Last time I wrote I was in the first week of my course to train me to be a fitness instructor. I have now completed 15 weeks of hard discipline, moving my body more than I've ever had (or wanted to), going to bed at 8 pm every night, and taking orders from 19 year old girls aka my commanders. Before I go onto explain where I am now and how I got there I'll explain a bit how the course worked and what I experienced throughout the 15 weeks.
In relations to exercise, because the course was filled with girls at all different levels of fitness (for example- girls who grew up their whole lives intensely into sports and girls like me...who just learned how to do a proper push up), the course started from the bottom and worked itself up. Because this is the army they had to go by a very strict workout plan that was supposedly supposed to avoid injuries and little by little show improvement. Honestly there were some weeks when we did only 1 or 2 workouts and wondered why they called it a fitness course. A lot of the girls who were used to working out on a daily basis before enlisting actually complained about getting out of shape which was hard to believe. Usually though, we would wake up at 5:30 and have some sort of work out at 6:00 am usually being a run. We were split up into running groups according to our levels. I'm not ashamed to share that I was in the slowest group (slow and steady does win the race after all). We started with running 2km and by the end of the course we ran 6km as a group. For those of you who don't speak kilometers 1 mile-1.6km.
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| After running our 6km as a course |
Because this course also had to train us how to be good instructors, we spent a lot of the course leading work outs to each other. Besides the running we learned different kind of workouts and then took turns leading them to our groups. In the first week of the course we learned 4 different workouts that were usually a mix of strength exercises and aerobic exercises (butt kicks or high knees for example) and then we were each assigned one of the 4 and one by one throughout the course led our workouts. It was really good practice for instruction and speaking in front of a group of people.
Another physical part of the course is something called the bochan maslul which is an army obstacle course that all of the combat soldiers are required to execute. As part of our job we needed to learn not only how to do the obstacles but more importantly how to teach people how to do them. A lot of the placements in the army would involve being the fitness instructor of combat soldiers who need to learn how to pass the obstacles. The importance of the obstacle course is for combat soldiers to be prepared for when they are in battle. A lot of the obstacles are things that could easily be found in natural places and could cause problems such as big ditches in the ground, ropes that need to be climbed, things that need to be jumped over etc. For this reason the soldiers learn how to pass the course so they can know how to deal with the obstacle in real life situations.
The bochan maslul consists of 15 obstacles including a 3.5 meter rope to climb (no knots), a wall taller than me to get over without steps or ledges (obviously never succeeded), monkey bars, a balance beam, and more. From the very first activity we had with the bochan maslul my hatred for it began. It is maybe the single most frustrating thing in the world. We started just learning how to do each obstacle but then we had to do the test twice which is completing the whole course plus a 500 meter run before and after all while being timed and needing to do it under 12:30 in order to pass...yes, it's death. I knew from the minute i saw this thing that they would nto send me to ab ase that requires me to be anywhere near the bochan maslul.
Other than the physical fitness part of the course, there was also a huge section of learning. We started learning anatomy, physiology, and how to be an instructor in the gym including how to build workouts and the different levels of trainees that we might come across and need to work with. In the beginning I majorly struggled with the learning and the tests- 1. I hate tests in general 2. learning science in a language you just started speaking (while never have learned it in English first) is far from easy. By the end of the course I got the hang of it and succeeded in the tests with fairly high grades. I actually really enjoyed learning this material because I see now how useful it can be as a fitness instructor and just in general to have basic knowledge of these subjects.
The days in the course were packed- I was always exhausted and counting down the days until the weekend but I can't deny that it was an experience of a lifetime. Everywhere I go, no matter who I talk to, everyone tells me that in the army the most important thing is the people, who you spend your days with. The course helped me realize how true that really is. I met some amazing people who made the experience that much more fun (and easier). Besides the fact that most of them are at least 3 years younger than me we still keep in touch and get together as much as possible. I was lucky enough to have a few closer to my age--with me in the course there were 7 other lone soldiers also from Garin Tzabar but from different kibbutzim. Although I didn't really know them before the army we instantly clicked as a group of 8 just because it was so easy to relate to each other and to vent to each other in English when we were sick of Hebrew or the Israelis (culture clash got in the way at times). As much as I loved most of the girls I was with having the 7 of them there really helped and they are still the best to vent to even while we are all in separate placements.
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| The 8 Americans |
At the end of the 15 weeks we had a Tekkes Sium Course (ending course ceremony). I was lucky enough to have my parents and grandma fly in in order to celebrate with me. Army ceremonies are very official here and celebrate finishing a meaningful period of time in your service so it was really important and exciting to share the day with loved ones including my grandparents that live here, amazing cousins, and my bestie Marissa who I had the honor of seeing throughout the semester while she was here abroad.. After the ceremony we had what is called "breaking distance" with our commanders. Throughout the 3 months we have been in distance with our commanders meaning they don't laugh or smile in front of us and basically we have a strictly business relationship. We talk to them about things related to the course and that's about it. So after the ceremony they stopped playing the part and let loose so we can get to know the real them a little better. It was weird at first but fun to all be together as a group without all the bullshit.
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| Group 2 together after the ceremony |
A few days later we received our placements. The placement process works in a way that our placement is supposed to reflect our performance in the course- both how we performed physically and as instructors. They try their best to match us with bases that fit how we are as fitness instructors best. For example, if there is an opening for someone to be an instructor in a super elite combat unit, they try to find a girl who is at a fitness level high enough in order to keep up with them and instruct them. When the placement process started I realized that I wanted to be placed in the Air Force. I learned that being a fitness instructor in the Air Force is much more similar to working at a gym or a fitness club and much less army-like. There is a lot more studio work and gym instruction than there is running with soldiers in the fields (no thanks). I luckily got placed in the Air Force and was very relieved and happy to have gotten what I wanted. Out of about 100 girls that took the course 32 got placed into Air Force. We then all got sent together to a two week training to learn specific things we needed to know in order to be fitness instructors in the Air Force. We got certified to be spinning instructors and had a brush up on how to be an instructor in the gym because most of the Air Force includes a lot of gym work. After the two weeks we went through another placement process and finally got our final placements and permanent bases for the rest of our service.
I got placed in a base called Nevatim in the south of Israel next to a city called Arad. It is not far from my Kibbutz which is great and not too far from the center of the country. It is a HUGE base that also has a section where young families live (they are the families of the pilots on the base). Most of the soldiers on the base are technicians that work with the planes but there are also a bunch of logistical workers and others. I spend my days at the Ulam Sport which is like a mini JCC complete with a gymnasium, a gym, and two studios (one filled with bikes for spinning). The Air Force is known for having a lot of money and that is clear by their facilities. It is a beautiful base and a beautiful place to spend the next year an a half. I work with 4 other fitness instructors and a officer who is in charge of us. They are all great and it is a really fun environment to work with. We each have specific groups of soldiers that we are responsible for- we are supposed to make sure that each group comes to do at least 1 work out every week. Sometimes that includes me leading a work out for them and sometimes they want to just come use the fields or the gymnasium to play a sport. Besides that, we also split sitting in the gym when it is open to make sure everyone is safely working out and to help if anyone has questions. At night the place is poppin because everyone has finished their work for the day and they have time to come work out or hang out. Besides the gym being open, we have 2 classes that we teach each night- Zumba, Kickbox, Spinning, Aerobic Dance, Strengething. We split teaching those and since I am still knew I am still learning how to teach some so I haven't started teaching too many of the classes but I am hoping to change that ASAP!So far, everything has been great and I am honestly really loving my new place in the army.
Besides the Army, life is great. I am loving living on the Kibbutz and enjoy being with family when I visit my grandparents. I had an amazing time with my parents and grandma being here and I cannot wait to see them next--when I visit the states in July! More to come soon!
