The Iron Dome is in My Backyard!

Having a stress fracture of the foot in Eilat has been quite challenging considering I have to use public transportation to get anywhere (my dear car, how I miss you!), BUT I would say I am now 85% of the way to being fully recovered from my injury with just a two to three weeks to go until I can kick back into running and hiking.

Speaking of hiking... this week my group went on an organized hike of one of Eilat's tallest mountains, which just so happens to be directly behind my apartment building. I had to sit out :( However, rest assured that I made sure to find some sort of adventure. I waited for the group at the base of the mountain. And this mountain wasn't just any old mountain. This mountain houses the IRON DOME!!! That's right, the Iron Dome is in my backyard!

That small brown square on the bottom left base of the mountain is the Iron Dome. There are about 12 of them spread all over Israel. Eilat has two.

So while my group climbed, I sat about 100 feet away from one of Israel's most famous defense devices. Is this real life?

The soldiers who guard this particular Iron Dome battery told us we could not take any pictures of the machinery from up close, otherwise I would have posted a much better picture! Up close it looks SO COOL! For the hour or so that my group hiked I sat and conversed with one of the soldiers in Hebrish/Engbrew about what life is like for him now that he is in the army. He has been in the army for about a year, so I would guess he is 19 years old. Let's call him "Shmuel."

Shmuel's diet while on base consists mainly of bread, cheese and boxed tuna. Shmuel stands guard for four hours, and then has eight hours off, and then repeats this schedule again and again. Shmuel has never left Israel despite having family in a a couple other countries. Shmuel gets bored quite often because his post is not frequented at all, with the exception of occasional hikers. Shmuel and his fellow soldiers like to give the hikers a small scare, [harmlessly] questioning them and their motives, when they get close to the guarded area, since he said it is so boring to stand guard all day. I laughed but told him I wouldn't find it very funny if I was on the other side of the joke... Shmuel couldn't remember the word in Hebrew for "cable car" despite being a native Israeli - I knew it though! It's: Ra-kev-el :)

There they go!

They are as small as ants up there!

Some cool facts about the Iron Dome here.

You can now all rest assured knowing I am neighbors with the Iron Dome and that my neighbor is protecting my friends and I 24/7 from any and all airborne threats that could potentially be posed. Because that's the reality of the situation...

Goodnight from Israel 8-)

Thank You to the Good People :)

I have a stress fracture in my right foot. The doctor found it on an X-ray last week. Since my foot will not heal for a month I've had to literally take a step back.

I didn't want to post a blog without a photo... so here is one of the subject matter!

In the couple weeks where I've been less than mobile I've really felt the warmth of other people. It is now time to acknowledge everyone for reminding me that people are good.

Thank you to:

Maîlyss, my French friend, who taught me to play the French card game Tarot, something I can do while sitting. If you hadn't invited me to play cards those few nights I would have been stuck in my apartment unsuccessfully trying to find a bootlegged version of Mockingjay online.

Ruslan, my French-Ukrainian friend who the other day carried not only my groceries from the grocery store to our apartment, but also his own. You saved me from making a whole other trip to the store by the amount of items you carried for me.

Dana, my Israeli vegan work friend who came to visit me where I live after hearing the news that I was injured. You made me feel really special, venturing all the way out to Beit Isrotel just to see little old me!

Raluca, my Romanian friend, who asked if she could run any errands for me. Thank you also for walking in the back with me and for the halva on my birthday :)

Scott, my American friend, who helped me up the hill in the park when we had a group activity. Without you there would have been no hope for me to get up that Everest-like mound!

My parents for putting up with my 73,324,723,023,443 phone calls. I bet you only really do it because you have to :]

Li, my birthright tourguide who I saw the other day, for offering special healing to my foot. Your positive energy lifted up my day!

My roommates, for checking in periodically to see how I am doing. Thanks guys!

To random people in passing for asking me why I am limping, recognizing that I am not okay. You, in particular, remind me that people are inherently good and we all have the power to make another person's day. 

To Rami, my program leader, for arranging a new job for me so that I can continue in the program. Thank you, a lot! I know it would have been easier to take "no" for an answer from the higher ups but you found away to make it work for me.

To Carmen, my ulpan teacher, for teaching me the Hebrew words for "broken" and "clinic." Even when I am stuttering over words that I didn't know existed a few days ago you are determined to cement them into my brain.

To everyone else on my program whose name wasn't specifically mentioned, for continuing to check in with me and make sure I am still alive. Robyn, Kitty, Dakota, Kostia, Maksym, Perla and Dima.

When you are in another country it's hard to feel like you have anyone that cares about you, especially when you do not have family around. Each and every small offering of help and well wishes has meant the world to me and though this isn't even the most serious injury in the world, it's no picnic either.

(Also - I would be a terrible American if I submitted this post without mentioning that Thanksgiving was yesterday... Happy Thanksgiving everyone!)

With that, Shabbat Shalom ya'll!

Going to the Doctor in Israel

Well... my right foot started hurting a bit more than a week ago. Like any other stubborn human being, I told myself to ignore it. It's not like my knees are hurting, foot pain will go away - I don't need to rest. Two morning jogs later, and it got a lot worse. It hurt to do anything, at all. Having a job where I am always on my feet did not make anything better.

After some good old Google research I decided that I probably had a small stress fracture in my foot. But without an x-ray of any sort I couldn't really be sure what it was.

So what was a girl to do? After a couple days I came to my senses and decided to ask my program leader to coordinate for me a visit to a doctor here in Israel. For me this was a last resort - I hate more than anything to be restricted and I knew a doctor would probably tell me I needed to be off my feet and rest. Not knowing when the next time I will be able to go for a leisurely walk or jog is a terrible feeling. I can't imagine how people who are wheelchair-bound cope.

But the worst part is not working for two days. I had just gotten over my streak of boredom after not working for more than a month. This was the last thing I wanted.

Now, for the nitty gritty on the actual visit:

I had a 12:30 p.m. appointment with a Dr. Sergei. My bus to the clinic was running about 10 minutes late so in turn I was a few minutes late to my appointment. To the clinic in I walked and was immediately unsure of what to do. All instructive lettering was in Hebrew with the exception of a poster on the wall advertising for some kind of prescription drug.

Immediately I turned to the most maternal-looking person in the room and asked her if she spoke English. She told me I needed to get a ticket (and helped me get one since the machine was all in Hebrew) and then to wait until they called my number.

If you have an appointment you shouldn't have to take a number... what's the point of having an appointment?

About 10 minutes later my number was called. "Do you speak English," I asked the woman at the reception desk. She told me there is a special clinic at another location where they treat English speakers and that I was in the wrong place but that if I waited 20 minutes they would send for a doctor from said other clinic. This did not seem right to me. I felt a little segregated for some reason... I still haven't fully deciphered the emotion.

So I go reclaim my chair in the waiting area and about 30 minutes later the woman calls me back. She pulls my name back up in the computer database and goes, "It looks like you have an appointment at 12:30 p.m." I thought to myself, DUH woman! But instead what came out was, "Yes, it is with Dr. Sergei, an orthopedist, for my foot." I already told you this the first time I came to your desk! She replied, "You are an hour late, here, go to the waiting area for exam room four," and handed me another ticket. I wouldn't have been so late if I had been able to sign in for the appointment when I first arrived! Also.. looking back.. she never explained why I wasn't seeing the special doctor who she earlier had said was coming specially for me.

Anyway... I waited another 15 minutes to see the doctor who ended up not being Dr. Sergei. Dr. Galina is an Israeli woman probably in her 60s with a slightly rough tone to her voice. There is not much else I have to say about her. We spent all of five minutes together. She wrote me two prescriptions- one for an ointment and another for anti-inflammatory pills. She also told me to rest for three days and if the problem persists to come back. She did not provide any sort of diagnosis or attempt to determine with me the cause.

Later when I went to the pharmacy I had to get yet another number from a machine to wait in line. Today I felt like I was literally just a number all day...

All in all, as a foreigner in a country where you do not speak the official language, I do not recommend visiting the doctor alone (or at all if avoidable). The visit was a lot more stressful than it needed to be. But at least I am well prepared in case there is a next time!

(As I write this post the affected foot has't made contact with the ground for about four hours. I'm not exactly sure how showering is going to work, but I do love a good challenge ;)