and I stay with her there. We got in around 7:00 pm and started to get ready to head to the Namal for the night. We got to  Namal Tel Aviv around 9:00pm and had a very nice dinner at one of the restaurants at the port. Then, we arranged to meet up withsome of the people that did the course with us in Ashkelon who were stationned in Tel Aviv.

We said we would meet up at this place called Lehman Brothers, where my friend Brandi works. The three of us got there and went to see Brandi for a bit. The place was not at all what I expected- it was a happening party club, packed with people. We were quite lucky that Brandi got us in- we really weren’t dressed for this scene. We were expecting a low key bar of some sort. Apparently, right after we got in, a huge crowd formed outside to get in, and generally the guys have to be over 25 to get in ( or have a lot of money) and the girls at least 23. We stayed for a bit, and then left when we realized that Brandi couldn’t get any of our other friends in. We met Ran, Elias, Sam and John outside, and then we decided to leave the Namal, and look for a quiet coffee/bar place to just hang out. We found a cute little place, where we laughed the night away. It was nice telling each other about our different stories and experiences. I also realized just how much I love Tel Aviv and wish I could have been stationned there instead of Haifa.

By 12:30 am, we were all smashed and ready to go home. We caught a cab back to Holon, and then fell asleep within minutes. I slept so well!!!

Wednesday
After sleeping in until 10:00am, I had a very welcoming shower. I forgot just how grateful I am that back home people are no longer allowed to smoke in public places. At the Namal, everyone smoked inside- I came back smelling like an ashtray. Sharon and Danielle also showered, and then we packed our things and headed back to Tel Aviv by bus. Danielle went to some kibbutz organization, while Sharon and I headed towards Allenby, King George, Sheinkin, and Diezengoff. We dropped our bags off at Sharon’s cousin Michelle’s apartment. She was really nice. We then went on an adventure to find disposable cameras- it wasactually impossible to find.I started feeling hopeless and irritated with this endless search. We went to Diezengoff shopping center, a huge mall in central TA, and they had nothing. The cheapest camera they had was 700 shekels. So we headed back to Allenby street and walked around for a bit. I stumbled upon a camera shop, and thankfully they had disposable cameras.. I felt so old school buying them, but it’s better than nothing.
(It’s not worth buying electronics in Israel, they’re all double the price of those back home. I’m very upset that my camera stopped working. I contacted Kodak, and did everything they said. The only option I have left is to send it back to them, but I’m not sure if it is even financially worth it. I guess we’ll have to wait and see until I get home..)
Once I finally had my cameras, I was in a better mood. We then met up with Danielle and went to Shook HaCarmel (corner Allenby, King George, amd Sheinkin). We had a lot of fun browsing the stalls. I got a few scarves, and was tempted to buy a hat for the sun.. it was quite nice, I am considering going back and getting it.. we’ll see. Ran met up with us too for a bit at the market. We then headed to Sheinkin street and had a light lunch before returning to Michelle’s apartment to pick up our things and go back to Haifa. We arrived back in Haifa around 7:30 pm. I made myself some dinner, spent some time on the computer, then headed to bed.  I was so tired!! [There was this weird Russian guy who kept staring at me while I was on the computer, so I made some of the room mates come downstairs to sit with me. Apparently, the night before, he started hitting on Danielle, put his arm around her and even asked her to go for a walk.She was very sketched out, as was I. I did not get a good feeling from him...]

Thursday
Today I was Nahag 1. It was also oddly cold today! I was placed with Michool the driver, and Eduardo, an Argentinian Israeli medic who was training to become a driver. We had 2 calls today. The first was an elderly man who had to be taken to the Carmel hospital for a blood transfer of some sort. He lived with his wife quite far out of Haifa in an area called Akromon(?) I believe. His son joined us. They were very nice. Our second call was a hysterical 83 year old woman who clearly fractured her leg. She was at Kanyon Haifa ( HaifaMall) with her daughter and teenage grandson, when somebody bashed into her and made her fall. She was in agonizing pain, and had difficulty moving. Her daughter kept trying to joke with her to calm her down. She was still being a bit hysterical by the time we broughther to the Rambam ER, but I’m sure everything will be fine. There was also a practice bomb scare in Haifa today. I think I missed the sirens going off while I was on my first call, but the others told me that they were quite alarmed when they heard it. The other drivers said that many people are suspecting a war to break out this summer, and the army is starting to train intensely, and that’s why they decided to also run the bomb siren protocol throughout the city.
 
When we got back to the apartment, I fell asleep for about 2 hours. Sharon, Ian and Sam left for TA, and Danielle also crashed for a bit. It started to rain for a bit.. there was even lightning and thunder! Around 6:00 pm, I woke up and showered. Danielle went to Akko for the night, which left Kerry and I the only ones in Haifa. We went for a bit of a walk on the main street in the German colony, but then realized that all the restaurants were too expensive for dinner, so we decided to go to Dunk Pub, an Irish pub just around the corner, where they also serve food. The place really reminded me of Ye Olde Orchard back home, just darker,smaller, and more Hebrew. They were playing Ren and Stimpy on the TV, which I thought was quite funny. We had a nice dinner, and headed back to the apartment around 8:30pm. We’re just SO tired!! I am now sitting here writing this, about to watch a movie on my computer. I am excited to just spend the ngiht relaxing, and sleeping. Tomorrow I am going to Netanya for Shabbat. I plan to go to the Bahai Gardens in the morning- I am very excited.
Lots of love
SjjT

March 20, 2010. Israel- During MDA.